24 April 2017 03:09 pm Views - 1524
Having successfully enhanced the vision of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans for a quarter century, Vision Care will celebrate its 25 year anniversary, by officially launching ‘Nethralokana Sathkara’, a pioneering initiative to distribute 25,000 spectacles among deserving people from different parts of Sri Lanka at no cost.
Starting next week, Nethralokana Sathkara will be rolled out in six major cities of the country: Galle, Kandy, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Anuradhapura and Colombo. In parallel to the programmes in the regional cities, the company’s branches that are situated around these six main cities will also roll out programmes of their own, strengthening the project’s island-wide reach and distribution.
Expressing his views about their significant initiative, Vision Care Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Dasantha Fonseka said, “Launching Nethralokana Sathkara on the outset of our 25th anniversary is quite momentous for us all at Vision Care. We have been pioneers in introducing quality and affordable eye care solutions as well as state-of-the-art optometry technologies at our island-wide branches, helping enhance the vision of thousands of Sri Lankans over the years. With Nethralokana Sathkara, we wanted to mark this occasion by reaching out to deserving people in the country, and help empower their lives through what we do best, enhance vision.”
The initial phase of Nethralokana Sathkara will be the calling of applications, which will commence from 24th April to 9th May for residents in the Galle and Kandy areas. Jaffna and Kurunegala applications are scheduled from 8th May to 23rd May, while Anuradhapura and Colombo applications will be called out from 22nd May till 6th June.
This will be followed by a comprehensive eye test for the chosen applicants from mid-May onwards. Based on the tests conducted by qualified optometrists of Vision Care, a reading or a prescribed spectacle will be given to the applicant at the final distribution of spectacles, which is scheduled for June onwards.
“This programme also acts as a reminder to our purpose as an organization every single day, which is: to give Sri Lankans the best possible vision, enabling them to see the world and improve their lives through quality products and services. By eventually reaching out to 25,000 families and extending the programme to all parts of Sri Lanka, we believe that this initiative will turn out to be a platform to create much needed awareness and education about vision impairment and preventable blindness among Sri Lankans,” Fonseka stated further.
The government has also appreciated Vision Care’s effort in launching such a magnanimous scheme, as it strongly complements ‘Vision 2020’, the national programme developed by the government to eliminate avoidable blindness from Sri Lanka by the year 2020.
The application forms will be made available through Vision Care branches island-wide, and will be given out on a ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis. More information on the opening and closing dates for applications will be informed through the media starting next week.