Page 66 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition March-April 2024

for 35 beneficiaries. A team from the Setu
Trust travelled from Anand to Mumbai for the
programme. They included Sudha Patel, Radha
Patel and Sandeep Rami. Dinesh Girap, principal
of PVP College (head of electronics), Dr Nita
Jarmanwala, head of the optometry department,
JCBF managing trustee Jyoti Singh, Yogita
Rajgandhi and Fatema, and SHG’s Ibrahim were
present at the opening ceremony.
A follow-up to each of the sessions will
take place after five to six weeks. Another 64
SVGs will be distributed on 22-26 April 2024 at
JCBF Mumbai.

There’s more to look forward to as
considerable research and development efforts
are ongoing at SHG Technologies. They are
THE TEAM BEHIND THE SUCCESSFUL INITIATIVE working to include features that make the SVG
DR NITA, JYOTI SINGH AND YOGITA
device even more useful and vision impaired
friendly. The future product will be lightweight
Yogita Rajgandhi and Fatema Symfawala). with electronics built into temples, improved
This last is a registered charitable trust, a non- sensor and AI/ML technology, increasing
profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO). functions, bone conduction technology and
Established in Mumbai in 2007, its main aim is to multiple ASP models.
help maintain the eye health of children of rural
and lower income group communities. Vivek
Foundation for Blind represented by Prabha
Shinde, and SNDT University-PVP College,
represented by Dr Nita, were also part of the
three-day event in Mumbai.

The first day of the project was at IOCL-
Bandra on 21 March. The beneficiaries,
volunteers, optometry students from Charusat
University, Anand, Gujarat and Atlas University
students worked in coordination with Yogita
and Fatema. A welcome address and felicitation IOCL OPTOMETRY STUDENTS OF CHARUSAT UNIV WITH
function was followed by a brief introduction to YOGITA & FATEMA
the organisation for the beneficiaries and their
parents. Optometrists and students handled the
training, the dos and don’ts, as the SVGs were
distributed to 42 beneficiaries.
The second was at Vivek Education Trust –
Mankhurd Mumbai on 3 April. Volunteers and
optometry students from SNDT-PVP College,
JCBF’s Jyoti Singh, Yogita and Fatema along
with Prabha Shinde and her team were present
to initiate the project for 84 beneficiaries.

The third was on 4 April at SNDT-PVP College, IOCL YOGITA RAJGANDHI DISTRIBUTING
department of Optometry, in Mumbai’s Juhu, SVG TO A VISUALLY IMPAIRED GIRL

62 | THE INDIAN OPTICIAN | MAR-APR 2024 REPORT