PlanetRead

PlanetRead is a not-for-profit organization registered in CA, USA and in India. It is dedicated to reading and literacy development around the world and has a solid track record of work in India. PlanetRead was originally created around the idea of Same Language Subtitling (SLS), now a globally recognized innovation for mass literacy and reading development on TV. SLS for literacy was first conceived and researched in 1996 at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Then PlanetRead pioneered the concept of “Same-Language Subtitling” (SLS) for mass literacy, by suggesting its implementation on the immensely popular Bollywood film songs on TV in India.

PlanetRead has the simple vision of a reading planet – a planet where everyone can read and have access to interesting and affordable reading opportunities in both his/her native or other language(s). We contribute to literacy worldwide by innovating and implementing simple, scalable, and cost-effective solutions, especially using mass media and information technologies. We have already used SLS on several song-based TV programs on Doordarshan, India’s national broadcaster. Our main target group is the early-literates, people who are officially “literate” but who cannot read, for example, the headlines of a newspaper.