The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) continues to sponsor eye clinics in rural India, most recently by providing US$30,000 to cover the cost of services to nearly 7,000 residents in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Preventable blindness is a particularly serious problem in India. A few years ago, the "Times of India" reported that, "Of the 37 million people across the globe who are blind, over 15 million are from India." In fact, 75% of these cases of blindness would have been avoided with the availability of adequate eye care.
The eye clinics funded by TPRF aim to help address this chronic problem. Supervised and managed by volunteers from the nonprofit Raj Vidya Kender organization and co-sponsored by the Prem Sagar Foundation, the clinics deliver professional eye exams, free eyewear, and eye medications to generally underserved populations from remote villages.
"This ongoing program has as its goal assisting people unnecessarily handicapped by poor sight so they can better function in daily life," says TPRF President Linda Pascotto. "Our overall concern, too, is to operate the clinics in an atmosphere of respect for each person who attends."
The most recent clinics were held in Gaya, Bihar; Nainital, Uttarakhand; the Ranchi area, Jharkhand, and Hardoi and Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.
In all, 6,944 people were seen by clinicians, with 5,021 given eyeglasses and 6,153 receiving eye-drop medications. There were 626 persons diagnosed with cataracts. Since TPRF began funding the program in 2003, more than 60,000 citizens have been seen by eye-care professionals at 34 clinics, with more than 36,000 eyeglasses provided.
"It is beyond imagination to have a free eye clinic for people facing the lack of any medical or eye care facility in such a remote area," says Dr. Devsharan Bhagat, an advisor to the Jharkhand government who visited the clinic in Bantoli. "The organizers and sponsors deserve thanks for providing facilities and arrangements that are normally only possible in big hospitals."
"By getting needy people's eyes examined in this extremely backward area," said A.K. Singh Rathore, a district magistrate in Uttar Pradesh who officially opened the camp in Hardoi, "the sponsors and organizers have done an exemplary job."
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