Venu Eye Hospital, Saadat Nagar, Rewari, Haryana

About 90 kms south-west of Delhi, 2.5 hours down some dusty and potholed roads, lies the tiny village of Saadat Nagar in district Rewari. A stronghold of the Yadav community, this is where on 15th of April, 1999 Venu’s Satellite Hospital opened its doors to all those suffering from visual problems and had nowhere to go for relief.

The genesis of this project lies in a friendship between Venu’s Founder, Late Dr.R.K.Seth and Air Cdr. Vijai Yadav (Retd.) whose family hailed from the village. They were both concerned that no eye care services was available to the villagers in an area of about 50–60 kms around Kosli town.

Twice a week mobile eye care services was started in 1992. In July 1998, Venu’s first Community Based Rehabilitation Programme was started in this area, a year before the hospital was started. A door to door survey was done of all the villagers to identify both curable and incurable patients. Those who were totally blind were given mobility training to help rehabilitate them within their own community and surroundings and those advised treatment were brought or referred to the hospital.

With financial support from Sight Savers International, UK, the Lions Club of Netherlands, Late Capt. Puran Singh Yadav’s family and the local community, the hospital services were started in July 1999. An Eye Donation Centre was established on 29th March, 2003.