Noted philanthropist to launch mobile eye clinic in North India

Noted entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tej Kohli is all set to launch Drishti Rath, a complete eye clinic on wheels. After the successful launch of the corneal blindness eradication programme in 2010, which enabled hundreds of poverty stricken corneal blind to get vision and which is still running successfully across NCR and neighbouring rural areas, Tej is set to launch this first-of-its-kind initiative in North India.

Drishti Rath is a custom-made mini bus that has been donated by The Concern India Foundation. This bus will have a three member team on board, an optometrist who will examine patients' eyes and provide a prescription for those who need it, a lens crafter who will grind the glasses and mount them on frames, and a driver.

"Tej Kohli Foundation shall launch Drishti Rath on August 25, 2012. We shall reach out to remote areas within 100 kms radius of the National Capital Region and provide free refractive check up and free corrective glasses on the go," declared Tej Kohli.

Rajiv Pradhan, who heads Tej Kohli Foundation in India says, "This bus will reach out to remote rural areas and examine about 100 patients on a daily basis. 30% of these people will most likely have refractive error in their vision. Such patients will be provided glasses on the very same day, free of cost. Patients with corneal disease and cataract will be referred to Niramaya charitable hospital, where they can avail a corneal transplant free of cost and patients with other eye diseases will get referred accordingly."

"Tej Kohli Foundation has played a key role in initiating this project by funding all of the operating expenses required to run the show. Together, with Concern India Foundation's help, we are certain that this project will be a great success in reaching out to the poor and alleviating them of their refractive vision problems," said Dr. Hitendra Ahooja, from Niramaya Charitable Trust. Dr. Ahooja is the chief corneal surgeon at Ahooja Eye Institute and has conducted hundreds of corneal transplant surgeries over the last few years with the financial assistance from Tej Kohli Foundation.