Dr SS Badrinath, founder of Sankara Nethralaya, passes away at 83

Dr SS Badrinath, Founder of Sankara Nethralaya, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83. The development was confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) by Tamil Nadu Congress Vice President Rama Suganthan. Suganthan further said in his post that the Sankara Nethralaya hospital in Chennai has served many poor patients. 

"My prayers and condolences to family and friends on demise of Dr Badrinath founder Sankara Nethralaya, a premier eye care hospital in Chennai and that has served many poor patients!" Suganthan said in his post. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his last respects to the Sankara Nethralaya founder on the social media platform. "Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr SS Badrinath ji, a visionary, expert in opthalmology and founder of Sankara Nethralaya. His contributions to eye care and his relentless service to society have left an indelible mark. His work will continue to inspire generations. Condolences to his family and loved ones. Om Shanti," PM Modi said. 

Investor and portfolio manager Shyam Sekhar also took to X to extend his condolences to the departed soul. "Dr Badrinath, founder of Sankara Nethralaya, a doyen in the field of public service is no more. A great loss to our society. Sankara Nethralaya stands as testimony to his lifelong commitment in serving society and hopefully will stand out even well beyond his lifetime," Sekhar wrote. 

Dr SS Badrinath, whose full name was Dr Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath, was born in Chennai on February 24, 1940. His father SV Srinivasa Rao worked with the erstwhile Madras government as an Engineer in the Public Works and Food production department. Badrinath's mother Lakshmi Devi was the daughter of a leading advocate. 

He lost his parents in his teenage and completed his medical studies from the life insurance money obtained after the death of his father. After completing his medical studies, Badrinath started his career in New York and interned at several opthalmology centres. 

In 1978, Dr SS Badrinath, along with a group of doctors, founded the Sankara Nethralaya. Sankara Nethralaya is one of India's biggest charitable and not-for-profit eye hospitals. The Sankara Nethralaya was founded with three key objectives-- quality care at affordable cost, teaching and training of opthalmologists and paramedical personnel to combat blindness in India, and research in vision sciences to address India-specific opthalmological problems. 

Dr Badrinath also served as a consultant in opthalmology to the Indian Armed Forces and was a non-official member of the Armed Forces Medical Research committee. For providing charitable eyecare through decades, Dr SS Badrinath was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. Annamalai and Tamilnadu Dr MGR Medical University also awarded him honorary doctorate degrees in 1995. 

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