The low income states of India were earlier known as the BIMARU (meaning sick) states even in the government corridors. BIMARU was first coined by India’s foremost demographer, Ashish Bose and was an acronym for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Unfortunately the shoe fits even now and all these states still lag behind in all aspects of human well being. Sample this - the state of Bihar has the lowest HDI (Human Development Index), 81% of the population are poor and has backlog of blindness of 1 million.

As poverty and blindness go hand in hand, it has been well documented that people who are blind are either landless agricultural labourers or daily wage workers. The major barrier, apart from lack of money, thus is that they cannot afford someone from their family to bring them for treatment. To restore sight to them, it is imperative that they are identified and brought for free treatment to hospitals.

The Sight for India team will therefore only partner hospitals who have a dedicated approach to bring in such patients to their facilities for treatment. Clear geographic and sector focus, targeting the poorest sections and promoting the “reach-out” approach makes us unique.