Kunwar Singh Negi (1927 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille disp ...

editor and social worker. He has transliterated 300 books into braille. His major works include ''Bhagwan Buddh Ka Updesh'' and ''Hazrat Mohammed Ki Vani'', both being about teachings of

Gautam Buddha Gautama, Gautam or Gotama may refer to: Ancient sages and philosophers * Akṣapāda Gautama, a Hindu sage and founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy: see Nyāya Sūtras * Indrabhuti Gautama, chief disciple of Mahavira * Gautama Buddha, th ...

and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. He was presented with Indian civilian awards

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1981 and later with

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1990.

Life

Negi was born in Pauri, a town now in the north Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

in 1927. He fought in Burma as part of the

Indian Army during World War II The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, ...

. He credits the British officers to have infused compassion and discipline in him. In 1954, after India's independence from British rule, he joined the National Institute of Visually Handicapped at Dehradun where he started taking interest in braille. Negi started transcribing books in various Indian languages like Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi and also in Russian. He has worked on 300 books which include

Sikh scriptures The principal Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth (First Scripture), more commonly called the Guru Granth Sahib. The second most important scripture of the Sikhs is the Dasam Granth. Both of these consist of text which was written or authorised by th ...

like '' Sukhmani Sahib'' and transcribed works of Gautam Buddha and Muhammad. Negi was also active in social work for blind and was associated with Bharat Netrahin Samaj in Punjab and the National Federation of Blind in Delhi. His various religious works were distributed free of cost through the Maharaja Ranjit Singh International Mission for Gurbani Braille Literature. He also transliterated politician

Surjit Singh Barnala Surjit Singh Barnala (21 October 1925 – 14 January 2017) was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Punjab state from 1985 to 1987. Following that he served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh , l ...

's book ''My Other Two Daughters''. Negi was honoured with Padma Shri, Indian's fourth-highest civilian award in 1981 for his social work. In 1990, he was presented with

, the third-highest award for his contributions in the field of literature and education. He was also presented with Sikh Gaurav award by the

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; "Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee") is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the unio ...

. In 2003, Negi underwent an operation on his

prostate gland The prostate is both an accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found only in some mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemically, and physio ...

with funds received from the then Uttarakhand government headed by N. D. Tiwari as Chief Minister. In 2009, Negi highlighted his financial plight in media when he could not afford an

artificial cardiac pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart ei ...

and was not being provided any help by the government. He had received incomplete treatment due to lack of funds at the GB Pant Hospital in New Delhi. He died on 20 March 2014 at Dehradun.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Negi, Kunwar Singh 1927 births 2014 deaths Scholars from Dehradun Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Braille Social workers Social workers from Uttarakhand 20th-century Indian translators Writers from Dehradun 20th-century Indian educational theorists Educators from Uttarakhand