VisionSpring Partners with UPASI to Help 2L Plantation Workers

VisionSpring Foundation has recently begun its collaboration with The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI) under its ongoing ‘Livelihoods in Focus’ outreach programme. The partnership will provide vision screenings and corrective eyeglasses to more than 2,00,000 tea and coffee workers and their families in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala by 2028, transforming these states into clear vision regions.

The 'Livelihoods in Focus' outreach programme is designed to boost the productivity and earning potential of tea, cocoa, coffee and artisan communities by correcting their vision through eyeglasses. The programme focuses on agricultural workers because they have many tasks that require clear sight, and their work can have an outsized impact on the economy. Evidence supports this approach, a 2018 study demonstrated that providing eyeglasses to tea garden workers increased their productivity by up to 32%1

This VisionSpring Foundation and UPASI initiative will improve the visual health of communities in the agricultural and plantation sectors, strengthening Southern India’s economy.

2,00,000 tea and coffee workers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka will have their vision screened, many of whom suffer from uncorrected refractive errors and other vision impairments. This initiative builds upon the 3,50,000 tea and coffee workers and community members that VisionSpring Foundation has served to date.

By providing eyeglasses, agriculture workers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala will see a potential increase of INR 323 crore in income.

PROSPER - Effect of providing near glasses on productivity among rural Indian tea workers with presbyopia (PROSPER): a randomised trial - https://www.thelancet.com/journals/Langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30329-2/fulltext .

Mr. Anshu Taneja, Managing Director, VisionSpring Foundation, highlighted the broader implications of the outreach programme, saying, “Significant number of plantation workers experience vision problems, and by organizing onsite eye-camps in the plantations to address the urgent need for vision care, VisionSpring Foundation and UPASI are set to make a profound impact on the lives of tea and coffee workers across Southern India”.

We are grateful to UPASI for their forward-thinking approach in supporting our work and recognizing the value of providing eyeglasses – a simple 700-year-old technology. We hope their involvement will inspire other organisations to participate, creating a greater impact on workers’ well-being and boosting the region’s economy."

Mr. Sanjit Nair, Secretary General-UPASI, emphasised the significance of this collaboration for the plantation industry, stating, "Vision correction through the expansion of eyeglass coverage to the coffee workers and tea workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala is a visionary step that would transform their lives and help increase productivity as well as income. UPASI is collaborating with VisionSpring Foundation in this optical challenge which puts the well-being of the workers at its focal centre. This initiative not only aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also empowers communities by enabling individuals to perform better in their jobs, pursue education, and participate more fully in community activities.  He added that this  initiative is add-on to the welfare and medical facilities provided by the plantations statutorily free of cost to the workers and their families”.