The Institute is located in lush-green Doon Valley in an area of about 43 acres on Mussoorie-Dehradun Highway, in the foot hills of Himalayas. The history of the Institute can be traced back to 1943, when St. Dunstan's Hostel was establised to rehabilitate the Indian soldiers and sailors blinded during second World War.
Thereafter, the then Ministry of Education, Government of India took over the responsibility of welfare of the blind in 1950 and opened a Training Centre for the Adult Blind (Men). Subsequently, services were further expanded in the areas like production of Braille literature (1951), Aids & Appliances (1952) and vocational training for the blind women (1957).
Also, education of blind children (1959) and library services (1963) were introduced. All these activities were amalgamated into a National Centre for the Blind in 1967 which was elevated to the status of National Institute for the Visually Handicapped in 1979. It was finally converted into an autonomous body in 1982. The services of the Institute were extended to other parts of the country by opening a Regional Centre (1988) at Chennai and Regional Chapters at Secunderabad and Kolkata (1997).In addition, District Disability Rehabilitation Centers were establised at Dharamshala, Haridwar, Almora, Tehri-Garhwal, Gaya (2001) and Sangrur (2002) which cater to all types of disabilities.
