Brief History
To understand and appreciate NAB it becomes necessary to view the organization’s accomplishments since January 19th, 1952, the birth of NAB till date. Since its inception, every year has been a forward leap in the organization’s reach and welfare provisions made for the blind.

Birth of a Force:
19th January, 1952, saw the flowering of the seed sown by Mangulal Jethalal Shah way back in 1947. The then Premier of the Bombay Province Mr. B. G. Kher moved a resolution in the first all India conference of the Blind held in Bombay, which lead to the establishment of The national Association for the Blind, India.

Six weeks later, with an executive council of just 39 members and support from Governors of different States, Barrister R. M. Alpaiwalla was appointed as the first President of NAB. Then began the release of the bubbling energy and determined mission of all its members into establishing NAB as an icon of unlimited services for the blind.

April 17, 1952
‘Tamaso Ma Jyotigamaya’ (from darkness lead unto light) emerged as the guiding principle that was never to be forgotten, but it was to become an omnipresent philosophy on which all of NAB’s facilities and strategies would be formulated.

12th May 1953
NAB was registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 - Registration No. being E 221 (B).

August 1954
The NAB was established as one of the Founder Members of World Council for Welfare the Blind (WCWB) after being allotted all six seats. In addition to this, Barrister Alpaiwalla was appointed Vice-Chairman of WCWB.

September 1955
NAB introduced the White Cane in India.

June 1958
NAB started the first ever Braille production unit in India in the Non-Governmental sector. It was later designated as the Regional Braille Press for the western region by the Government of India.

27th February 1959
The Executive Council of NAB convened the Second All India Conference for the Blind where it initiated the countrywide Integrated Education Program.

1961
The first Home Teaching Service was set up by NAB, in acknowledgment of the lack of education facilities for house bound adults and children.

November 1963
The first Indian full-fledged production and distribution center for Talking Books was established. It thus opened up a world of enjoyable and enriched reading on all kinds of subjects.

1970
NAB established ‘NAB Lions Home for the Ageing Blind’ at Khandala to take care of blind men over the age of 50 who had no family support.

1975
 NAB established Louis Braille Memorial Research Centre, a unit exclusively dedicated to the study and research in the field of Blindness.

1978
NAB set up the Department of Rehabilitation to take care of the special needs of blind adults who lose their sight later in life. The department also conducted training programmes for professionals in the field of orientation and mobility and other allied areas.

1980
NAB’s Department of Education was set up with financial support from the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind.(sight savers)

1981
In 1981 on the occasion of International Year of the Disabled Persons(IYDP), the executive council of NAB established a special Committee for Advancement of the Status of Blind Women for promoting their rehabilitation, education, training, employment, economic resettlement and welfare.

1985
With funding from Industrial Development Bank Of India, NAB set up the IDBI Polytechnic for training the blind in light engineering theory and practice.

1988
The Committee for Advancement of the Status of Blind Women set up a training come job development centre called’ Utkarsh’ to train blind women in the art of making festival items.

1996
The NAB set up Centre for Service to People with Low Vision to cater to the needs of people with low vision.

2002
In its tradition of innovation NAB set up first ever Cyber café in collaboration with Microsoft Corporation, USA at its head quarter in Mumbai.