Prayatna, the social outreach club of IIM Udaipur, hosted its first ever flagship event “Udbodhan” at IIM Udaipur today. The event included an eye donation camp where 23 students filled the form expressing their pledge to donate eyes. 

Udbodhan which means illumination, and quite fittingly, the first event organised under the banner of Udbodhan was “I Care”.

Three eminent speakers R.D Thulasiraj, Director of Operations at Aravind eye Care Systems, Dr. Alok Vyas, an ophthalmologist of Udaipur and Dr. Laxmi Jhala of Alakh Nayan Mandir shared their knowledge and with the audience that comprised of students, doctors, medical college students and NGOs.

Thulasiraj said that a social business needs to focus on values. While for a for-profit business, revenues and profits determine business strategy, for a social business, the impact on society should be the guiding light.

Thulasiraj went on to discuss how technology has enabled to widen the reach of Aravind Eye Care Systems and subsequently reduce costs for its patients. Today they perform 40% of their surgeries for free and have the highest surgery productivity of 2000/surgeon/hour in South East Asian Countries. He stressed on innovation in operations and in thought process to achieve such a success.

Dr. Alok Vyas, spoke on the various types of diseases pertaining to eye care and their treatment. He said that the plight of the blind should not to be dealt with sympathy only, it has to be understood and addressed.

He stressed on the need for a mass movement and organised initiative by the society to bring the people suffering with disabilities close to the facilities that can treat them.

Dr. Laxmi Jhala talked about the various challenges that social service organisations face in the society. They are under the constant scrutiny of government and the society.

All three speakers emphasised that poor patients should not be misunderstood as naïve customers. They are very discerning and don’t accept any service that is given for free.