Paul Muddha

Muddha was orphaned as a child and is visually impaired. After sustained advocacy for admission he became the first visually impaired student to complete an MBA at Bangalore University, an achievement that the trust says encouraged other visually impaired people to seek admission to higher education there. He went on to work as a manager in a nationalised bank.

Snehadeep Trust for the Disabled was set up in 1999 by three visually impaired graduates who wanted others with disabilities to have access to the opportunities they had had to fight for. Its main aims are to provide food and accommodation, education, and training and personal development support to visually impaired and physically disabled people, and its work has since extended to children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

A residential computer training centre, which Muddha has described as a principal goal of the trust, opened in April 2009 as a free residential course for visually and physically disabled students, alongside coaching in leadership, motivation and communication. The trust also runs an integrated education project across government and aided schools, provides Braille books, electronic texts and hostel facilities, and offers career guidance, counselling and job placement support to students after class ten. It has also run eye check-up camps and funded eye operations.

By 2019 the trust reported that it had helped place more than 300 students in employment. It later reported having supported around 3,000 students and enabled 595 young people to obtain corporate jobs.

Muddha received a state award from the Governor of Karnataka in 2002 and a national award from President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2004, given for being the best employee among disabled people in the country and for social service. In 2017 he received an honorary doctorate from an institution in Singapore.[2][3][4]