VOSAP Enablement Event in Shillong | Distribution Camp of Sunbots Smart Glasses to Specially Abled People
SHILLONG, MEGHALAYA — In a landmark moment for disability inclusion in India’s Northeast, Voice of Specially Abled People (VOSAP) held its first-ever enablement event in the region on August 10, 2026, at Lok Bhavan, Shillong. The occasion marked the distribution of AI-enabled Sunbots smart glasses to visually impaired beneficiaries, each carefully evaluated and selected to ensure the technology reached those who could benefit from it most.
The event was graced by Shri Chandrashekhar H. Vijayashankar, Hon’ble Governor of Meghalaya, as Chief Guest, alongside Dr. Uttam Ojha, Advisor to Voice of SAP, as Guest of Honour. VOSAP Founder Shri Pranav Desai joined the ceremony virtually from Los Angeles, addressing the gathering late into the night, U.S. time, to be present for this historic milestone.
A Governor’s Gratitude
In his remarks, the Governor offered heartfelt praise for VOSAP’s work and for Pranav Desai personally, calling attention to the deeper meaning behind the mission. He said:
“Your NGO, you are doing wonderful job, that too particularly Mr. Desai, I am really very grateful to him. He is doing wonderful job. It is not an ordinary job. Just because he suffered out of polio, keeping that example in the eye, how he was able to achieve and come to this level, he would like to see that rest of the others also should not suffer and feel that they are handicapped.”
The Governor added that VOSAP’s beneficiaries, too, “can live like any other,” with somebody to support them along the way — a sentiment that resonated deeply with the families and beneficiaries gathered at Lok Bhavan.
In a gesture of warmth and hospitality, the Governor extended a standing personal invitation to Pranav Desai:
“Already I requested Mr. Desai, once you come to Meghalaya, I wish you come to Meghalaya. We are likely, if at all you come, you stay in Lok Bhavan. Whenever you wish to come, you need not go and stay anywhere. Lok Bhavan always welcomes you — you come, you come to our Lok Bhavan and be our guest so long as you stay here.”
Pranav Desai: Meghalaya’s Growth and a Trillion-Dollar Vision for Divyangjan
Addressing the gathering, VOSAP Founder Pranav Desai thanked the Governor for his deep engagement with the cause and for hosting the beneficiaries. He linked the day’s distribution camp to a much larger national vision — one in which India’s growth story includes, rather than sidelines, its Divyangjan (persons with disabilities).
Desai spoke of VOSAP’s Vision 2047 for Divyangjan, a roadmap he has presented to the Union Finance Minister and to the Prime Minister of India, envisioning a significant economic contribution from the disability sector as India moves toward becoming a Viksit Bharat (developed nation).
He praised Meghalaya specifically for its economic momentum, noting the state’s rapid GDP growth and its ambitions for the years ahead:
“I am very happy that Meghalaya has picked up such pace — one of the fastest GDP growth rates in India, 13 percent or thereabouts, one of the highest I have seen anywhere. And by 2032, you aim to triple the economy — it is 8 billion right now, and tripling that, I can see the entire machinery here is well aligned, which is why this has been possible.”
Desai tied this growth story directly back to inclusion, arguing that a truly developed India must reserve space within its economic ambitions for persons with disabilities:
“Our vision is that every Divyang person too — if Viksit Bharat is going to be a 30 trillion dollar economy, then at least 3 percent, 1 trillion dollars, should come from the Divyang sector, at minimum. If it is more, all the better. And we will keep working toward that every single day.”
Looking ahead, Desai outlined VOSAP’s scale-up plans across India, describing real-time usage dashboards that track how beneficiaries engage with the devices, partnerships already signed in Gujarat and Goa, and an ambitious ten-year target:
“Right now we have reached one lakh people. Our goal over the next ten years is to reach out to every state, including Meghalaya, through a structured program, and to help one million people. It may even be more — the fifteen beneficiaries here today are a very small number, but this is the beginning.”
He closed his address by framing the smart glasses not as charity, but as investment — enabling recipients to become contributors to India’s economy rather than recipients of welfare, and thanked the Governor once again for Meghalaya’s partnership in the mission.
A Historic First Mass Enablement Event for the Northeast
This event marks the first time VOSAP has conducted a distribution camp in India’s Northeast, extending its assistive-technology mission — into a new and important frontier. The beneficiaries in Shillong, all visually impaired and selected after careful evaluation, are now equipped with AI-enabled smart glasses designed to support greater independence in daily life.
The event was also supported by advisors Dr. Ojha and Dr. Sahani, and the Additional Chief Secretary’s office, reflecting a strong collaborative push between VOSAP and the Meghalaya state government to bring inclusive technology to the region.
As VOSAP looks to expand its reach across every Indian state over the next decade, the Shillong event stands as a powerful symbol: that the journey toward a Viksit Bharat is one where no one — regardless of geography or ability — is left behind!
