New Delhi, Dec 6, 2024: VisionSpring Foundation has recently begun its collaboration with The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI) under its ongoing ‘Livelihoods in Focus’ outreach programme to provide vision screenings and corrective eyeglasses to more than 2,00,000 tea and coffee workers and their families in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala by 2028, transforming these states into clear vision regions.
The 'Livelihoods in Focus' outreach programme is designed to boost the productivity and earning potential of tea, cocoa, coffee and artisan communities by correcting their vision through eyeglasses. The programme focuses on agricultural workers because they have many tasks that require clear sight, and their work can have an outsized impact on the economy. Evidence supports this approach, a 2018 study demonstrated that providing eyeglasses to tea garden workers increased their productivity by up to 32%.
This VisionSpring Foundation and UPASI initiative will improve the visual health of communities in the agricultural and plantation sectors, strengthening Southern India’s economy.
As many as 2,00,000 tea and coffee workers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka will have their vision screened, many of whom suffer from uncorrected refractive errors and other vision impairments. This initiative builds upon the 3,50,000 tea and coffee workers and community members that VisionSpring Foundation has served to date.
By providing eyeglasses, agriculture workers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala will see a potential increase of INR 323 crore in income.
Anshu Taneja, Managing Director, VisionSpring Foundation, highlighted the broader implications of the outreach programme, saying, “Significant number of plantation workers experience vision problems, and by organizing onsite eye-camps in the plantations to address the urgent need for vision care, VisionSpring Foundation and UPASI are set to make a profound impact on the lives of tea and coffee workers across Southern India. We are grateful to UPASI for their forward-thinking approach in supporting our work and recognizing the value of providing eyeglasses – a simple 700-year-old technology. We hope their involvement will inspire other organisations to participate, creating a greater impact on workers’ well-being and boosting the region’s economy."
Sanjit Nair, Secretary General-UPASI, emphasised the significance of this collaboration for the plantation industry, stating, "Vision correction through the expansion of eyeglass coverage to the coffee workers and tea workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala is a visionary step that would transform their lives and help increase productivity as well as income. UPASI is collaborating with VisionSpring Foundation in this optical challenge which puts the well-being of the workers at its focal centre. This initiative not only aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also empowers communities by enabling individuals to perform better in their jobs, pursue education, and participate more fully in community activities. He added that this initiative is an add-on to the welfare and medical facilities provided by the plantations statutorily free of cost to the workers and their families.”
VisionSpring Foundation is a social organisation creating access to eyeglasses for low-income adults and children. Annually in India, the Foundation reaches more than 27 lakh (2.7 million) people with eye screenings and corrects the vision of more than 12 lakh (1.2 million) people with eyeglasses. On average, 73% of the people served by the Foundation acquire their first-ever pair of eyeglasses through the See to Earn, See to Learn, and See to be Safe programmes. To date, VisionSpring Foundation through its mission, has distributed more than 7.5 million (75 lakh) pairs of corrective eyeglasses in India, creating more than $2.5 billion (Rs. 20,500 crore) in economic impact for low-income people. The organisation delivers on its eye health mission across 28 states, working with more than 1,000 hospitals/healthcare facilities and NGOs, 15 state governments and agencies, and 65 corporates/CSRs.
UPASI is an apex body of planters of tea, coffee, rubber, pepper, and cardamom in the Southern States of India – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.
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