Reliance Foundation (RF) was created in 2010 by Founder and Chairperson
Nita Ambani. Through this foundation, she aims to eliminate all developmental challenges faced by the underprivileged communities in the country. Reliance Foundation positively impacts many lives through its involvement in the fields of healthcare, rural development, and sports.
Reliance Foundation - Drishti
In order to improve the lives of the visually- impaired individuals in India, the Reliance Foundation (RF) devised a program called Drishti. Through this initiative, it intends to encourage eye donation and also raise awareness regarding organ donation. Furthermore, this program also facilitates interaction between donors and beneficiaries.
Although organ donation is slowly garnering more attention, people in India are hesitant to contribute because of superstitious beliefs. Drishti aims to eradicate these beliefs through awareness programs which would encourage more individuals to sign up for donations, thereby improving the lives of many.
Ragini Vijay helped by Drishti
One success story of RF’s Drishti is the case of Ragini Vijay’s son. He had lost his eyesight almost a decade ago on account of the ‘gutka’ powder that had entered into his eyes. He was blinded and his life, along with Ragini’s, was largely affected. She explained how she had asked for help from many people but failed. This is when Reliance Foundation stepped in.
A hospital associated with the foundation performed a corneal transplant on her son and after a nine-year-long struggle; Ragini’s son regained his eyesight. He is just one amongst the thousands of visually-impaired individuals helped by Reliance Foundation’s Drishti initiative. The program has so far funded 12,839 corneal transplants across a decade.
Nita Ambani’s views on eye donation
Having pledged to donate her eyes,
Nita Ambani explains the goal of the Drishti initiative. She states that a major section of visually-impaired individuals live in developing nations like India. Due to the lack of good facilities, many of them may not have access to the resources necessary for their growth and development.
She elaborates on the importance of completely transforming their lives by pledging to donate our eyes. Through Drishti, she aims to eliminate developmental roadblocks faced by such individuals and empower them to take charge of their lives.
Programs to increase awareness
Nita Ambani led Reliance Drishti had organized an awareness program at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). At this program, many eye specialists, and representatives from the National Association for the Blind (NAB) created awareness about eye donation. One individual, named Sanjay, who was present at the program along with family, made up his mind to sign a donation form. Through Drishti’s volunteer program, Sanjay also signed up to play mentor to a beneficiary named Pratiksha.
Pratiksha had been blind from birth, but the timely help from Reliance Drishti completely changed her life. She is now pursuing her education and aspires to become a doctor. Pratiksha continues to share her achievements, however big or small, with Sanjay, who now realizes the change that an eye donation can bring to anybody’s life.
Summary
Reliance Drishti’s corneal transplant program has improved the lives of thousands across the country. Additionally, it conducts awareness drives to encourage eye donation.