PENAVMOTA FOUNDATION is a nonprofit organization incorporated on 2nd December 2024, created with a clear purpose: to improve the health, education, and sporting opportunities of visually impaired individuals across India. The foundation was established after recognizing that people with visual disabilities face not only physical barriers, but also social neglect, lack of access to quality education, limited healthcare support, and minimal exposure to competitive sports. While talent and determination exist, opportunities often do not. PENAVMOTA FOUNDATION works to bridge this gap by building systems of support that allow visually impaired individuals to live with dignity, independence, and confidence. Our core focus areas are: Health – physical fitness, mental well-being, rehabilitation, and access to adaptive training Education – awareness, skill development, access to learning resources, and long-term empowerment Sports – promotion, training, and competitive opportunities in blind and para sports A major part of our work involves developing and promoting blind sports as a legitimate, structured, and competitive field equal to mainstream sports. We actively challenge myths such as “blind people cannot play competitive sports” by supporting athletes, building awareness, and collaborating with experienced guide runners, coaches, and sports professionals.
Penav Mota
Manjula Mota
Arvind Mota
Penav Mota is the founder and director of PENAVMOTA FOUNDATION. He is a practicing advocate at the Metropolitan Magistrate Courts and Sessions Courts in Mumbai and is also a nationally recognized visually impaired endurance athlete.
He lost his vision at the age of 15 years due to retinal detachment, which resulted in complete loss of vision in his right eye and significant loss in his left eye. Despite this, he pursued his education and professional career with determination and went on to complete:
B.A. from Joshi Bedekar College, Thane.
LL.B. from Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai.
LL.M. in Criminal & Security Law from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar.
MBA in Sports & Event Management from Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune.
From childhood, Penav Mota showed deep interest in sports, especially cricket and football. When visual impairment limited his access to mainstream sports, he adapted by entering blind sports, endurance running, cycling, swimming, and chess. Over time, sports became not only his personal strength but also a platform to prove that visual disability does not define human capability.
He is also the current President of Blind Graduates Forum of India, an NGO working for the empowerment of visually impaired individuals since 1985.
His personal journey of facing discrimination, lack of infrastructure, and limited sporting access inspired him to establish PENAVMOTA FOUNDATION, with the aim of ensuring that other visually impaired individuals do not have to struggle alone for basic opportunities in health, education, and sports.