Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital, BIHAR - Sankara Eye Foundation

The Hospital:

Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital (AJEH) has been based in Bihar since 2005. It is the largest eye hospital in eastern India and among the top five in India providing free eye care services. AJEH is headquartered in Mastichak, a rural area about 50 Kms from Patna. Because of the magnitude of the preventable blindness in Bihar, AJEH is prioritizing bilateral cases of blindness (i.e. blindness in both eyes).

Key Facts:

Hospital Location	Beds (Free)	Surgeries (Free) 2019-20	Beds (Paid)	Surgeries (Paid) 2019-20
Mastichak (Tertiary)	300	49,280	50	7.1444
Patna	40	7,458	10	868
Ballia (UP)	40	8,095	10	1,819
Purnea	40	Starts Aug 2020	10	-
Samastipur	40	Starts Aug 2020	10	-

Number of Outreach Camps (2019-20): 4,595

Leadership:

Mr. Mritunjay Kumar Tiwary

Founder, Project Head and Executive Trustee

Mr. Tiwary started AJEH with a strong belief that innovatively delivered eye-health can alleviate poverty, improve gender parity and enhance social capital in the low-income states of India. He also works actively to provide equal opportunities to girls from rural Bihar by running a unique ‘Football To Eyeball’ talent creation initiative at the eye hospital which aims to tackle child marriage and gender inequality by providing an alternative to girls.

Board Chair:

Mr. Ravi Kant, Former Vice-Chairman and MD of Tata Motors.

Board Members:

Ms.Jayesh Parekh (co-founder of Sony Entertainment Television), Amish Nathwani (Bank of England, PwC, DB), RaviSinha, Atul Kumar and more

Association with SEF, USA:

SEF, USA has been steadily increasing its association with AJEH since 2017, having funded 5,000 surgeries in 2017, 15,000 surgeries in 2018 and 21,000 surgeries in 2018 for a cumulative total of 41,000 free cataract surgeries over 3 years through March 2020. Many of our board members have visited their facilities and met with AJEH’s leadership team as well as their board members.Some key board members from AJEH have also met with SEF, USA board the and volunteers in the Bay Area.