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Standard Chartered Bank has joined hands with Daisy Consortium, a network of not-for-profit organizations from 55 countries, to launch a unique digital initiative ‘Simply Reading’ App.
This cost-effective and flexible app, an India-led initiative, seeks to make digital reading convenient for low vision and blind people, Karuna Bhatia, Head of Sustainability, SCB, told BusinessLine here.
Seeing is Believing
Available for free on Android (Google Play), this app enables the visually impaired to directly download and read books from any online platform such as Sugamya Pustakalya and Bookshare.
This effort is part of SCB's global "Seeing is Believing" initiative, which is this bank's global community investment programme to tackle visual impairment and avoidable blindness.
"This year is special as it marks the 15-year anniversary of 'Seeing is Believing' programmers. While we are launching this app in India, it will be available anywhere internationally through Google Play", Karuna said.
To begin with, SCB and Daisy Consortium are eyeing at least 50,000 downloads, according to Karuna.
She also said that SCB would strive to put a digital element in all its future community programmes.
From 2003 to 2017, SCB has in India provided over 13 million eye care interventions through network of 125 vision centres across 22 States catering to people in the urban, rural and remote parts of the country. One estimate puts India is home to about 5.3 million people with blindness or low vision.
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