Amway India empowers the visually impaired; Launches Saksham APP – A Single window for Assistive technology & Informationin association with NGO partner Saksham

Amway India empowers the visually impaired; Launches Saksham APP – A Single window for Assistive technology & Informationin association with NGO partner Saksham

~Organizes a webinar to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities~

New Delhi, December 2020: Amway India, one of the country’s leading FMCG Direct Selling companies launched Saksham, a new app for the visually impaired individuals in association with its NGO partner Saksham on occasion of ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’. Saksham app will work as a one-stop solution for the visually impaired individuals as it provides them with all relevant information using talk back and voice over facilities available in the mobile phones. With this launch, Amway India has further reiterated it’s commitment to working towards building a better and more inclusive tomorrow for the visually impaired, aligned with this year’s global theme of ‘Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World’. 

Saksham app is aimed at easing the challenges of visually impaired individuals by acting as a data bank/repository of information for visually impaired individuals, making all relevant information accessible to them. It will provide all information related to assistive technology devices available at a reasonable cost, trainings modules for devices sold through this platform, key government laws and orders for people with disabilities, details about various subsidy schemes and how to apply for them, access to important documents such as key legislations and schemes, among other relevant information, in an accessible visually impaired friendly format.

Talking about Amway’s association, Anshu Budhraja, CEO, Amway India, said, “With over *26.8million in India living with some or the other form of disability, we must find new ways to use technology to enable everyone to fully participate in the socio-economic environment around us. Individuals with disabilities are facing their own set of challenges in adapting to new ways of working with the increasing dependency on technology in the current scenario. Amway has been committed to supporting and uplifting visually impaired since 1998 and has been instrumental in providing them with education and livelihood opportunities. The launch of the new app is aimed at building a more inclusive future while empowering visually impaired individuals in society. We are grateful to our NGO partner Saksham for supporting our vision of helping people live better and healthier lives.”

Speaking on the occasion Shri. DipendraManocha Founder Managing Trustee, Saksham “Services and Assistive Technology products often reach only to the creamy layer among persons with disabilities. The event and the app is an important step in taking services and Assistive Technology solutions closer to the marginalized even among the persons with disabilities.  I thank Amway for supporting this very important initiative.”

The Saksham app was unveiled during a webinar organized by Saksham in association with Amway on the theme – ‘Access to the relevant information and assistive technology solutions for persons with visual disabilities’. The webinar was attended by key speakers, such as Mr. DipendraManocha, Founder Managing Trustee, Saksham;Mr. Saikat Ghosh, Sr. Vice President, Digital and Global Solutions India, Amway India,Mr ChapalKhasnabis, Head (A.I) of the Access to Assistive Technology and Medical Devices Unit,World Health Organization (WHO);Mr. P.V. Madhusudhan Rao, Mehra Chair Professor and Head - Department of Design, IIT Delhi; Dr.  Bhushan Punani, Chairperson, International Council for Education of Children with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), West Asia; Dr. Piyush Chanana, Co-Founder and CEO, Raised Lines Foundation and Strategy and Innovation Consultant, Saksham, Dr. Prabodh Seth, IRS, Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India and, Padma Shri Dr Y.S. Rajan, Chairman, Project Approval and Monitoring Committee, Technology Innovation for Disabled and Elderly (TIDE) program of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3 which aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Over the past two decades, the company has touched the lives of more than 2.50 lakh visually impaired individuals through its sustained efforts. Under its National Project fo*r the visually impaired, Amway India has undertaken several initiatives to educate & empower the visually impaired people, thereby helping them lead an economically independent life. Committed to the cause, Amway India has provided visually impaired individuals with braille textbooks, digitized educational material, launched 33 braille cum audio libraries across India, fully functional computer centers and music and dance academies among other initiatives.

*(Census, 2011)

About Amway India CSR initiatives

• Amway India’s CSR initiatives are based on the belief that social responsibility is much more than the incurrence of a cost or a resource or a charitable/ philanthropic act of social benefit. It is an opportunity to bring in social innovation and change. This belief is articulated in Amway’s vision of helping people live better lives. When it comes to commitment to corporate citizenship, Amway India makes a serious and concentrated effort to reach out and help people improve their lives.
• Amway India supports a comprehensive CSR programme covering a gamut of initiatives including a water conservation project to improve the ground water level in 7 villages in the Dindigul district located around the manufacturing plant. Amway supports a village health program targeted at 26 villages in the Dindigul district, to provide quality healthcare to the underprivileged. The treatment includes general health check-up, select pathological tests and medicines at zero cost to the beneficiaries. In a span of over 20 months over 240 free health camps have been organised benefitting more than 50,000 people from local communities.
• Amway India set up a telemedicine centre in the Dindigul district to ensure a consistent healthcare support to the villagers. This program has eliminated distance barriers and improved access to medical services in distant rural communities. The centre aims at providing free medical treatment to over 7,000 patients in a year.
• Last year Amway India launched a Community Health & Entrepreneurship Program in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to offer livelihood training in Entrepreneurship skills and business fundamentals with the objective to promote self-employment among women and to create awareness on affordable health and hygiene practices.
• Recently Amway India has launched the community-based nutrition education program to improve the nutritional status among children (below 5 years) in the select slum areas of West Delhi.  The program focuses on prevention, early detection and improved access to care in line with the National Nutrition Mission, Govt. of India.
• As a key focus area, Amway has taken various initiatives to support the cause of visually impaired. Amway also supports underprivileged children in education, health and hygiene under a project titled ‘Sunrise’. Under this project, Amway currently supports more than 15 NGOs across the country.
• Amway India has been conferred with the ‘CSR Leadership Summit & Award’ in the category of ‘Promoting Employment for Specially-abled’.
• Amway India was also recently awarded with the ‘Best Corporate’ award in the ‘Specially-abled’ category at the prestigious National CSR Summit & Awards 2018 for its invaluable contribution towards the welfare of visually impaired by CSR Times.