Standard Chartered grants Rs 2.27 crore for eye hospital

Hyderabad, Jan 24 (UNI) Fulfilling its corporate social responsibility, India's largest foreign bank Standard Chartered, today announced a grant of Rs 2.27 crore to Sankar Foundation for setting up a state-of-the-art Rs 15 crore eye hospital at Visakhapatnam to cater to the people of north coastal Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Orissa and Chattisgarh states.

Lauding the Bank for its nice gesture, Andhra Pradesh Health Minister K Rosaiah urged the captains of Industry and trade to come forward in a big way to supplement the Government's efforts to improve health care in the private sector.

Commercial Taxes Minister K Ramakrishna said Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had allocated two acres of land for the foundation in recognition of the services being provided by the hospital. The centre has recognised it as a training centre for Small Incision Cataract Surgery under the National Prevention and Control of Blindness programme.

''Standard Chartered is committed to helping the communities in which it operates and helping them grow. The contribution has been made under the aegis of the Bank's ''seeing is believing'' programme which aims to restore vision to people suffering from avoidable blindness'', Bank's South Asia Credit officer Robert Green said.

In its current phase(2004-2006), 79,000 surgeries had been completed through its implementation partners, he added.

The upcoming hospital, expected to be completed by coming December, would have an area of 98,000 sq ft of five floors, eight operation theatres with specialised facilities for all sub-specialities in various eye diseases, Foundation Vice-Chairman D V Subba Rao said, adding the Foundation, adjudged as the best NGO by the state government, had conducted 67,230 eye surgeries after screening 4.11 lakh ailing people in remote areas, including tribal areas in the last nine years.

UNI