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Sankara Nethralaya USA eye camps in Jharkhand

Sankara Nethralaya Successfully completes Two MESU eye camps in Jharkhand, India

On a bright and rather hot afternoon in Gandey, Jharkhand, at 3.21 p.m. on 7 April, ’25, two 42-feet long, 10-feet wide-bodied buses, one behind the other, were spotted rolling down in Katras towards the Community Health Center, Gandey, two full days ahead of the eye camp’s start date. These were the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) buses of Sankara Nethralaya making their way to the camp site.

Due to the upcoming Sri Rama Navami celebrations and to avoid any religious issues affecting the movement of the MESU Unit, they were mobilized to arrive a day sooner than required. Gandey is a rural village and part of the coal and mica mining area of Giridih district. Information of the upcoming free Eye Cataract Surgery Camp was made by audio speakers mounted on autorickshaws for 2 weeks leading to the camp’s start dates.

The founder of Sankara Nethralaya, Padma Bhushan Dr. S.S. Badarinath, was a true visionary who envisaged sending experienced doctors and support staff in buses to serve patients in the remotest parts of the country. These MESU units of Sankara Nethralaya were unique in the sense that unlike other establishments that used a mobile unit to perform eye screening only, they served the patients that could not afford to visit urban hospitals, in their own neighborhood, without having to travel to a nearby town or city. He offered them a world-class operation theatre on wheels—facilities that the needy would otherwise have no access to quality eyecare at no cost.

While Sankara Nethralaya was established in 1978, the Chennai MESU Unit was the very first MESU Unit and was established and operational in Chennai in 2011. The Jamshedpur MESU Unit was established and operational in Chaibasa, Jharkhand in 2016, with the support of TATA Steel. These units are specially designed by IIIT Madras, the insides of which are made of surgical steel.

One of the buses is used as a pre-screening section prior to a patient going into the Operation Theater. The second bus is also similar but used to pre-screen patients immediately prior to performing the surgery. These buses are parked side by side and connected by a specially designed vestibule for patient movement between the buses. The buses have a power generator to supply power to the Operation Theater 24x7 and to an adjacent building if required. These buses once positioned are covered by a metal shed so as to continue the entire camp, regardless of the inclement weather. TATA Steel has been the primary sponsor and conducts these camps in remote villages up to a 500 km distance.

This is the first time the SNUSA President and Sankara Ratna Bala Indurti, influenced donors, to contribute to the Adopt-a-Village Program in Jharkhand and secured spots for conducting the MESU camps.

Since Bala Indurti took on the role as the President of SNUSA 7 years ago, 2 MESU Units to the Hyderabad Telangana and Puttaparthi Andhra Pradesh locations have been added. The MESU Chennai unit established in 2011, by Padma Bhushan Dr. S.S. Badrinath, has to date conducted 137 eye camps, screened 124,664 patients and performed 19,550 surgeries.

The MESU Jharkhand unit established in 2016, sponsored by Ratan Tata, has conducted 114 eye camps, screened 51,202 patients and performed 12,564 surgeries, of which two camps were sponsored by SNUSA donors.

The MESU Hyderabad started operations in 2024 and was sponsored by SNUSA under the leadership of the Founder SV Acharya and President Bala Reddy Indurti. This unit has so far conducted 20 eye camps, screened 19,967 patients and has performed 2,354 surgeries.

The MESU Puttaparthi Unit was operational in Feb 2025 and was also sponsored by SNUSA, Anand Dasari and Moorthy Rekapalli. Sankara Nethralaya appreciated the Board of Advisors Anand Dasari and Treasurer Moorthy Rekapalli for their monetary support. This unit has so far conducted 2 eye camps, screened 1,217 patients and performed 176 surgeries.

While the MESU Ettayapuram Unit will be deployed to the field in August 2025, the MESU Visakhapatnam Unit will be deployed to the field in 2026.

The 113^th Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) Camp of the Jamshedpur MESU Unit was held in Gandey in Giridih district in Jharkhand, India from 9 to 17 April ’25. The camp was inaugurated by the MLA and Deputy Chief Minister, Smt. Kalpana Murmu Soren, on 9 April ’25 in Gandey.

The eye screening of patients was performed from the morning of 9 to 12 April. This was followed by four days of free cataract surgeries from 13 to 17 April. The staff operating the camp were from the Sankara Nethralaya Hospital in Kolkata. The camp was very successful as 692 patients were screened over 4 days. Free cataract surgeries for 74 patients selected from 106 were successfully performed without any complications in the specially designed MESU. Another 86 complex surgeries to be performed for free were referred to the main Hospital in Kolkata and Chennai.

This camp would not have been possible without the generous contribution of the Sponsor, Sri Kannan Venkateshwar in honor of his living parents, Sri C.U. Venkateshwar and Smt. Shanta Venkateshwar.

The second SNUSA sponsored MESU Camp, the 114^th Camp of the Jamshedpur MESU Unit was held in a remote village, Mohanpur in Giridih district from 30 April to 8 May ’25. The camp was inaugurated by Shri Sudivya Kumar Sonu, Cabinet Minister of Jharkhand, at Shri Shishu Vidya Mandir.

Mohanpur is a rural village and part of the agricultural and mining area of Giridih district. In this camp, the eye screening was extended from 4 to 6 days with 4 surgery days. On days 5 and 6, the camp had both eye screening and eye surgeries in parallel to increase opportunities for patients to attend.

The 114^th Jharkhand MESU camp was very successful as 592 patients were screened over 6 days. Free cataract surgeries for 74 patients from 113 screened were successfully performed without complications. Another 74 complex surgeries were referred to hospitals in Kolkata and Chennai.

For every patient that had cataract surgery, an intraocular lens was placed to restore vision immediately. All patients were treated as outpatients and given a pair of black glasses. After one month, they would receive reading glasses at no cost.

All patients needing further treatment were referred to Sankara Nethralaya Hospitals in Kolkata or Chennai. The visit cost for the patient and one attendant is nil, and Sankara Nethralaya covers stay and meals, requiring the patient to bear only travel expenses.

This camp was made possible by the contributions of sponsors Smt. Swarnim Kanth and Sri Kartik Ramakrishnan, residents of Atlanta, GA, USA.

To execute the camp smoothly, Meher Lanka, Trustee of SNUSA, engaged the BOXA Trust, an alumni association of St Xavier’s School Bokaro, to support logistics and approvals. Volunteers included Tej Bahadur, Amardeep Kumar, Anita Kumari, and Anjali Singh.

The BOXA Trust helped arrange ambulance transportation, food for staff, and night security for the MESU buses. Local media provided good coverage of the camp’s progress.

On the closing day, mementoes were presented to all SN staff, school teachers, and volunteers. As a token of appreciation to the school that hosted the camp, the BOXA Trust installed an RO Water Filtering System at the school.

Sankara Nethralaya thanks the sponsors Sri Kannan Venkateshwar (Camp #113), Smt. Swarnim Kanth and Sri Kartik Ramakrishnan (Camp #114), and local sponsor BOXA Trust for their selfless service in helping eliminate preventable blindness in rural India.

Bala Reddy Indurti also extended thanks to Chairman Dr. S. Surendran, President Dr. Girish Rao, GM Suresh Kumar, Project Coordinators Koushik Adhikary, Ujjal Sinha, SNUSA Founder SV Acharya, EVP Shyam Appali, Secretary Vamsi Eruvaram, and Trustee Meher Lanka for their unwavering support.

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Sankara Nethralaya USA Meet 'n Greet with Shri Shankar Subramonian

The Sankara Nethralaya USA (SNUSA), Atlanta Team organized a Meet 'n Greet event in honor of Sri Shankar Subramonian on Saturday 26 April ’25.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, Sri Sankar Subromanian, resides in Atlanta. He has always believed in giving back to the community. He has actively participated in local Community uplifting programs and contributed generously to scores of institutions each year as well as established research centers globally.

He was inducted into the Engineering Wall of Fame at the University of New Brunswick, Canada in 2022. With the support of distinguished alumni, the IIT Madras, has setup the Sankar Center of Excellence for Diabetic Research in September 2024, marking a milestone in the fight against diabetes. In collaboration with Emory University's Global Diabetes Research Center (EGDRC), this Centre aims to bring together academic innovation and practical solutions to address diabetes, one of the world’s most pressing health issues.

Sri Shankar Subramonian was instrumental in establishing a MESU (Mobile Eye Surgical Unit) in his hometown, Ettayapuram, Tamil Nadu with a generous contribution of $350,000. This fifth MESU unit of Sankara Nethralaya will be built and be ready for operational deployment, serving southern Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, by August 2025. With this addition, Sankara Nethralaya would be able to conduct over 80 MESU eye camps each year. Shankar Subramonian's family members Wife Lakshmi Shankar, daughter Ambika Shankar, Son Ashok Kumar and grandson attended the event.

The SN USA President, and Sankara Ratna, Sri Bala Indurti, felicitated Sri. Shankar Subramonian and announced his induction as a Brand Ambassador of SNUSA. We thank him for his magnanimous contribution to support the Mission of Sankara Nethralaya to eliminate preventable blindness in remote villages in India, where eye care nor eye surgery facilities exist. Sankara Nethralaya is the only one institution that is authorized by the Indian Government to perform cataract eye surgeries in remote locations in their specially designed and well equipped Mobile Eye Surgical Units. All other complex eye surgeries are performed in their closest hospital operated by Sankara Nethralaya also at no cost to the patient. All other competing organizations perform eye tests and perform surgeries in their hospitals, and not onsite. Sri Shankar Subramonian handed over a cheque for $350,000 to Treasurer Moorthy Rekapalli in presence of SN Team and Priests.

The event was organized by the SNUSA President, Sri Bala Indurti, Treasurer Sri Moorthy Rekapalli, Trustees Srini Vangimalla, Meher Lanka, Dr. Madhuri Namuduri, Cultural Chair Neelima Gaddamanugu, Sports Chair Ramesh Chaparala, MESU Adopt-A-Village Chair Dr. Kishore Rasamallu, Chapter VP, Rajesh Tadikamalla, Media Chair Giri Kotagiri, Committee members Sridhar Julapally, Paddy Rao Atmuri, and the Atlanta Chapter leads including Srinivas Durgam, Ram Durvasula, Shilpa Uppuluri, Dr. Janardhan Pannela, Ramaraju Gadiraju, Venky Neelam, Sandeep Kowtha, Durga Gora, and Biju Das. Youth Coordinator Charithra Julapally.

The event was well attended by two of its Board of Advisors, Trustees from Metro Atlanta as well as its volunteers and patrons. Professional-grade dances in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi by local Dance Academies (led by Sashikala Penumarthi, Neelima Gaddamanugu, Revathi Komanduri, Sobiya Kishan, and Jassotha Balasubraminaym) were punctuated by pleasing music rendered live, by all Singer cum Chapter Leads, Madhavi Uppuluri and Usha Mocherla with devotional songs as well as catchy film tunes, as well as a Violin performance by Jassotha Balasubramanyam’s students. The evening was a celebration of not only art but also the spirit of community in Giving, with every singer and volunteer playing a vital role in raising funds for the noble cause.

The following Sankara Nethralaya members came from different cities: Dr. Kishore Chivukula, Board of Advisor from Auburn Alabama, Executive Vice President Shyam Appali from Los Angeles CA, Board of Trustee Adi Morreddy and Women Committee Chair Rekha Reddy from Phoenix AZ, Board of Trustee Banu Ramkrishnan from Washington DC, and Board of Trustee Dr. Keshav Bhat from Raleigh, North Carolina. Board of Trustees Meher Lanka was instrumental in identification of the venue and made arrangements for stay for the visiting guests & Neelima Gaddamanugu coordinated with Priests, Choreographers, Singers, and Decorations team to make this program successful.

Sri Madhav Durbha, Dr. Prasad Garimella and Sri K.M. Venkata Narayan, Executive Director, Emory Global Diabetes Research Center, elaborated various magnanimous activities and charitable causes supported by Sri Shankar Subramonian.

The following prominent community leaders and MESU Sponsors attended the event and shared their experiences with Sankara Nethralaya: Dr. BK Mohan, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, K. Mohan Reddy, Ravi Ponangi, Murli Reddy, Ravi Kandimalla, Amar Duggasani, Balarami Reddy, Srikanth Konda, Kiran Pasham, Prabhakar Reddy Eragam, Anil Jagarlamudi, Bharath Madadi, Vamshi Madadi, Tiru Chillapalli, Jagadeesh Cheemarla, Narayana Rekapalli, Sheela Lingam, Adi Chinnatimma, Gopal Nair, Indu Nair, Praveen Akula, Ravi Gella, Praveen Akula, Raj Vuchatu, Raghava Tadavarthi, Kamal Satuluru, Sreeram Reddy Palla, and Dr. Pramod Reddy Kaila.

The chief priest of the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, Sri Gopal Bhattar, and Four other priests chanted sacred mantras as the lamp was lit at the start of the event, and later, blessing Sri Sankara Subramoniam and Sankara Nethralaya for their service to the community.

Under the leadership and tireless efforts of Sri Bala Reddy Indurti, over the last 9 years, SNUSA has seen a significant increase in awareness of its charitable activities in several States of the USA, and annual funds raised for the needy patients in India.

The Master of Ceremonies were Sri Shyam Appali and Sri Viju Chiluveru. The Photo/ Videography was covered by Sri Venkat Kuttua. Food was provided by Achis Restaurant. Sri Shyam Appali gave the Vote of Thanks.

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