In line with Amway’s vision of helping people live better lives, Amway India partnered with Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) to set up a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Training Center for the visually impaired at in Chennai. The project is aimed at empowering the visually impaired individuals by imparting knowledge and skills needed for a career in the BPO sector.

The Amway- IAB BPO training center in Chennai was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister for Department of Industries, Steel Control and Special Initiatives, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Thiru M.C. Sampath. Also, present on the occasion were Mr. Gursharan Cheema, Senior Vice President North & South, Amway India and Mr. Abdul Raheem, Vice President, Indian Association for the Blind. 

Speaking on the occasion, Honorable Minister, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be part of such a noble cause. I wish Amway India and IAB all the success in their endeavor to help the differently abled in empowering them to achieve economic independence. I welcome and encourage such people-friendly initiatives.” 

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Gursharan Cheema, Amway India said, “At Amway, we firmly believe that disability is just a mindset and with appropriate support, people with any kind of disability but a strong will have the ability to pursue meaningful careers. With this vision, we have set up the BPO training center in Chennai for the visually impaired. The center will be working towards uplifting and mentoring the visually impaired besides developing and honing skills so that they can have an equally enriching life and are not left out. Amway is committed to igniting the entrepreneurial spirit and providing growth opportunities to all, especially the deprived section of the society.”  Besides the BPO training center, Amway in association with IAB has also set up a computer training center and Braille -Audio library to support the education of the visually impaired in Tamil Nadu.  

The new BPO training center in Chennai will allow visually impaired students to gain hands-on training in voice and non-voice processes and further employment opportunities.  The new training center has a capacity to skill over 60 visually impaired students in a year.  This BPO training center in Chennai is the second center exclusively set up for the visually impaired after the Amway-IAB BPO training center in Madurai. Amway’s BPO project for the visually impaired commenced in Madurai in the year 2013 with over 30 seats. More than 300 visually impaired students have been skilled so far at the Amway -IAB BPO training center and close to 70% of the students have been placed either in-house or have been employed in the government or the private sector. Today, this center in Madurai has a capacity to skill over 120 students a year. With the acquisition of few business processes, this center in Madurai also provides employment to over 80 differently abled individuals.  

Talking on the initiative, Mr. Abdul Raheem, said, “Nothing is impossible for visually impaired to achieve. When equal opportunities are given to them, they are ready to prove themselves and compete with the mainstream. With supporters like Amway, we are able to provide facilities and opportunities to our students to recognize their ability and support them to achieve success in their endeavor to become economically independent.”

As part of the National Project for the Visually Impaired, Amway India has undertaken various other initiatives to support the cause of visually impaired. Amway has supported more than 85000 visually impaired students with braille textbooks across 12 States. Amway also provides computer training to the visually impaired, and so far, has set-up 18 computer centers across the country. Beyond this, Amway has launched a travel and tourism course in Kolkata, set up a BPO training center in Madurai and music academies for the visually impaired in Chandigarh, Raipur, and Guwahati. Amway’s commitment to educating the visually-impaired also led Amway to launch an Android-based application ‘Accessible Reader’, which leverages available text-to-speech engines and makes it convenient for the visually impaired to read digital documents.  Amway has also taken up the initiative of digitizing educational material of various central universities and national institutes.