Beno Zephine, India’s 1st blind Indian Foreign Service official, honoured by President

Beno Zephine, who is India’s first 100% visually-impaired person to join the Indian Foreign Service in 2015, was among the 111 women felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind for their remarkable journey.

Zephine, who is currently serving in the Indian embassy in Paris, is a great example of how will power and family support can enable someone to overcome any physical disability. In teh absence of study material in Braille, Zephine’s parents would read out to her so she did not face any difficulty as a student.

She passed the civil services examination with a rank of 343 that ensured her place in the prestigious Indian Foreign Service.

Zephine, who is from Chennai. is experimenting with speech assistive tools to help her carry out her roles. She also uses Job Access With Speech (JAWS), a software that allows the blind to read from a computer screen.

Among the other women honoured by President Kovind were India’s first bartender, the first coffee taster, the first train driver and first woman porte.