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

Background
CBM’s journey in India began in 1967 with educational programs for children with visual impairments. 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.

Today, CBM India Trust operates with 35 core staff, 181 project staff, and 30 consultants across various locations in India, with offices in Bangalore, Delhi, and Gujarat. Dr. Sara Varughese, the Managing Trustee, leads the organization, which is governed by a board of five trustees.

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

• Inclusive Education: The Trust provides equitable learning opportunities for children with disabilities, ensuring they learn alongside their peers in regular schools. Additionally, CBM supports teacher training and the transformation of special schools into inclusive education resource centers.

• Inclusive Health: CBM India Trust works to ensure people with disabilities have access to healthcare services. This includes the prevention of avoidable impairments, early treatment, and rehabilitation. It also focuses on training doctors and caregivers to address the stigma around treating patients with disabilities.

• Inclusive Livelihood: Through grassroots initiatives, CBM India Trust promotes the involvement of people with disabilities in farming, off-farm, and non-farm livelihoods. The organization helps individuals with disabilities take on leadership roles in their communities, fostering a more inclusive value chain. In 2017, the Trust was awarded the Zero Project Innovation Award for its disability-inclusive organic farming initiative.

• Humanitarian Aid: The Trust works with corporate and government partners on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction, life-saving relief, and post-disaster rehabilitation. CBM India Trust actively engages people with disabilities in disaster response and ensures they have access to the support they need.

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 people with disabilities.
• Developing an inclusive garment production unit in Doddaballapura, Karnataka, in collaboration with ANZ.
• Collaborating with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) and the University of Melbourne to create a competency-based training program on community-based inclusive development (CBID).
• Running two Inclusive Community Learning Centres in Karnataka and setting up 117 Inclusive Vision Centres across India with Standard Chartered Bank to reduce avoidable blindness.

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. She has contributed extensively to international journals and is the Secretary of Right to Sight India. 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. Her passion for disability-inclusive development and healthcare equity drives CBM India Trust’s vision for a more inclusive world.