Skip to main content

Infinite Vision - Padmashri Dr.Govindappa Venkataswamy

Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy (1918–2006, b. Vadamalapuram, near Aruppukottai, Tottukudi dist, Tamil Nadu) is an Indian ophthalmologist and 1973 recipient of Padma Sri award.

Born in 1918 in Vadamalapuram in Tamil Nadu, India, Dr.G.Venkataswamy, Founder, Aravind Eye Hospital had his education at American College, Madurai, Stanley Medical College, Madras and qualified for MS Ophthalmology at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Madras. He first joined the Indian Army as Physician during 1945-48. He then was appointed Head of Department of Ophthalmology at the Government Madurai Medical College, and eye surgeon at the Government Erskine Hospital at Madurai. He held these posts for 20 years and made remarkable contributions to research, clinical service and community programmes. And with a willpower and dedication far beyond the ordinary, he went on to perform over one hundred thousand successful eye surgeries, and that too with fingers that were badly affected with a rare disease. As a young man he followed the teachings of Gandhi.

More than a century and a half after the German poet and dramatist Von Goethe’s impassioned plea, ophthalmologist Dr.G.Venkataswamy persuaded his colleagues and staff to action: “If you can do something, then you must go ahead and do it.”

A quarter of a century ago, at mandatory retirement age, fifty eight year old Dr.Venkataswamy, a man known to most of us simply as Dr.V, founded the Aravind Eye Hospital at Madurai in 1977. In an eleven-bed hospital manned by four medical officers, he saw the potential for what is today, one of the largest facilities in the world for eye care. Over the years, this organisation has evolved into a sophisticated system dedicated to compassionate service for sight. The mission of this organisation in the words of its founder was “to eradicate needless blindness”. The endeavour required a leap of imagination, vision and innovation. In India alone, there are 12 million who are blind, and 80% of these are blind due to cataract. To this enormous number another 2 to 3 million are added every year. Despite staggering obstacles, Dr.V. and his team persisted. Using mass marketing and an operating system that resembles an assembly line, they helped the modest hospital to grow steadily in service delivery and infrastructure. And a system that enabled Aravind to provide free eye care to two-thirds of its patients from the revenue generated from its one-third paying patients. Twenty-five years later that system is still in place.

Only a biography can say enough of a man who makes use of every second, every paise and every inch of space. He has an amazing ability to use everyone effectively. He is the father of Community Ophthalmology, and because of his ‘Vision’ numerous people have been able to see again. It was his dream of being able to market ‘good eye-sight’ to the world, the way McDonald’s sells hamburgers. It is no wonder that around eight hundred thousand surgeries have been performed and lakhs of people have benefited from services rendered through his organisations. In his words “ in Aravind, we scan new horizons and look forward to exploring new vistas in eye care”.

October 1 2018 marked the birth centenary of Dr G Venkataswamy, the founder of renowned Aravind Eye Hospitals, search engine giant Google thought it fitting to honour him with a doodle.
Google’s homepage displayed a doodle in honour of Dr Venkataswamy, who launched Aravind Eye Hospital with just 11 beds in Madurai in 1976 along with his four siblings.

The hospital now has 57 branches - five tertiary care centres, five secondary care centres, six outpatient centres and 41 vision centres - across India.

Dr.Venkataswamy was conferred Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1973.

Degrees earned: 
Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from American College in Madurai in 1938
Doctor of Medicine from Stanley Medical College in Madras in 1944
Doctor of ophthalmology at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras in 1951

Honorary Doctorate from University of Illinois, 1985

Awards:

Padma Shri , 1973
Lifetime Service Award from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 1982
Helen Keller International Award, 1987

International Blindness Prevention Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology, 1993
WHO Award for Health for All
Academy International Blindness Prevention Award
International Social Entrepreneurship Award
Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic.
Raja-Lakshmi Award for the year 2001 from Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.
Harold Wit Lectureship, Harvard Divinity School, 1991
Pisart-Lighthouse for the Blind Award, 1992
Susruta Award, Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, 1997.
World Telugu Federation honoured him in the year 2000.
Dr.B.C.Roy Award – 2001

Comments

Anonymous said…
He was among the "100 Most Influential People" list of TIME - Only Kamma to ever feature in such list. His organization is still performing greatly with recognition from reputed foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Hughes Medical etc.

Popular posts from this blog

Kamma Cine Heroes

1) N.T.Rama Rao 2) Akkineni Nageswara Rao 3) Gattamaneni Krishna 4) Sobhan Babu (Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao) 5) Gummadi Venkatwsara Rao 6) Maganti Murali Mohan 7) Manchu Mohan Babu 8) Kongara Jaggayya 9) Giri babu (Yerra Seshagiri Rao) 10) Sridhar Surapaneni  11) Madala Ranga rao 12) Nandamuri Bala Krishna 13) SaiChand Tripuraneni 14) Akkineni Nagarjuna 15) Daggubati Venkatesh 16) Gadde Rajendra Prasad 17) Raja Sekhar (Kasukurthi) 18) Daggubati Raja 19) Bhagya Raj 20) Nandamuri Hari Krishna 21) Veeramachineni Jagapathi Babu 22) Meka Srikanth 23) Vadde Naveen 24) Tottempudi Venu 25) Gattamaneni Mahesh Babu 26) Junior. N.T.R 27) Sivaji Sontineni 28) Nandamuri Taraka Ratna 29) Nandamuri Kalyanaram 30) Yarlagadda Sumanth 31) Tottempudi Gopi Chand 32) Manchu Vishnu Vardhan 33) Manchu Manoj 34) Edara Naresh 35) Edara Aryan Rajesh 36) Ram Pothineni  37) Myneni Sarvanand 38) Daggubati Rana 39) Akkineni Naga Chaitanya 40) Nani (Ghanta Naveen Kum...

Kamma Movie Directors

List of Kamma Movie Ditrectors 1) Gudavalli Ramabrahmam 2) Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasad (LV Prasad) 3) Kovelamudi Bapayya 4) Veeramachineni Madhusudhana Rao 5) Kovelamudi S.Prakasa Rao 6) Kolli Pratyagatma 7) G.Sambasiva Rao 8) Tammareddy Krishnamurthy 9) Mannava Balayya 10) Tatineni Prakasa Rao 11) Tatineni Rama Rao 12) Tatineni Prasad 13) Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao 14) Gutta Ramineedu 15) Kolli Hemambaradhara Rao  16) Uppalapati Visveswara Rao 17) Tripuraneni Maharadhi 18) Tripuraneni Gopichand 19) Tottempudi Krishna 20) Madala Ranga Rao 21) Siva Nageswara Rao 22) Uppalapati Narayana Rao 23) P.Sarat 24) A.Mohan Gandhi 25) Bezawada Gopal 26) T.Kranthi Kumar 27) Maganti Vijaya Bapineedu 28) Tammareddy Bharadwaj 29) Akkineni Kutumba Rao 30) K.Vasu 31) Edara VV Satyanarayana 32) Muppalaneni Siva 33) Yalamanchili VS Chowdary 34) Theja Jasti 35) Sreenu Vytla 36) Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli 37) Vemulapalli Srikanth 38) AS Ravikumar Chowdary 39)...

List of Kamma Cine Heroes (Updated)

List of Kamma Movie stars: 1) Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao 2) Akkineni Nageswara Rao 3) Gattamaneni Krishna 4) Sobhan Babu (Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao) 5) Gummadi Venkatwsara Rao 6) Maganti Murali Mohan 7) Manchu Mohan Babu 8) Kongara Jaggayya 9) Giri babu (Yerra Seshagiri Rao) 10) Sridhar Surapaneni (Mutyalamuggu fame) 11) Madala Ranga rao 12) Nandamuri Bala Krishna 13) SaiChand Tripuraneni 14) Akkineni Nagarjuna 15) Daggubati Venkatesh 16) Gadde Rajendra Prasad 17) Raja Sekhar (Kasukurthi) 18) Daggubati Raja 19) Bhagya Raj 20) Nandamuri Hari Krishna 21) Veeramachineni Jagapathi Babu 22) Meka Srikanth 23) Vadde Naveen 24) Tottempudi Venu 25) Gattamaneni Mahesh Babu 26) Junior. N.T.R 27) Sivaji Sontineni 28) Nandamuri Taraka Ratna 29) Nandamuri Kalyanaram 30) Yarlagadda Sumanth 31) Tottempudi Gopi Chand 32) Manchu Vishnu Vardhan 33) Manchu Manoj 34) Edara Naresh 35) Edara Aryan Rajesh 36) Ram Pothineni 37) Myneni Sarvanand  38) Daggubati Rana...

BSE and NSE listed companies owned by Kammas

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana  1) Amara Raja Batteries 2) Andhra Sugar 3) Andhra Petrochemicals Ltd., 4) Apex frozen foods 5) Avantel Software 6) Avanti feeds 7) Bartronics 8) Bhagiratha Chemicals 9) Brilliant Securities (Stampede Capital Ltd.,) 10) Continental Coffee (CCL Products) 11) Divi's Laboratories 12) Divyasakthi Granites 13) Granules India 14) HBL NIFE Power 15) Heritage foods 16) KCP Limited 17) Kakatiya Cements 18) Keerthi Industries Ltd. 19) Krebs Biochemicals and Industries Ltd., 20) Laurus Labs Ltd., 21) Lanco Industries 22) Lanco Infrastructure 23) Lokesh Machines Ltd., 24) Madhucon Projects 25) MIC Electronics 26) Natco Pharma 27) Navabharat Ventures 28) Nile Ltd., 29) OCTL (Oil Country Tubular) 30) Powermech Projects Limited 31) PVP Ventures Ltd. 32) Regency Ceramics 33) Satvahana Ispat 34) SMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd., 35) Spisys Limited 36) Srinivasa Hatcheries Ltd. 37) Srinivasa Shipping and Property Development Ltd. (SSPDL) ...

LIFE SKETCH OF Dr.V.GENGUSWAMY NAIDU

Dr.V.GENGUSWAMY NAIDU is the only son of the blessed couple Sri.K.VENKATASUBBA NAIDU and Smt.V.LAKSHMI AMMAL, born on04.10.1931 at PETHAPPAMPATTI VILLAGE, Udumalpet taluk, CoimbatoreDistrict in Tamil Nadu. He studied Business Management Technology at PHILADELPHIA Institute of Technology, U.S.A. He married Srimathi.RAJA LAKSHMI, daughter of Sri.G.V.GOVINDA SWAMY NAIDU. The industrial magnet of UDUMALPET. Dr.V.GENGUSWAMY NAIDU was conferred the Doctor of Literature on 25.05.1989 by the Pondicherry Central University for his outstanding contributions as Entrepreneur Practical Educationist and shrewd Academician. He has philanthropic nature extending service for the uplift of downtrodden in various ways. He is no doubt a multidimensional personality. He has set up Paper and Textile Mills, opened innumerable schools all over Tamil Nadu.  He is the father of TAMILNADU KAMMA NAIDU MAHAJANA SANGAM . He promoted  sports and games, rendering service as head ...

Richest man in Andhra Pradesh

It is neither Reddy nor Raju. It is only Kamma .. According to the Forbes magazine, Lagadapati Madhusudhan Rao ( 41 ) is the richest person in Andhra Prades h stands at No- 33 among the richest persons in India . Also he is the youngest in the list, there is no Andhrite in the list. Lagadapati Madhusudhan Rao is the Chairman - Lanco Infratech Ltd , the Hyderabad-based diversified group. His net worth is 1.9 billion dollars., ahead of Vijay Mallya, N.R. Narayana Murthy. Divi Murali of Divi's Lab is narrowly missed the berth in the list. Murali, best of luck next year..

తెలుగుదేశం పార్టీలో కోవర్టులు, ఊసరవెల్లులు, రాజకీయ వ్యభిచారులు నందమూరి 'హరికృష్ణ' & కో

తెలుగు దేశం పార్టీని ప్రక్షాళన చేయవలసిన సమయం ఆసన్నమైంది, ఏవైనా అనుకోని పరిణామాలు జరిగితే తప్ప ఎన్నికలు రావటానికి ఇంకా రెండు సంవత్సరాలు సమయం ఉంది. తల్లి పాలు తాగి రొమ్ము గుద్దే ప్రభుద్దులు చాలా మంది తెలుగుదేశం పార్టీలో ఇంకా ఉన్నారు.  చంద్రబాబు నాయుడుని వ్యక్తిగతం గా విమర్శించే వారు 'తెలుగు దేశం' పార్టీ అంటే 'చంద్రబాబు నాయుడు' సొంతం కాదని, అతని మీద కక్షతో పార్టీకి వ్యతిరేకంగా ఏ విధంగా ప్రవర్తించినా 'కూర్చున్న కొమ్మను నరుక్కున్న' చందంగా భావించ వలసి వస్తుంది. 'తెలుగు దేశం' పార్టీ 'స్వర్గీయ శ్రీ నందమూరి తారక రామారావు' మానస పుత్రిక, అశేష ఆంధ్రుల 'ఆశా కిరణం'. ఈ మధ్య సంభవిస్తున్న పరిణామాలను గమనిస్తే, పార్టీలో కొందరు వ్యక్తులు, ముఖ్యంగా 'హరికృష్ణ ' కోటరిగా ముద్రపడిన 'జూనియర్ యన్.టి.ఆర్', వల్లభనేని వంశి, కొడాలి నాని మొదలైనన వారు 'తెలుగు దేశం' పార్టీని బలహీన పరచి, జగన్ ను సమర్ధించే విధంగా ప్రవర్తిస్తూ, తమ చేష్టల ద్వారా బహిరంగా తెలియచేస్తూ, పార్టీలో, తెలుగుదేశం పార్టీ కార్యకర్తలలో చులకన అవుతు...

'Soggadu' of Tollywood Sobhan Babu passes away

'Andhra Soggadu' Sobhan Babu died at his home in Chennai after he suffered a fatal spinal injury when he fell from the staircase. Shobhan was 71 years old and is survived by four children — three daughters and one son Born as Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao to a middle-class family in a small village China Nandigama near Mylavaram Krishna District, Sobhan went on to become a romantic icon and was the top Tollywood hero for two decades. He made his film debut with Daivabalam directed by Vasanthkumar Reddy, but his first film to hit the screens was Bhakta Sabari. Shobhan's Manushulu Maarali ran for 25 weeks, a record-breaking achievement in those days. He received the Filmfare Award four times, the Nandi Award five times and the AP Cine Goers Award eight times. The real surprise is that the Telugu actor won the Madras Cine Fan's Association's best actor award 9 times in his 40 years long career. Although, Shobhan Babu was a widely acknowledged actor down south, he was ne...

List of Kamma MLAs elected to The Tamilnadu Assembly 2021

Thalapathy  1) Kadambur Raju (AIADMK) Kovilpatti 2) Dr.A R Raguraman (MDMK) Sattur 3) A R R Seenivasan (DMK) Virudhunagar 4) G Thalapathy (DMK) Madurai - West 5) P R G Arun Kumar (AIADMK) Coimbatore 6) M K Mohan (DMK) Anna Nagar 7) P K Sekar Babu (DMK)  Chennai - Harbour 8) A C Vilvanathan (DMK) Ambur 9) A P Nanda Kumar (DMK) Anaikattu

List of 30 Kamma Billionaires and rankings

The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021 shows that India has more than 1,000 individuals who have a net worth of  ₹ 1,000 crore or more across 119 cities. The cumulative wealth in the country has gone up by 51 per cent, while the average wealth has also increased by 25 per cent, the report by Hurun India said. 30 Kamma business and industrialists finds place in the list from AP, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. 14. Murali Divi Rs76,000 crores Divis Laboratories 179. Venkateswarlu Jasti 9,600 crores Suven Pharma  190. Veeraiah Chowdary Nannapaneni 9,100 crores NATCO Laboratories  209. Chava Satyanarayana 8,400 crores Laurus Labs 264. Satya Nadella 6,200 crores Microsoft 368. Mandava PrabhakaraRao 4,300 crores Nuziveedu seeds 377. Ella KrishnaMurthy 4,100 crores Bharat Biotech 384. Doppalapudi Bhaktavatsala Rao 4000 crores Privi Speciality Chemicals 398. Galla Ramachandra Naidu  3,900 crores Amara Raja Batteries  398. Chinta VisveswaraRao 3,900 crores...