History / About us

In 1987 a young man, Dr. Hanumant Karad after completing M. S. in Ophthalmology from (then) Poona University chose to return to his hometown, Latur situated in rural area of Marathwada in the state of Maharashtra. Inspired by his beloved uncle, Prof. Dr. Vishwanath Karad who is an eminent educationist, philosopher & thinker, Dr. Hanumant Karad started his professional journey at Latur with a single room clinic. He named his clinic as “Netrapratishthan” which means ‘an enterprise for eye care’. The clinic was built to serve all types of patients irrespective of their financial backgrounds.

He could have chosen to work in the city and go for a well-to-do career but he found the ‘purpose of life’ in ‘Seva- service to mankind’. He believed in the notion that the joy of life is not only in money but in helping and serving the mankind. He chose to serve as an ophthalmologist who gave vision to a host of patients, not just to earn a living but to create a difference in others lives. For the last 30 years, he has been pursuing his mission relentlessly and has performed thousands of free eye surgeries of cataract, glaucoma, squint, etc.

He firmly believes that the real contentment is in ‘Seva’. His efforts to serve the mankind were reinforced when he created a vast network of eye volunteers, ‘Asha activist workers’ for recognizing rural eye diseases and performing requisite eye operations.

In few years, the small clinic, Netrapratishthan evolved into a multi-facility hospital and came with a new identity of ‘Kaushalya Hospital’. The hospital has ample of space, robust infrastructure, advanced machines, well-equipped operation theaters, well-maintained patient wards, amenities, library, and special rooms. Simultaneously, an OPD clinic was operational at Shivneri complex.

Dr. Karad efficaciously maintained a sound work balance in his professional life. He was simultaneously serving as executive director and professor of ophthalmology at MIMSR Medical College, YCR Hospital Latur and as a social entrepreneur in “Netrapratishthan”. He had a mission that ‘May everybody be able to see the beautiful world’, which later on became the mission of D S Karad Eye Institute (DSKEI).

He is even a scholarly person. He has presented several scientific papers in many national & international conferences and won awards and accolades for the same. Dr. Karad has three publications in International Journals and two in National Journals to his credit. He believes that knowledge and love are the only two things that are increased instead of decreasing when you share it with others. He has inspired several students as an ophthalmology teacher. Dr. Karad has imparted knowledge to more than 24 batches of MBBS students (100 students each), and more than 23 branches of MS/DOMS students.

Another milestone in the sustainable development of “Netrapratishthan” was reached when D S Karad Eye Institute was incepted in the year 2012. The institute was developed in order to expand the reach of the operations with organized practices while giving it an institutional identity. Netrapratishthan entered into a partnership with globally renowned L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad and received Seva foundation grant of USD 50000 (Rupees 3000000) for expanding its reach. Furthermore, technical know-how, as well as system support, were provided by LV Prasad Eye Institute that facilitated the institute to evolve as tertiary eye care center. We have created a huge impact in short span of time.

Some of our efforts in the domain include:

1) We conducted door to door surveys in identifying eye disorders in Latur, Beed & Osmanabad District. The surveys were conducted in 25 clusters with 20,000 people in each. In this way, we surveyed 5,00,000 people.
2) We hosted eye camps in several villages of this district thereby covering additional 5,00,000 people. So, we covered 1 million people in totality.
3) Primary eye screening was performed by qualified eye care personnel in the campus
4) 1,20,000 + people were examined on site and were given eye health care advice for free
5) 8100+ glasses distributed to the needy
6) We conducted the camps in 720+ villages

As a testament to its community service, a feather was added to the cap of D S Karad Eye Institute in the year 2015, when it received Rs. 1,15,00,000/- as grant from Lions Club International. This grant helped us in building cutting-edge and well-equipped mobile eye checkup unit, an ambulance, and other equipment that facilitated in reaching out to unreachable. The preliminary eye care is reaching the doorsteps of the common populace so they don’t need to worry about spending money to travel to the city for an eye checkup.