A massive eye hospital campus will soon rise in Masti Chak, Saran district, Bihar. This project is being developed by the RLJ Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital Community Centre. The foundation stone will be laid on Saturday, September 20, and Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is expected to attend the event. This project is designed to set a global example for large-scale rural healthcare and improve access to quality treatment.
Eye Care Challenges in Bihar
Bihar, home to about 13 crore people, records some of India’s most serious eye health problems. Every year, nearly 10 lakh cataract and other eye operations are needed, but the current system is far from meeting this demand. With fewer doctors, poor infrastructure, and widespread poverty, millions continue to live with avoidable blindness.
This problem is not only about health—it takes away family incomes, deepens poverty, and passes hardship from one generation to the next. To fix this, solutions must be medical as well as social and systemic.
Empowering Women Through a Unique Programme
The RLJ Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital Community Centre started in 2005. Since then, it has performed over 12 lakh eye surgeries and now serves 25 districts across Bihar. It is also the state’s largest provider under Ayushman Bharat.
Its special “Football to Eyeball” programme trains teenage girls from rural areas in football while preparing them for a career in optometry. This helps break gender barriers and build economic independence.
Big Targets for the Future
The new hospital campus will have the ability to carry out 3 lakh free surgeries every year. Under the Akhand Jyoti Vision 2030 plan, the organisation aims to reach a total of 5 lakh surgeries annually in Bihar, covering nearly half of the state’s unmet demand.
“This is not just the foundation of a hospital but the beginning of a movement,” said Mritunjay Tiwari, Co-Founder and Trustee of Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital. “By fighting blindness and empowering women, we hope to bring Bihar to national health levels and set a new world standard for rural healthcare.”
Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital, a unit of the Yugrishi Shriram Sharma Acharya Charitable Trust, is headquartered in Mastichak, Saran. Since its start in 2005, it has become a leading name in eliminating blindness, empowering women, and innovating rural health care. Its approach combines:
Large-scale eye treatment: free, high-quality surgeries for the poorest.
Women empowerment: the Football to Eyeball programme to train rural girls as optometrists.
Rural outreach: a focused effort to remove blindness in low-income areas.
