A Delhi teen with a vision to improve eye care for kids
Quite often, eye care is neglected due to lack of awareness or financial resources. But working to overcome these hurdles is Hridaan Sharma, a 16-year-old from Janakpuri West. This young lad is helping children in Delhi’s slums fight vision ailments and has provided spectacles to over 1,500 school students since 2022.
“My initiative, Vision To Vision, aims to bring eye care to all students by 2045,” says the class XII student of The Shri Ram School, Moulsari in Gurugram, who recently released an app to provide users free eye tests from the comfort of their homes. “My app requires users to hold the phone at a distance and read the letters that flash on the screen. Based on the performance, it calculates visual acuity and eye power for both eyes,” he explains and adds, “I was nine years old when I began volunteering in government schools. I observed that a lot of youngsters were unable to read what was written on the blackboard and failed to take notes. This hampered their education and made me realise the gravity of this issue.”
Since millions of children are visually impaired in India, Sharma’s primary focus is middle-schoolers. “When I asked the kids to talk to their parents, they told me their parents ignored their requests saying, ‘It would improve on its own’,” he recalls, adding “Many were aware of the problem but couldn’t afford treatment... My goal is to prevent serious conditions by facilitating early intervention.”
From providing corrective eyewear to setting up 43 eye camps in 42 government schools, Sharma has come a long way. “I wish to harness the exposure I have gained to, scale up my project and maximise its impact. The motto that drives me is ‘Vision for all by 2045’,” he concludes.
VisiontoVision app has received 6,000 downloads and conducted over 8,000 eye checkups.
HRIDAAN SHARMA, Delhiite