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In India, millions of rural underprivileged live life needlessly blind. Unable to do even their basic daily tasks by themselves they suffer financially and emotionally. And so do their families.
It’s tragic, because there is a solution to being needlessly blind – a simple eye surgery. It’s quick. It’s free. And it’s effective.
For the person, the difference is life-changing – going from darkness
to light!
Experts know that the solution has to be applied at scale, because every passing year millions more join the ranks of the needlessly blind. When the need is in ten million surgeries annually, doing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, is just not enough.
As the world's largest free eye-care program, we are the vanguards of the movement. But the need is much, much more! And we cannot close our eyes to that reality. As we gear up to serve millions more every year, we need your support NOW more than ever before.
$30 cost of surgery
98% success rate
3 days to restore vision
Why should anyone live
life needlessly blind ?
23-year-old Pinky sat weeping at the Government Community Service Centre, Mahadaleshwar in Madhya Pradesh as she awaited further instructions from the Sankara optometrist.
Shanker is the proud father of little Chhoti Kumari, a 13-year-old smart Math genius. Chhoti loves biking and acing her math exams in school. But all this became a distant reality when, last year, she started losing her eyesight.
For someone who had thought she had gone permanently blind, Sabra Khatun, from one of the most impoverished villages in remote Bihar, was surprised when she made her first journey till the eye camp.
We decided to raise the bar from 356,000 free surgeries annually to
1 million every year with our March to a Million initiative!
Agreed it is an audacious goal.
But if anyone can do it – working together, WE CAN!
Many dismissed our vision as a 'pipe dream'.
Many simply told us we were overambitious.
But no one could deny the urgent need to
increase surgeries.
With your support we can lead a million lives from darkness
to light – every year.
Today, we are the single largest free eye surgery program in the world with the support of 60,000+ donors
Hospitals across India
With a capacity for a whopping 632,000 free eye surgeries annually, our hospitals performed 364,000 free eye surgeries in FY '23 alone.
States covered
Sankara is the only national player covering the most populous states of India - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, UP, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Population covered in India
Our outreach programs serve the rural poor of all ages in the states where we operate. Those at risk are brought from their villages, treated, and then safely returned—all free of charge. The entire process takes a mere 3 days!
To perform 1 Million free surgeries by 2030 in our “March To A Million” initiative,
we need to double our current surgery capacity by 2028.
Double the number of hospitals working at full strength;
Double the number of doctors, nurses, medical equipment;
Double all infrastructure - in the next four years!
That’s right! What we achieved in the past 25 years is what we want to achieve again but in four years!
Will you not help us face the challenge?
Build/expand hospitals to increase capacity to
1 million free eye surgeries per year
632,000
Free capacity
2023-24*
Scale operations to perform
1 million free eye surgeries per year
364,000
Free eye surgeries
2023-24*
Hospitals can financially self-sustain
1 million free eye surgeries per year
230,000
Free sustainable surgeries
2023-24*
Consider this: A million free surgeries a year means
two free surgeries per minute, every minute, all year round.
*2023 - refers to Fiscal Year 2023-24 (Apr 1, 2023-Mar 31, 2024). Similarly, for all-year references.
We are well on our way, having launched six new hospital projects since 2023 with plans to inaugurate two more in 2025.
This has increased our annual free surgery capacity from 490,000 in 2022* to 632,000 in 2023*.
Kalyanam Karoti Eye Institue, Mathura
Planned Vision 2030 impact 30,000
Annual Capacity: 50,000
Inaugurated: January 2025.
R.J. Sankara, Varanasi
Annual Capacity: 30,000
Planned Vision 2030 impact 30,000
Inaugurated: October 2024.
H.V.Desai Eye Hospital, Solapur
Annual Capacity: 20,000
Planned Vision 2030 impact 20,000
Inauguration: 2025.
Sankara Eye Hospital, Guntur
Planned Vision 2030 impact 30,000
Annual Capacity: 60,000
Inauguration: Mid-2025.
H.V. Desai Eye Hospital, Pune
Annual Capacity: 55,000
Planned Vision 2030 impact 55,000
Inaugurated (Expansion) - 2023
R.J. Sankara, Varanasi
Annual Capacity: 30,000
Planned Vision 2030 impact 30,000
Inauguration: October 2024.
Open an Eye
Support free eye surgeries.
Help patients regain sight.
$360 Open an eye a month
$1,500 Open an eye a week
DONATE NOWBecome a Founding Donor
Donate to build or expand
a hospital of your choice
$1,000 Wall of Founders
$5,000 Golden Wall of Founders
$10,000 Platinum Wall of Founders
DONATE NOWBe a Vision Champion
Give recurring donations
to support our March to a Million
$2,000 Every Year for 5 Years
$5,000 Every Year for 5 Years
$10,000 Every Year for 5 Years
To donate a facility or an entire wing please contact us for personalised recommendations.
Hear from our Vision Superheroes, our partners and donors who have gone above and beyond to Give the Gift of Vision.
Dr. R. V. Ramani
Founder and Managing Trustee of
Sankara Eye Foundation
Padma Shri awardee Dr. R.V. Ramani is a visionary who has established world-class free eye-care for those in need.
Mr. Mritunjay Tiwari
Founder and Chairman of
Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospitals
Mritunjay Tiwari's presence itself is an inspiration to the thousands of people who have had the fortune of meeting him, knowing him, and learning from him.
Mr. Ramesh Ganatra
SEF, USA Donor
Ramesh and Uma Ganatra Family Foundation donates $1 Million and pledges an additional $1 million.
Mr. Parvez Billimoria
Executive Director
H V Desai Eye Hospital
Pervez Billimoria, the Executive Director of HV Desai Eye Hospital, Pune has taken the Vision 2030 March to a Million pledge.
Sankara Eye Foundation, USA’s Vision 2030: March to a Million is being made possible by the contribution of donors, volunteers, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and camp workers, among others. This page is dedicated to each of those who form the pillars of the mission to eliminate curable blindness in India.
Football to Eyeball
Founder and Managing Trustee of Sankara Eye Foundation
Don’t leave him. Tackle. To your Left. Pass. GOALLLLLL!!! Loud cheers erupted the otherwise peaceful morning at this football field where the “Girls in Red” played against the local boys of a remote village in Bihar.
A Band of Nurses
Founder and Chairman of
Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospitals
It takes a village to raise a child, and an army of medical professionals to run a hospital! And when it's Sankara Hospitals, we ensure no stone is left unturned. Because with Sankara, it's not just medical services offered. Often it's also learning a new language!
A government messiah
SEF, USA Donor
An institution as large as Sankara Eye Hospitals cannot perform on its own. It is a whole of many many parts made up of its donors, volunteers, employees, partners, vendors, associates, grassroot workers and most of all the government.
Dr Rajesh Kapse
Head of the Medical Department at R Jhunjhunwala Sankara Eye Hospital, Panvel
What does it take to be a doctor to hundreds of patients who cannot pay for your services? “I learn more from them than I can impart”, says Dr Rajesh Kapse, Head of the Medical Department at R Jhunjhunwala Sankara Hospital, Panvel in Maharsahtra.
Don’t leave him. Tackle. To your Left. Pass. GOALLLLLL!!! Loud cheers erupted the otherwise peaceful morning at this football field where the “Girls in Red” played against the local boys of a remote village in Bihar.
It takes a village to raise a child, and an army of medical professionals to run a hospital! And when it's Sankara Hospitals, we ensure no stone is left unturned. Because with Sankara, it's not just medical services offered. Often it's also learning a new language!
An institution as large as Sankara Eye Hospitals cannot perform on its own. It is a whole of many many parts made up of its donors, volunteers, employees, partners, vendors, associates, grassroot workers and most of all the government.
Your participation supports our ‘March to a Million’.
Sankara Eye Foundation, USA
Making the world brighter, together.
Sankara Eye Foundation, USA 1900 McCarthy Blvd #207 Milpitas, CA 95035
1-866-726-5272
Every donation will give the Gift of Vision to a person in need.
TAX ID: 77-6141976
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