I found my visit to the Venu Eye Institute an inspiring experience. Dr. R K Seth and his colleagues have established a most modern facility that is truly a gift for the people of Delhi and surrounding areas. The Institute deserves the fullest support, moral, financial and administrative, from the Government, philanthropists and the people of Delhi.
P.K. DAVE
Former Lt. Governor, Delhi
(17.07.1992)
Founder
Dr R.K. Seth (02.10.1939 - 29.01.1996)
MORTAL BODY IMMORTAL DREAMS
The late Dr. R.K. Seth, Founder of Venu, dedicated
his life to the service of humanity, especially the visually afflicted.
A visionary, he created an institution with a difference.
After graduating from Amritsar Medical College,
Dr. Seth did his Masters from Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi
in 1966. Thereafter, he worked as a consultant at Tirath Ram Jessa
Ram and St. Stephen’s Hospitals. He also ran clinics at Kamla
Nagar, Chandini Chowk, Defence Colony, Greater Kailash-I and paid
a weekly visit to Agra and Muzzafarnagar in the 1970’s. In
the summer of 1976, at the peak of his career, he suffered a major
heart attack, followed by a second attack in October of the same
year. Two consecutive heart attacks at such a young age set him
thinking about the purpose of his life and an answer to the ever
illusive question, “What are we here for?” This is a
stage that most people reach in their twilight years. On deep introspection
he came to the conclusion that he had only been receiving from the
society–he had earned name, fame and financial status, but
what had he given in return?
He decided that it was an apt time to return to
society what he had received from it. The best way of doing so was
to dedicate his services to the people who were poor and needy and
did not have any recourse to eye care. He was resolute on using
his skills, which had gained him the name and fame as a brilliant
ophthalmologist, for the service of those visually impaired who
needed it the most but were unable to access it.
It was in 1980 that his vision took the shape of
Venu Charitable Society. Dr. R.K. Seth realised that the only way
to combat the problem of avoidable blindness was to take eye care
facilities to the doorstep of the patients, rather than expect them
to come to cities for treatment. Initially, the services were provided
at grass root level by Mobile Clinics. Increased volume of patients
led to the establishment of Satellite Hospitals. To treat complicated
cases, as well as provide training to personnel, a teaching and
referral Base Hospital was set up in the Capital. Thus, evolved
a Three Tier Eye Care Network Delivery Network.
Dr. R.K. Seth left his mortal body in 1996 at the
age of 56 years, but not before he had created a model in the form
of Venu, which when replicated, would effectively combat the problem
of blindness in India.
