Thirty-six-year-old Venkatesh A lives with his family in South Karnataka. He was born with a degenerative eye condition which resulted in gradual sight loss. Venkatesh could only study till Class 8 due to his parents’ poor financial condition, and he started working from an early age.
 
He worked as a labourer, loading goods into a lorry, but as his eyesight deteriorated, he couldn’t perform that job. Desperate to make ends meet, for his wife and young daughter, he was desperately looking for employment options.
 
Venkatesh called the Eyeway Helpdesk in Bangalore and shared how his family was dependent on his wife’s daily wages which were far from enough. He sought help to acquire a job but given his educational qualifications, the counselor advised him to pursue self-employment options.
 
The counselor not only apprised him of state sponsored loan subsidies and other financial provisions, but also put him in touch with another visually impaired person in the same district, who availed a government scheme to successfully set up a small business.
 
From this insightful interaction, Venkatesh realized the need for proper documentation and repeated follow ups with state agencies. And while he waited for the said loan scheme (Aadhar Yojana) to initiate in his district, he applied for a small-scale business loan through his local Grameen bank.
 
Once again, he approached the Eyeway counselor to facilitate his communication with the Bank Manager and other officials. As a result, Venkatesh was able to secure the loan amount to start a petty shop along with his wife.
 
Team Eyeway