Tamaso Ma Jyotigamaya

National Association for Blind(NAB), India, is probably the largest NGO working for the welfare of blind in India, represented in 22 states/union territory branches and 70 district/taluka branches. What makes it great is not only the enormity of its reach but also the number of volunteers it is able to gather for its activities and the large number of areas it focusses on to make life worthy for the blind. The work of the organisation is no less than a miracle, as it aims to enable the blind individual to lead a normal life, without depending on anybody, thus leading the individual from darkness into the light. Principally, the organisation envisions the prevention of needless blindness and reduction of the number of visually impaired individuals in India, but they have also worked effortlessly for the education, rehabilitation and employment of the blind.
This 55-year-old organisation was the brainchild of a few philanthropists who came together for the First All India Conference for the Blind and officially established NAB on January 19, 1953. Since its inception, every year has been a forward leap in the organisation’s reach and welfare provisions made for the blind. Be it the introduction of the ‘white cane’ or the sanction of concessional rail tickets to all blind persons, the organisation with its vast experience has managed to touch the lives of a huge number of visually impaired persons in India. Some of the blind people helped by NAB have reached apex positions in multinational companies, banks, government services and have proved themselves in the fields of arts and entertainment. These blind achievers are excellent writers or musicians, while some just lead their everyday life with an amazing degree of normalcy and composure. NAB considers these as their biggest achievement.

Activities
From nurseries for children to old age home for the elderly, from educational institutes to women welfare centres, from talking books to cyber cafes, NAB has transcend every aspect of life for the visually impaired.
Eye care
NAB, while serving the blind, has been playing an active role in detection of causes of blindness and providing effective treatment for the same. The project for prevention of blindness started by NAB, back in 1998 detects and treats glaucoma, cataract and conjunctivitis and provides medicines and spectacles to the children in the slums and municipal schools. In the field of eye care, the organisation mainly focusses on eye donation campaigns, eye camps, glaucoma prevention camps and awareness camps. NAB holds 25 medical camps for lower income strata population annually. It has held 30,000 eye camps for municipal school children and has provided individual tailor-made spectacles to the needy. Annually, the organisation provides for about 450 cataract operations. Till date, NAB has distributed about 5 lakh spectacles and 25,000 special lenses, totally free of cost. With the help of mobile vans acting as detection centres, NAB detects the number of cases needing treatment. The treatment is offered free of cost to the underprivileged. Through a vast network of doctors, hospitals and ophthalmic surgeons, NAB carries out operations and specific treatments at the city’s renowned hospitals, such as  Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre and PD Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre.

Low vision
An approximate number of 45 million children and adults with low vision are neglected in India. NAB believes that low vision is a condition and not a life-time handicap and has thus set up a Center for Services to People with Low vision in Mumbai. The center renders a wide range of services to school-going children such as:
t Provision of