NETHRODAYA

C Govindakrishnan is a person with vision. Though the eye specialists would have us believe otherwise. He may not be able to see the world as we see it. But the world he sees is beyond our vision. A world where every blind person is able to live as normally and freely as everybody else. Where the blind don’t have to beg for their survival. Nor live off the generosity of few good people. He knows that the blind people only need to be given little space and some encouragement. And they can show the world the incredible capacity of the human spirit. To achieve the impossible against all odds. Gopi, as is fondly addressed by all,
himself is a living proof of this.

Being declared have been born with incurable, deteriorating visual impairment, Gopi fought with fate all his life. His struggle in school and college made him realise the problem that other blind people have been facing for ages. During his post graduate studies in Social Entrepreneurship at the Centre for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM), he got an opportunity that would reveal his destiny to him. As part of his project he made a study on the blind people who were trying to make a living in the trains of Chennai. He travelled with them for 30 days and what he discovered opened his eyes. Of the 119 people who were begging 82 were educated. The blind vendors were forced to resort to begging due to insurmountable hurdles they had to face.

It was at this point that Gopi resolved to do something. To bring light to a society shrouded in the darkness of apathy.
On the 02nd of October 2002, with the image of Gandhi ji in his mind and his resolve to his
heart, Gopi created Nethrodaya with a vision to serve the Visionless.

Our Vision
Creation of a suitable environment for nurturing the abilities and talents of the Visually Impaired by means of which they would be able to live their lives with a sense of dignity and self-worth as productive members of the society

Our Mission
To light up the path of the Visually Impaired by enabling the fulfilment of their true potential.

Our Goal
It is an organization driven by a singular goal: to empower individuals with disabilities to become self-sufficient and
independent, enabling them to seamlessly integrate into mainstream careers and society.

Our Core Values & Belief
Empowerment is the true development for enabling the differently abled. Nethrodaya believes that Visually Challenged
persons can contribute to the society and the impression that they are to be sympathised and pitied is a misconception.
Nethrodaya feels that if they are enabled given a level playing ground, they can be as productive as anybody else in the society