RCB’s Pride: HTEC, Talwada

It is said, of all the blessings one is bestowed with, the blessing of good health is the one most prized. And of all the senses that we are granted, the sense of sight is the one most treasured. And that is what makes the RCB project of Talwada most precious, as its ‘Hasanali Tobaccowala Eye Centre’ or HTEC caters to the eye-care of hundreds of underprivileged. Talwada is situated a 130 kms North of Bombay, near Charoti, and is a 3-hour drive along the Western Express Highway. Explains PP Rtn. Dr. Rumi Jehangir, “The HTEC was started 35 years ago by PP Rtn. Dr. Rahim Muljiani, our current Chairman Emeritus of the project. The Center has a ward of 40 beds. We visit the HTEC every month on a weekend, to perform eye surgeries – mainly cataract operations. We also provide Out Patient Department (OPD) services on Sundays.

Approximately over 800 underprivileged people, come in from Talwada as well as a radius of 50-80 kms around, from villages in Nasik, Palgarh, Vikramgarh, Wada and Talasari to get their sight corrected or restored at the HTEC. Monthly, the HTEC performs over 70- 80 cataract surgeries for those in need, as also providing food, medicine, lens implants completely free of cost for patients. “We are a total of 4 senior doctors and 3 junior doctors. Our resident eye-doctor, Dr. Anil Deshpande, look s after the post-operation cases and he conducts the OPD as well. Recently, eye-surgeon, Rtn. Dr. Priyanka Doctor has joined our team,” explains the PP. “Occasionally we also do corneal transplants, as and when the eye-balls are available. We have also started performing laser procedures with the help of the 2 laser machines we introduced; and last year we got a state-of-the-art new operating microscope costing 23 lakhs.

These equipments have proved immensely helpful to the villagers.” “We should also acknowledge Rtn. Bharat Taparia’s grant for having donated towards a junior college (10 +2), which is well set-up, functional and doing great work here!” he adds And how can we further assist in this inspiring philanthropic venture? “By encouraging and supporting this project in spirit! It would be great to have more eye-surgeons as week-end volunteers. We would also like to see more Rotarians visit Talwada and wish to request Rotarians to come by for the International Fellowship organized on March 13th, where a number of global Rotarians will be coming over to visit our medical facilities and ongoing projects at Talwada.” And what about your future plans? “We plan to continue the ongoing good work and further enhance our services and facilities in terms of both – quality and quantity.”