New Delhi, March 20 : CBM India Trust is a prominent Indian non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for persons with disabilities and marginalized communities. The organization works across over 25 states and union territories in India, promoting for the removal of cultural, systemic and environmental barriers, and empowering persons with disabilities to fully participate in health, education, and livelihood. By promoting inclusive development, CBM India Trust aims to break the cycle of poverty and disability.

Background

In 1994, CBM India was formally registered as a trust, continuing a legacy since 1967 of pioneering disability inclusion. The organization envisions an inclusive society where persons with disabilities can realize their full potential. Its programme focus on strengthening the voice and autonomy of persons with disabilities, building inclusive communities, addressing avoidable impairments, disasters, and disabling environments, and demonstrating excellence in sustainable inclusive development. In 2023-24,CBM India Trust reached over 32.9 lakh people, including persons with disabilities. Dr. Sara Varughese serves as the Managing Trustee and heads the Board of Trustees, while the organization is led by Mr. Sony Thomas, who serves as the Executive Director.

In 1994, CBM India Trust was formally established as a distinct legal entity and registered as a public charitable trust under the Indian Trust Act, 1882. The Trust envisions an inclusive society where people with disabilities can realize their full potential. Its resources focus on minimizing disability-causing conditions, promoting the voice and autonomy of persons with disabilities, and fostering resilient communities with access to healthcare and economic opportunities. Furthermore, CBM India Trust ensures that disaster-affected populations receive inclusive humanitarian assistance.

Unique Approach
As a leader in disability-inclusive development in India, CBM India Trust drives awareness and change through these primary focus areas:

Inclusive Health: CBM India Trust champions inclusive healthcare for persons with
disabilities and members of other marginalized communities. Through their
programs, they ensure access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services free

• Inclusive Health:
  

  CBM India Trust champions inclusive healthcare for persons with disabilities and members of other marginalized communities. Through their programs, they ensure access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services free

• Inclusive Education: 

  The organization provides equitable learning opportunities for children with disabilities, ensuring they learn alongside their peers in mainstream schools. Their inclusive community learning and resource centers provide education, therapy services, and resources to support children with disabilities and their families. Additionally, CBM India supports teacher training.

  Inclusive Livelihood

  Through grassroots initiatives, CBM India Trust promotes access to economic opportunities through skills training, support for farmers and small businesses, and initiatives that ensure persons with disabilities become financially independent and active contributors to their families and communities. The organization helps persons with disabilities to take on leadership roles in their communities through organizations of persons with disabilities, inclusive self-help groups, and inclusive farmer producer organizations. In 2017, CBM India Trust was awarded the Zero Project Innovation Award for one of its disability-inclusive organic farming initiatives.

  Humanitarian Action

  The organization collaborates with corporate and government partners on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction, life-saving relief, and post-disaster rehabilitation. CBM India Trust actively engages persons with disabilities in disaster response and ensures they have access to the necessary support. They also work with communities to promote sustainable practices, safer energy solutions, and environmental protection.

  Inclusive Sports

  The organization provides financial support to para-athletes in their sports careers. The program benefits include training and coaching assistance, financial aid for sports equipment and competition participation, and support for nutritional and other developmental requirements.

  Capacity Building

  CBM India Trust is approved by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) as a training institute for conducting a six-month course on Community-Based Inclusive Development. Co-designed by the Rehabilitation Council of India and the University of Melbourne, this program aims to develop a pool of grassroots rehabilitation workers who can collaborate with other community workers to facilitate the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society.

  Accessibility Audits

  As an empaneled access auditor under the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) by the Government of India, CBM India Trust conducts detailed assessments of physical spaces across various sectors, including offices, government buildings, schools, and healthcare facilities. These audits help identify accessibility barriers and provide practical recommendations to make spaces more inclusive and welcoming for everyone.

Notable Collaborations
CBM India Trust has established meaningful partnerships with both government and private entities to improve the lives of underserved communities, including

• Partnering with the Sikkim State Health Department and Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital to make Sikkim India’s first avoidable blindness-free state.
• Integrating low-vision and rehabilitation services into the government health system, reaching nine Regional Institutes of Ophthalmology.
• Establishing Sankalp, a women’s credit cooperative society in Maharashtra, with over 9,000 women members and 602 persons with disabilities.
• Developing an inclusive garment production unit in Doddaballapura, Karnataka, in collaboration with ANZ.
• Running two Inclusive Community Learning Centres in Karnataka and setting up 125 Inclusive Vision Centres across India with Standard Chartered Bank to reduce avoidable blindness.
• Inaugurating ‘Ananda Mela’, Kolkata’s first-ever inclusive sensory park. The project was made possible through a CSR initiative by one of CBM India Trust’s corporate donors, in collaboration with the New Town Kolkata Development Authority.

Looking ahead, CBM India Trust plans to engage with more private philanthropists and funding institutions to further its mission of creating an inclusive society where people with disabilities can achieve their full potential.

Spokesperson Profile
Dr. Sara Varughese, the Managing Trustee of CBM India, is a renowned expert in disability-inclusive development and public health. She has served on various national and international advisory committees and has held leadership roles in the field, including as Programme Manager for Disability & Rehabilitation at the WHO South East Asia Regional Office and Regional Director of CBM South Asia.

Dr. Varughese has been instrumental in developing training programs for community-based inclusive development workers and was invited to peer-review WHO’s 2018 World Report on Vision. Dr. Varughese, a graduate of CMC Vellore and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, holds a Master’s in Public Eye Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.