Support Sagar Trust to remove non-cataract blindness particularly oculoplastics.

Sagar Trust contributes meaningfully to the national initiative for combating reversible blindness. Most agencies, hospitals and camps focus on cataract related blindness. However, those that suffer from non-cataract reversible blindness/morbidity do not have recourse to free or quality treatment easily. The investigations are costly, surgeries time-consuming and eye-surgeons with specialized skills are few.

Sagar Trust will pioneer the segment related to non-cataract blindness particularly oculoplastics – which includes all diseases of the eyelids and peri-ocular area.

We have built strong experience in the field of social work over many years. The Trust is headed by an experienced surgeon who has worked at several reputed hospitals and institutions and is an alumnus of Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.

Your contributions are channeled directly to the surgeries. There are negligible administrative overheads as we have high quality infrastructure in place. A meticulous record of surgery patients and other details are available at all times with us and donors are put in touch with beneficiaries if they so wish.

Your contributions are tax exempt under section 80 G [section (1) – (v)] of the Income Tax Act (upto 50%). The cost of sponsoring a cataract surgery is Rs 3000, a glaucoma surgery Rs 2000 and oculoplastic surgery Rs 4000-10000 (depending on the particular surgery).

Removing a cataract results in almost instantaneous vision and can hugely improve a person’s quality of life by helping them to become independent in their tasks. Glaucoma surgery helps to preserve the failing function of the nerve so that useful sight remains. Oculoplastic surgeries address a wide array of problems whose outcome, if left untreated, could range from morbidity to disfigurement or even death.

Do support our endeavour.
Your kindness would go a long way in changing a poor person’s quality of sight and life and restore some of their dignity and peace of mind, by giving them the ability to perform simple functions themselves.

“The Sagar Trust came into being in 2009. As young doctors, most of us were given a free hand when treating poorer patients as compared to wealthier private patients. Most of these poor people were very gracious - they thanked and blessed us profusely for any good outcomes and took the blame on themselves and their destiny when outcomes were less than successful. As we became more skilled we were increasingly allowed to handle the richer patients and our success was judged by the economic standing of the group that we were assigned to deal with. This did not seem fair; the poor who had aided our early learning, deserved our skills the most. I was determined that a considerable part of my experience should be shared with those whom I will always remain indebted to for my skills - those poor patients.

This trust is quite different in that its main thrust is in the specialised area of oculoplasty which deals with the ocular adnexa (the area around the eyes ). This field includes all disesases of the lids, bony socket, soft tissues around eyes, lacrimal system, thyroid eye disease and also cosmetic surgery. Most current charitable infrastructure is geared to cataract surgery. Oculoplastic surgeons are relatively few in number and these surgeries typically take far longer to perform than cataract surgery. For these reasons the underpriviledged do not have easy access to free/subsidised oculoplastic procedures. The trust attempts to provide this.

One of our main concerns is that most of the donations should actually reach the intended beneficiary. We intend to spend as little as possible on overheads by using our existing infrastructure and keep overhead costs to a minimum.

The board currently has eight trustees of high standing and repute who are experts in their respective fields. We expect the collective energy and ideas to produce excellent results. We hope that over the years Sagar trust becomes a well-respected name, synonymous with quality work and a high standard of ethics and transparency.