Rekha Jhunjhunwala, wife of late ace investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has joined the Sankara Eye Foundation, India (SEFI) as Board of Trustees. Jhunjhunwala will continue the philanthropy work that her husband had initiated with SEFI earlier. Her charitable initiatives include contribution towards healthcare and education and she has supported multiple organizations involved in these domains.
“I would like to thank Chairman S.V. Balasubramaniam and Founder & Managing Trustee Padma Dr. R V Ramani for giving me an opportunity to serve the under-privileged as part of the Board of Trustees. As far back as 1977, Dr. Ramani unveiled a Mission of working for the poor. I am happy to say that the Foundation has now established 13 eye hospitals in the country, committed to providing world class treatment to the needy. The Foundation has already undertaken 2.2 million (22 lakh) free surgeries so far and will continue to undertake 2.5 lakh free surgeries this year. There cannot be a better vision than this and I would like to wish SEFI and Dr. Ramani, greater success,” Jhunjhunwala said.
As part of its various outreach programmes Dr. R.V. Ramani launched Gift of Vision to ensure high quality, cost effective, readily available eye care at the doorsteps of Rural India. “Rainbow” Preventive Eye Care Programme for School children, “Swagatham” for the new born are ongoing preventive eye care initiatives. “Maitri” programme is a comprehensive rehabilitative program for the incurably blind. “Vision Care Technician Training” is an ophthalmic vocational course to empower young women from the poor socio-economic sections of society.
The upcoming hospital in Hyderabad will function on a unique hybrid model, wherein the needy poor from the villages constituting majority of the beneficiaries are totally provided free eye surgeries, while the middle income and the affluent, the affordable sections of the society will pay for their treatment.
Sankara Eye Foundation India performs over 2 lakh free surgeries a year and is aiming to take the number forward to half a million. The Foundation is also widening its presence and outreach to more parts of the country. As part of this, it is coming up with two new Hospitals –one in Hyderabad and the other in Varanasi.
