By Matters India Reporter

Kolkata: “My husband lost his vision on both the eyes and I am getting blare vision since we are very poor finding it difficult to manage life. This camp has given me a hope, that I shall see properly and work to feed my husband,” said Sunanda Karmakar of Panakua village, West Bengal.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is taking shape in different forms by big companies. GKB Optical is one such company which deals with the lens in a big way. It is a large Indian retailer of optical products and operates multiple retail stores in India.

This company directly goes to the rural villages through various NGOs and checks the deserving rural poor directly and prescribes lenses for the needy.

The five-member team headed by the CSR coordinators of the company Ms. Arpita and Abhash Jyoti had a discussion with Udayani (awakening), the Calcutta Jesuits social wing, and express their willingness to conduct the camp.

Since Udayani is already moving into registering the Block level SHG (Self Help Group) federation into an NGO, the challenge was given to the women leaders, who have applied to register them as ”Sampurna Nari Kalyan Sangathan”.

The women took the challenge and informed the villagers who needed a new vision to come to the camp.

Of the 100 women and men were checked 62 of the need spectacles and the company will give them the new spectacles in the coming days.

“I am happy to get this check done, I do not have either money or know where to go to get my vision corrected. Thanks to you for doing this I shall see now,” said Sabita Mondal (50) a widow.

The GKB company which has the Headquarters in Kolkata and runs this ‘Better Vision Program’ has promised to conduct four more camps in different blocks where deserving women being organized by Udayani.

Sujata Chiti, who organized the camp, was excited saying, “I am happy to have organized this camp as many deserving women who are poor and no way to go to the eye specialist could check and get the new vision.”

Jesuit Father Irudaya Jothi, the director of Udayani, expressed his satisfaction in the ability of these Dalit women organize an eye camp as which is beginning of many more new initiatives in the days to come and the rural Dalit women leadership has taken off’.