Samarendra Das

Rotary Club member, Samarendra Das (Samar) started his ophthalmic trust fund in 1992 and started collecting funds from many private patients, who had been treated free of charge and continued to do so until full and final retirement in 2004.

The effect of Samar's work in leading and enthusing local Rotarians in India has lead to the funding and creation of 16 Eye Hospitals and Eye clinics, of these the five leading units are a direct result of Samar's intervention, the others are secondary or a spin-off as a result of the original projects. Currently, the five hospitals/clinics see some 91,000 patients per year and perform some 10,000 eye operations per year. These numbers are growing. None of these patients can afford and are not charged any money for their treatment.

Samar retired from the NHS in 1997 at the age of 60, on a reduced pension, solely for the purpose of putting his theory of combining his tools and training into practice to exponentially increase the value of the Charity's work. He donated funds regularly every year to the trust fund. He donated most of his private equipment to Rotary in 2005 to set up a Rotary Eye Clinic in Mukono, Uganda, working with the Guildford-Mukono Society. The equipment was sent free of cost by persuading a local shipping company to help the charitable project.

His enduring commitment and personal sacrifice of time and money has now created hospitals that can run for years ahead without any future input. Samar and his family played host to eye surgeons from Kolkata during the 1999 GSE visit. Samar's cousin, Nirlay Kundu in Boston, Mass. USA also contributed to the trust fund himself and has raised funds from friends, associates and clubs regularly over several years.

Samar through his enthusiasm, foresight and determination has convinced Rotary clubs in Britain and Ireland, France, Switzerland, Canada and USA and many other individuals to join together to share the cost through The Rotary Foundation Matching (TRF) Grant mechanism (two-thirds raised by Rotary Clubs; one-third matched by the Foundation). Samar has almost single-handedly persuaded clubs and various individuals to jointly raise nearly £100,000 (including his own personal contribution) which, added to the contributions of Indian Clubs and the Rotary Foundation, has meant that with the matched funding scheme, the Eye Projects have been able to spend £250,000 to £300,000 in India to provide eye care in the Calcutta region.

In addition to the Eye Project, Samar has also led the Community base in Guildford by taking up the idea of a ‘SNAP’ dance. SNAP stands for Say No And Phone, which refers to drug use/abuse in young persons/children of school age. He organised two such dances, in November 2001 and March 2002, with the active co-operation of the Community Police Officer, Crimestoppers, Rotarians and their spouses who monitored the events, This was something not done previously in Surrey.

“It is only once in a while that a person comes across enthusiasm, dedication, sincerity and service personified. Dr. Samar Das is definitely one such person … today, District 3290 in Calcutta is doing upto 50,000 intraocular lens implants cataract surgeries to ensure that these people can once again have vision in their lives and all this was started by the initiative of one person – Dr. Samar Das.”

Shekhar Mehta, Rotary International, Kolkata, India

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