The founder president of THE POONA BLIND MEN'S ASSOCIATION is Mr. Tukaram Sahadev Bamankar. Blinded since childhood he was educated in Bombay and took a course in physiotherapy. He later shifted to Pune,where he worked for several years at the Ruby Hall Clinic and the Jehangir Nursing Home. In 1952 he rented a small room for Rs. 30/- a month in the crowded Rasta Peth area, where the POONA BLIND MEN'S, ASSOCIATION was registered.

Some years later, he was joined by Mr. Nanabhoy Mancherji Merchant, also visually impaired, who was designated as Finance and Development Secretary. He was responsible for raising resources for the Association, from a variety of fund-raising programmes carried out throughout the year. He expired in 1988.

Mr. Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya, another visually impaired young man, but with a dynamic spirit and an indomitable will to serve, joined PBMA as Honorary Secretary in 1966. With initiative Qnd foresight, Mr. Merchant and Mr. Pandya helped in acquiring a plot of land at Hadapsar, where one of the largest workshops for the visually impaired in the country has been set up.