SCORE FOUNDATION LAUNCHES FIRST OF ITS KIND TELEVISION SERIES ‘NAZAR YA NAZARIYA’

The television series to feature real-life stories of visually impaired and blind achievers in India across various fields

Renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah to be a part of the weekly television series, which will air every Saturday at 9:30-10:00AM starting September 21, 2013

New Delhi, September 3, 2013 - Score Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation working towards disseminating information on living life with blindness, is proud to announce the launch of a first of its kind television series, ‘NazarYaNazariya’ in association with Sightsavers, an international charity working to combat blindness in developing countries. The thirteen part series, which will be aired on Doordarshan National starting Saturday, September 21 at 9.30 AM, is aimed at challenging common perceptions and focusing on immense possibilities of life with blindness. Each episode of the television series will be introduced and signed off by the renowned actor, Naseeruddin Shah and anchored by Harsh Chhaya, a popular television actor.

George Abraham, CEO of Score Foundation said, “The Launch of ‘NazarYaNazariya’ is a momentous occasion for us at Score Foundation We are looking at this as a potential game changer in the way society and the country looks at visually impaired people. We believe blind people are as much a part of mainstream India as anybody else, and should be viewed as part of the Human Resource of the country. The need of the hour is to invest in them rather than merely looking after them. The television series not only narrates real life, inspiring stories of blind and visually impaired achievers, it also clearly demonstrates that they can productively participate and contribute to national life.”

“We are honoured to have partners such as, Naseeruddin Shah, Sightsavers International, Tech Mahindra Foundation, Union Bank of India and Doordarshan, who have joined hands with us in our mission of transforming the way the government, the bureaucracy, the corporate sector, and people at large see people with disability.”

Each episode of the television series will feature real-life stories of blind and visually impaired achievers whilst addressing diverse themes throughout the course of the 13 part series. The themes will range from Education, Employment, Business, Art and Culture to Marriage and Relationships.

Commenting on his association to the cause and television series, Naseeruddin Shah said, “When I did Sparsh in the early 1980s, I had the opportunity of interacting with several visually impaired individuals. I realized that the problem is not with the Nazar it is with the Nazariya. What is important here is that people like you and me need to break away from the societal stereotypes and commonly held perceptions about disability and success or happiness. This is the main message that we are trying to drive through this television series and we hope that we are able to achieve this goal by reaching out to more and more people of this country.”

‘NazarYaNazariya’ has been produced by QED, a film, events and exhibition production company and scripted by Sehba Imam, who has written scripts for popular children’s television series , GaliGaliSimSim, among others in the past.

The television series has been funded by Sightsavers International, Tech Mahindra Foundation, and Union Bank of India.

India houses over 63 million visually impaired people,of which around 8 million are completely blind. Most of these people are often marginalized, not given equal opportunities for education, career and employment; they are also ill informed, and not stimulated to explore their potential. The blind and visually impaired community is often viewed as liabilities as opposed to potential human resource for a developing country.

More than 285 million people in the world are visually impaired

Nearly 21% of the world's total visually impaired people live in India

More than 8 million people in India are blind

- World Health Organization

About Score Foundation
Score Foundation is a not-for-profit organization located in New Delhi, India. Established over 10 years ago, the organisation work towards disseminating information on living life with blindness. Through itsflagship project Eyeway, Score Foundation is trying to create a social environment that sees Visually Impaired people as full-fledged citizens of the country who need to be given equal opportunity to succeed.