Sankara Nethralaya News
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy Conducted a Session on Effective Service Delivery on 11.04.2015
Mr. S S G K Murali is conducting the Session
The session was very lively and interactive with a good number of participants contributing to the content of the session with their comments and personal experiences in their sphere of work.
The concept of customer service, profit chain and the benefits that would accrue to the organization when excellent customer care is rendered on were highlighted. Referrals, Positive word of mouth, standing apart from the competition and increase in revenues were discussed.
Videos were shown on handling different types of customers such as an
• Angry customer
• Impatient customer
• Passive customer
Further a couple of short videos on bad customer service were screened and the participants were asked to comment on the deficiencies that they observed on the delivery of service. The golden rules of customer service were discussed. It was felt by all the participants that given the intensity of the competition prevailing in the health care sector, in addition to quality of care, the service levels are very important to drive patient footfall and if there are inadequacies in this area it will clearly reflect on the growth of the hospital.
All the participants were very happy with the quality of the workshop. The facilitator of the workshop asked the participants about their impressions on the workshop as they were his customers. All the participants gave an excellent feedback on the session and opined that they were delighted customers at the end of the session
Sankara Nethralaya Academy opens up a Wealth of career choices in health care
A career counselling session was organized by The Sankara Nethralaya Academy (TSNA),a unit of Medical Research Foundation, Chennai) a forerunner and leader in the area of imparting healthcare and health management technology which draws its strength from its parent organizations, Sankara Nethralaya, the Medical Research Foundation and Vision Research Foundation, a State of the Art Research Facility on its College road main campus, Chennai on 12.04.2015, Sunday to facilitate students completing their schooling to discover new and exciting academic options, a large number of young people had an opportunity to discover a whole range of courses in the healthcare sector that could help them build a great career.
Poor employability is the main factor behind unemployment, ironically while employment opportunities are on the raise there are many who still find it difficult to secure a job on account of various factors. This meet was meant o focus on this lacuna. Addressing the plus two students and their parents during the Healthcare Career Counseling, organized by The Sankara Nethralaya Academy in Chennai, Prof. Irungovel, Manager-Counseling, Sankara Nethralaya, stressed the need for skill development. He outlined the career scope emerging in Healthcare sector and advised the parents to limit themselves with career counseling and leave the decision making by the concerned students, based on their interest.
Earlier, welcoming the gathering, Mr. A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar, explained the service orientation under the visionary leadership of the Living Legend Padma Bhushan Dr. SS Badrinath. He briefed on the educational facilities and collaborations of the academy, for offering a purposeful education to the society.
Prof. Ramani, Principal, further added that employability can be enriched only by acquiring knowledge, skills and attitude, over and above the qualifications, reinforcing the uniqueness of this academy which is approved by Healthcare Sector Skill Council (NSDC). He also detailed about the extensive scholarship schemes offered by Sankara Nethralaya for the meritorious and economically weaker students.
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy offers several courses like BSc (Medical Laboratory Technology), BSc (Ophthalmic Dispensing), Fellowship of Dispensing Opticians, BBA (Hospital & Healthcare Management) and Diploma in Ophthalmic Nursing Assistant. The details and curriculum of these courses were explained by the concerned faculty heads Dr. Anuja, Dr. Coral, Mr. Senthilkumar and Ms. Renganayaki, who also outlined the career opportunities after course completion.
This academy has requisite facilities like laboratories, hostels, canteen, transport etc. as explained by Ms. Sreedevi, Manager-Academics, who also proposed the vote of thanks. The program concluded with clarifications and individual counseling and commencement of admission process. Further details and applications can be obtained through the academy website www.thesnacademy.ac.in
The ‘Temple of the Eye’ is showered with blessings from its patron Saints on it ‘Thanksgiving’ day
Divine intervention by a seemingly invisible benign ‘Divine Hand’ at work has been the hallmark of many of Sankara Nethralaya’s achievements, right from its very inception to its growth to its present status, there have been many instance of destiny and fortune favouring the institution in the most incredible ways, this ‘Divine Will’ was evident in the fact that the Sage and Seer, who sowed the seeds for its inception with his emphatic appeal to an assembly of Doctors to serve their countrymen and blessed that Sankara Nethralaya will shine and serve humanity as long as the Sun and Stars shine in the sky was presiding over its ‘Thanksgiving day’ being observed by the institution in its 37th year of service on the 18th of April 2015 at its main campus in Chennai.
The ‘Thanksgiving’ function began at 3:00pm sharp with the mellifluous voice of Bombay sisters enthralling the audience at the packed to capacity Sri V.D.Swami Auditorium. A highly moved Dr. SS.Badrinath, Founder and Chairman Emeritus started the proceedings in an auspicious manner by paying his humble pranams at the feet of the Kanchi Pontiffs, His Holiness Shri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal and His Holiness Shri Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal who had most benignly accepted to grace the function and bless the institution and employees. He recalled the inspiring words of the Seer made 37 years ago which laid the foundation for Sankara Nethralaya and how it continued to inspire him to this day. He extended a warm welcome to the gathering and explained that the institution in general and he in particular had been ever grateful to the support and encouragement received from society and since it was humanly not possible to thank the thousands of people who had helped the institution along its way, the institution was dedicating the day as a symbolic ‘Thanksgiving Day’ to express its profuse gratitude to all those who made it happen from within and outside the institution. He declared with pride that Sankara Nethralaya has been adjudged as the ‘Numero Uno’ in the field of ophthalmic care in the country and thanked his team of colleagues for their dedication and hard work which kept the institution ahead and on top.
Delivering the Anugraha Bhashanam His Holiness Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal recalled the role of noble souls like Shri Vaidhya Subramania Iyer and Shri V.D.Swami in making Dr SS.Badrinath’s dream a reality, he remarked in lighter vein that if he had not restrained the young Badrinath from going back to the USA, he may have been an affluent doctor over there, sending his contributions to the institution from the USA. The seer observed poignantly that while Sankara Nethralaya was observing the day as a day of Thanksgiving to its well wishers, the institution deserved a big thanks from society for its great work done with dedication and often cost free.
Delivering his Anugraha Bhashnam His Holiness Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal traced the noble tradition of delivering cost free eye care to the needy as being thousands of years old and evidence of the same being engraved in the stone inscriptions of ancient temples, he underlined that the great rishis had emphasized on the qualities of sacrifice and service to mankind being practiced by Sankara Nethralaya with fervor. The Seer underlined that vision was the most critical of all the human faculties and congratulated Sankara Nethralaya for the excellent work being done in the field of eye care, eye research and education in ophthalmology. He declared with pride that devotees of the mutt from all over the country were making frequent requests to start a Sankara Nethralaya in their region with promises of taking care of the cost of the infrastructure, a testimony to the quality of work being done by the institution. The Swamigal enlightened the audience by observing that while it is natural for everyone to strive for a better ‘Standard of life’ such a pursuit should not be restricted to a good job, house and material comforts but a greater involvement in charity, compassion and service to fellow human beings, he emphasized that the more that one contributed to charity for noble causes like healthcare and education the more they and their progeny will be blessed.
The day witnessed the honouring and rewarding of Sankara Nethralaya associates for their great support to the institution and employees who had discharged their duties in an exemplary manner, by the Acharyas.
Thoughtful contributions from old friends add great value to Sankara Nethralaya’s teaching and training initiatives.
The most noble part of charity it is said is giving the right thing to the right person at the right time, Sankara Nethralaya’s friends and well wishers have a glorious tradition of adhering to this dictum, they have an uncanny knack of knowing the needs of the institution they cherish and hold in high regard and make generous contributions to fulfill its needs with great humility and grace. It was a memorable day for the Elite School of Optometry, the academic arm of Sankara Nethralaya when its old friends and well wishers Lion Raghavan, Shrimathi Revathi, Shrimathi Bhavini and Shri Rajan Gopalan rose gloriously to the occasion to meet its critical teaching,training and diagnostic needs by presenting ‘Slit Lamps’ an indispensable device in eye examinations as aids towards the same.
The simple function at the Elite School of Optometry campus on the 15th of April 2015, began with a melodious invocation by the students of the ESO, this was followed by a warm welcome to the esteemed donors and the entire gathering by Dr. R.Krishna Kumar, Principal, Elite School of Optometry after which a poignant note on the genesis of the generous gesture of the day and the graceful people behind it was made by Shrimathi Anuradha Narayanan, Lecturer and Vision Screening Coordinator Elite School of Optometry. The new implements were inaugurated by Dr. Pramod Bhende, Director, Medical Affairs, Sankara Nethralaya in the August presence of Lion Captain Venkat Rajaram, President Lions Club of Central Madras, Lion G.V.Raman , Lion Raghavan, Lion Lady Revathi Raghavan, Lion S.N.Harinarayanan and Lion Andal Rajaram, to the thunderous applause of the gathering.
The Elite School of Optometry expressed its profound gratitude by honouring the donors Lion Raghavan and Shrimathi Revathi, donors Mrs. Bhavini and Mr. Rajan Gopalan of Atlanta, USA, long time friends of Sankara Nethralaya and Lion S.N.Harinarayanan, were remembered on the occasion by Sankara Nethralaya in general and the Elite School of Optometry in particular and the institutions expressed their gratitude to this ever generous couple for their donation.
Senior faculty member of ESO, Professor Vijayaraghavan blessed the students of the ESO gathered on the occasion. The momentous function came to an end with a profuse expression of thanks to the esteemed donors and the Lions Club of Central Madras for their thoughtful and generous gesture towards complementing the teaching, training and diagnostic initiatives of the ESO, by Ms. A.Vijayalakshmi, Manager-Optometry, Sankara Nethralaya.
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy’s 9th batch of Hospital Management program receives enthusiastic response.
Mr A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar is briefing about SN Academy
The genesis and milestones of Sankara Nethralaya and The Sankara Nethralaya Academy (TSNA) were detailed by Mr. A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar, TSNA when he presented a virtual tour of both the institutions functioning under the visionary leadership of Dr. SS Badrinath – The Founder – The Sankara Nethralaya Academy and Chairman Emeritus – Sankara Nethralaya, Medical Research Foundation.
Dr. Pramod S Bhende – Director Medical Affairs – Sankara Nethralaya is addressing the Healthcare Management Program Candidates
Dr. Pramod S Bhende – Director Medical Affairs & Deputy Director – Department of Shri Bhagwan Mahavir Vitreo retinal Services of Sankara Nethralaya – Inaugurated and addressing the Hospital Management Program Candidates and he strongly underlined the need for professional administrators to be in symbiotic relation with doctors to run the health care sector whose demand for quality services at low costs is increasing, in an effective manner.
Prof S. Ramani, Principal, SN Academy is addressing the the Healthcare Management Program Candidates
Addressing the participants Prof S. Ramani, Principal the SN Academy highlighted the importance of training in healthcare management. Healthcare industry is the booming sector and demands of trained personals are needed in each section of healthcare field.
TSNA the academic arm of its illustrious parent institution and world class eye care provider is committed to sharing the knowledge and experience of its parent institution to enhance the overall functioning of the Medicare industry, by improving every one of its multiple facets.
The need for better and more professional management of hospitals and better healthcare delivery became imperative in view of greater awareness levels and rising expectations of patients and their families, entry of Indian and overseas players into the health care industry, India especially South India becoming a preferred healthcare destination of patients from all over the world and the disturbing increase and complexity of ailments.
Shri PR Ravindran – A Chartered-cum-Cost Accountant and former Chief General Manager – Sankara Nethralaya is lecturing the participants
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy launched its Weekend Certificate Course in Hospital Management program (CCHM) in primarily to enhance the capabilities of healthcare professionals and to help them overcome the internal challenges and succeed in a tough marketplace.
The Objective of the program was to provide hospital management professionals with a broad perspective of the topics related to management with emphasis on better health care delivery.
The pedagogy and content of the CCHM program are health care specific and designed to address the concerns of hospital administrators / executives / supervisors and equip them with the knowledge required to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
The course is designed to increase the overall understanding of management issues and concepts by mid-level and senior managers to help them make well–informed decisions.
The course has since its first batch attracted mid and senior level professionals from small to high profile, multi-specialty hospitals and all of them have unilaterally found it to be of great relevance and purpose to their vocation and so far 180 healthcare executives from 176 organizations enrolled and passed this unique program
The course will be conducted over 12 weekends ( Saturdays – between 2.00 pm to 5 pm) at the Sankara Nethralaya Main campus, College road, Chennai – 600 006)
The maximum number of students per batch has been kept at 20 to enable closer interaction and personalized, in- depth discussions between the faculty and students.
The Course was well received with senior management personnel’s like Directors, Medical Professionals, Management Executives from reputed healthcare institutions in the city enrolling in it.
The First week session is Financial Management in Healthcare by Shri PR Ravindran – A Chartered-cum-Cost Accountant, with more than 37 years experience – handled this subject and made them understand the art and science of finance to the non finance members.
Lions Club and Sankara Nethralaya take a giant step towards a common ideal and cherished cause
As two seasoned players in the battle against blindness the Lions Club and Sankara Nethralaya are only well aware that the enemy strikes across a wide area and a vast population and the only way to mount the counter offensive is by enhancing the quality and size of the relief army. As a nation with the dubious distinction of having the largest diabetic population the Lions Club realized that the assault against diabetes caused blindness or diabetic retinopathy called for a more concerted and stronger effort.
The Lions Club launched its ‘Lions Diabetic Retinopathy skills transfer training program’ aimed at providing the required expertise and special knowledge to diagnose and treat diabetic retinopathy the second largest cause of blindness after cataract in the country, with its old and trusted ally ‘Sankara Nethralaya on 7th of April 2015, observed as ‘World Health Day’ at the Sri VD.Swami Auditorium, Sankara Nethralaya main campus. Starting the proceedings on a vibrant note Lion M.V Raghunathan one of the chief architects of the initiative extended a warm welcome to the distinguished Chief Guest of the day His Excellency Shri K.Rosaish, the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu, fellow Lions, dignitaries and participants, he recalled the association between Lions and Sankara Nethralaya since the early days and described that the partner institution was built with honesty, integrity and a burning passion to serve by Lion Dr S.S.Badrinath.
Senior Vitreo-Retinal Consultants Dr. Rajiv Raman and Dr. Suganeswari gave informative and interesting inputs on the ailment against which the initiative was being launched, they had a high word of praise for Lion Dr. Chandrasekhar Shetty and Lion S.N.Harinarayanan for their critical role in evolving the program. Dr Rajiv Raman described that the program would be based on the key steps of screening, training and treatment. Acknowledging the praise and kind words showered on Sankara Nethralaya Dr S.S.Badrinath underlined that it was the great teamwork of his colleagues that took the credit for the same. He gave an account of the staggering figures involving diabetes and its concomitant diabetic retinopathy which came to light through a epidemiological study conducted with Dr. Rajiv Raman as the principle Invesigator .Dr SS.Badrinath recalled that his association with the Lions Club dated back to his days in the US when Lion Srinivasan most gracefully accepted his request and helped in procuring a ‘Photocoagulator’ a critical device in treating vitreo-retinal patients at the Voluntary Health Services (VHS). He expressed his deep gratitude to Lion Raghunathan, Lion Lady Mrs. Raghunathan and their son living in New York for their most generous and continued monetary and moral support of Sankara Nethralaya’s community eye care initiatives, he thanked Dr. Chandrasekhar Shetty whom he described as a trusted advisor of Sankara Nethralaya for his timely guidance and to Lion S.N.Harinarayanan who spent all his day at the Sankara Nethralaya, serving patients and helping staff with their assignments. Highlighting that India’s medical professionals are among the best in the world he called for training,training and more training to make them effective and give the nation a great working medical model. He expressed Sankara Nethralaya’s desire in starting training centers on the lines of the Sankara Nethralaya Academy in various places in the country.
Delivering the guest of Honour address Lion ‘Bob’E.Corlew expressed his joy at being a part of such a great training initiative as the ‘Lions Diabetic Retinopathy Skills Transfer Training Programme’ he observed that ‘Sight’ has been a Signature initiative of the Lions for more than 100 years ever since the legendary Helen Keller made a historic appeal. Describing the Lions Club as the world’s number one NGO he gave highly impressive statistics of the work done by the Lions in India in terms of running their own hospitals, funding healthcare, preventive medicare, disaster relief etc. He commended the government of India for its brainchild ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) which paved the way for Corporations to serve the public in a large scale. He handed over the award won by an Indian boy in the US for the best painting depicting world peace to His Excellency the Governor.
Delivering the Chief Guest’s address His Excellency the governor of Tamil Nadu Shri K.Rosaiah expressed that he was highly pleased to inaugurate an initiative of such medical significance to the nation, terming diabetes as a ‘gateway’ to many other ailments he appealed for healthy food habits and regular physical exercises to keep fit. He underlined the criticality of the skills and knowledge transfer program with his observation that only 7 to 8% of vitreo-retinal surgeons in the country are thoroughly trained in diagnosing and treating diabetic retinopathy which occurs in such large numbers in the country. He complimented the Lions Club for choosing Sankara Nethralaya which he described as a world renowned institution as its partner in the program. The distinguished Chief Guest closed his address with congratulations to Lion Raghunathan, Lion SS.Badrinath, Lion S.N.Harinarayanan and Dr. Tarun Sharma, wishing the skill transfer initiative all success he quoted a Sanskrit couplet which implied that ‘The right help to the right person, at the right place at the right time without expectations is the most noble deed, drawing a parallel to the knowledge transfer program.
Nation’s leading infrastructure company joins hands with Sankara Nethralaya to bring great value to its proud neighbourhood
‘Mahindra Life Spaces’ the creator of Mahindra World City envisaged it to be a perfect blend of world class infrastructure for enhanced life and work balance. Mahindra World City joined hands with Sankara Nethralaya to give a new meaning to this noble objective by enhancing the quality of life and ability to work of the local residents, by bringing back lost vision through world class eye care taken to their door steps. The valedictory function of the 7 day Mobile Eye Screening/Surgical camp (MESU) held on the 14th of March 2015 the concluding day, started on a lively note with a group song ‘the world is a small place, the world is full of laughter’ by tiny tots from the Mahindra World School.
Extending a warm welcome the audience and dignitaries Shri Subrata Sen Gupta, Marketing Manager, Mahindra World City gave an impressive account of the camp, a part of the organization’s CSR initiative aimed at serving the 7 neighbouring villages, he gave the camp figures as 475 screened, 70 cataract surgeries performed and 28 patients with more complex cases referred to the base hospital. He recalled that Mahindra City had recently completed eye screening for more than 1000 students jointly with Sankara Nethralaya, adding jubilantly that Dr SS.Badrinath and his team have been responsible for reviving the vision of millions, to the thunderous applause of the gathering. Welcoming the honourable Chief Guest of the function Dr. S. Geethalakshmi, Director of Medical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, Dr. Gajendra Kumar Varma, Senior Consulant , Sankara Nethralaya lauded her as an innovator, best teacher, best administrator and recalled her stellar role in WHO’s waste management program which won her great laurels. He had a high word of appreciation for Shri Arul Pichai Narayanan Muthu, Director, ARMA Medical Foundation for his role in preventive healthcare and special training accorded for lab technicians. Speaking on the occasion Special Guest of the event, Shri Chandru, Chief Operating Officer of Mahindra World City observed that Sankara Nethralaya and its founder Dr S.S.Badrinath needed no introduction as they are known the world over. He remarked that Sankara Nethralaya has displayed its mastery over the art of taking health care to the villages through the recently concluded camp and urged that its services should be extended to larger areas of the country to serve the society better.
Dr P.S.Rajesh, Head, MESU operations highlighted that MESU was created to take high quality eye care to the doorsteps of patients living in interior villages, he traced the inception and operation of the advanced outdoor facility with impressive figures of beneficiaries, he underlined that one of the beneficiaries of the just concluded camp was a polio patient who would have found it very difficult to travel to a base hospital, which captured the spirit of the MESU. Speaking on the occasion Dr. SS.Badrinath congratulated the work of the MESU team and the Mahindra city team as remarkable, he thanked the management of Mahindra World City for their gracious hospitality during the week long camp. He utilized the opportunity to give an interesting insight into the vision impairment scenario in the country, the impressive role of the blindness control society in bringing this down significantly, how cataract remains the single biggest threat to healthy vision, concentration of doctors in the urban areas and the pioneering role of MESU in taking quality eye care to the villages.
Delivering the Chief Guest’s address Dr S. Geethalakshmi lauded the role of public spirited institutions like Sankara Nethralaya and Mahindra World City in providing health care to the needy and how such partnerships greatly complemented the government’s measures towards providing healthcare, to a great extent. Shri Elumalai, Panchayath President expressed his profuse thanks to Sankara Nethralaya and Mahindra City for bringing world class eye care to the villagers living in the region. The momentous event came to an end with a touching Vote of thanks by Shri K. Arul Kumar, Coordinator MESU Operations, Sankara Nethralaya.
Sankara Nethralaya’s Senior Oculoplasty surgeon appeals for a ‘New Face’ for acid attack survivors.
The Acid Survivors Foundation India (ASFI) the leading NGO formed for the prevention of acid burns and providing support services to acid attack victims, by way of legal aid, after care and rehabilitation, launched its ‘Southern Chapter’, in the city recently. The function was attended by Dr. SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus and Dr. Nirmala Subramanian, Professor Emeritus and Senior Surgeon at Sankara Nethralaya’s Orbit, Oculoplasty, Reconstructive and Aesthetic services. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Nirmala Subramanian among the nation’s veteran plastic and reconstructive surgeons made an emphatic appeal to social work organizations to support, encourage and give confidence to acid attack survivors to enable them to ‘face’ the world.
Chief recaps his professional journey at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of leading eye hospital.
Lotus Hospital and Research Institute the premium Coimbatore based eye care center celebrated its silver jubilee year with great fanfare, the event was observed as an international conference on retina and uvea titled ‘Eye Trendz- Retina & Uvea 2015’ at the Vivanta by the Taj on the 28th of February and 1st of March 2015 at Coimbatore. The two day conference witnessed the presense and participation of leading national and international ophthalmologists from the fields of uvea and retina. Dr.SS.Badrinath, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya was invited as the guest speaker to deliver the ‘Lotus Oration’ on the momentous occasion. The man whom the institution stepping into its 25th year considers as a ‘Our Teacher and Doyen of Ophthalmology’ took the audience on an interesting 4 decade journey with his talk titled ‘My Journey through VR Surgery’ tracing the eye care scenario from the past to the present, he also announced an ambitious joint initiative between the Lotus Hospital and Research Institute and Sankara Nethralaya in the form of collaborative research in new and enabling technologies in the realm of ophthalmology.
An old friend and well wisher initiates and supports State of the Art eye care in a semi-urban pocket bordering Chennai.
The House of GRT and its founder Shri G.Rajendran have been long time friends of Sankara Nethralaya and hold its founder and Chairman Emeritus Dr. SS.Badrinath, in the highest regard; they have risen to the occasion most magnanimously and supported many cost free eye care initiatives most generously. The group has also made a handsome donation towards meeting the cost of constructing an entire floor at the Sri A.Sivasailam block, Sankara Nethralaya’s State of the Art eye care center to be inaugurated soon at the old Lady Willingdon Hospital Campus. A group with a strong commitment to serving the poor and needy, the house of GRT expressed its desire to take quality eye care to the town of Tirutani and its neighbouring villages through eye screening and on the spot cataract surgery enabled by Sankara Nethralaya’s ‘Mobile Eye Surgical Unit’ (MESU), the ground work by the two organizations for the same started in right earnest, well in advance of the camp.
In keeping with the saying ‘do a good thing and many good people will follow you’ the local chapters of well known service organizations like the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Catholic Society of Canada and the Tiruvalur District Blindness Control Society rose to the occasion most admirably and a comprehensive eye screening camp was conducted by Sankara Nethralaya’s outdoor eye care team. The Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) reached the GRT Institute of Engineering Technology at GRT Mahalakshmi Nagar, Tirutani, the venue of the camp on the morning of the 15th of February 2015 and started the eye screening on the same day. The camp was very well received and a total of 796 local people were screened, high quality cataract removal surgery followed by implantation of intra-ocular lens was carried out and vision revived for 155 patients at the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) by the outdoor eye care team, between the 15th and 24th of February 2015. The beneficiaries of the screening camp included the residents of Tirutani town, neighbouring villages and the students and faculty members of the GRT educational institutions.
The ‘Geetham Hall’, GRT Hotel, Tirutani, the venue of the inaugural function was packed to capacity on the 18th of February, Dr SS.Badrinath extended a warm welcome to the gathering and thanked them for the overwhelming response, he introduced the honourable Chief Guest of the day Shri K. Veera Raghava Rao IAS, District Collector, Tiruvallur and thanked him for gracing the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, guest of honour Shri T.V Antony, distinguished civil servant and former Chief Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Government recalled his more than 35 years association with Dr SS.Badrinath. He recalled Sankara Nethralaya which he had seen as a small set up at the time of its inception, adding that it looks like a sprawling university today, he attributed this stupendous growth to the enthusiasm and dedication of Dr SS.Badrinath and Dr. Vasanthi Badinath, remarking in lighter vein that given his agility and energy he would estimate Dr SS.Badrinath to be around 40 years of age, the former Chief Secretary recalled that he remembered the noble couple constantly running for the cause eye care without any rest, from the time he knew them and expressed his amazement that they have not slackened their speed to this day. The former Chief Secretary underlined that 6% of the State’s total population of 50 crores; amounting to a staggering 42 lakhs are visually impaired and it is only through such relief camps conducted in the rural areas that this problem can be solved. Delivering the Chief Guest’s address Shri K.Veera Raghava Rao, IAS, Collector of Tiruvallur observed that he considered it a honour to be a part o f such a noble initiative and share the dais along with stalwarts like Shri T.V Antony, whose illustrious career in Civil Service began even before he was born and Dr. SS.Badrinath whose selfless service to society began when he was a small boy, as the district collector he thanked the organizers for the great initiative being carried out in his district. He recalled the outdoor eye screening camps of Sankara Nethralaya in the earlier days when patients found needing treatment would be taken to the Sankara Nethralaya main hospital and treated and dropped back and complimented the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit as an innovative initiative which has simplified the entire process. He thanked the members of the Rotary, Lions Clubs and Society for Prevention of Blindness, students of the GRT College and the House of GRT for striving hard to make the function a grand success. The chief guest closed his talk with the observation that there was no retirement for service minded people like Dr SS.Badrinath and Shri T.V Antony which is richly illustrated by the fact that they were enthusiastically participating in the day’s event.