OPERATION EYESIGHT INDIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Programme Manager, South Asia
Job Titles:
- Member of the International Programmes Team
- Director - International Finance & Administration
Job Titles:
- Coordinator - Donor Relations
Dr. Prashant Garg joined our India Board of Trustees in May 2023. He is the Executive Chair of the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) and has held several other leadership positions at the institute before holding his current position. He is the current incumbent of the Dr. Paul Dubord Distinguished Chair of Cornea. Dr. Garg's primary area of interest and ongoing research is corneal infection, and he has published extensively on epidemiology, clinical features of rare infections, antibiotic resistance in ocular isolates, and drug delivery systems.
He is a member of various national and international ophthalmology societies, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO), All India Ophthalmological Society, and Asia Cornea Society. He is on the board of the International Joint Commission for Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology and the International Council of Ophthalmology subcommittee on allied health education. Dr. Garg is the recipient of several awards, including the Senior Achievement Award from the AAO in 2013 and the Achievement Award of the APAO in 2013. He was elected as a member of the Academia Ophthalmological International in October 2022.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Member of the International Programmes Team
- Global Director, International Programmes
With over 23 years of progressive experience in international development, Dr. Ritu Ghosh has expertise encompassing evidence-based strategy development, techno-managerial aspects of results-based program operations, business development, policy advocacy, and research and evaluation. She has extensive experience developing trusted strategic partnerships in public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
Ritu joined Operation Eyesight in May 2023 as our Global Director - International Programmes and leads our initiatives across all of our countries of work, promoting avoidable blindness-free communities/regions in line with our global strategy.
Ritu is a goal-oriented, visionary leader with an entrepreneurial mindset who believes in innovation and transformation. She is committed to standards of excellence to deliver quality programs and deploys resources effectively to maximize program outreach and influence government policy. She has hands-on experience in developing governance tools and practices, designing policy guidelines and building team spirit with resilience to cope with volatile and complex situations. She is proficient in digital technology, management information systems, strategic communications, campaign design and knowledge dissemination.
Ritu is a trained leader in high-impact leadership from Cambridge University with a PhD in healthcare and nutrition, a double Master's in social work and English, and a Bachelor's in mass communication. Additionally, she has project management (PMP & PMDPRO) professional certifications from APMG International, UK.
She has a notable history of working with renowned international organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, the United Nations Development Programme and Nutrition International and has closely worked with governments in different countries on health system-strengthening programs funded by many international donors.
Ritu says her family, especially her mother-in-law, is her biggest support system, enabling her to contribute globally to the health sector. Ritu is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys doing yoga in her free time.
"Operation Eyesight does wonderful work on preventable blindness, as vision loss severely impacts one's life," she says. "My work here will allow me to fulfil my passion for serving humankind."
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and Company Secretary
Mr. Shekhar Mehta is a chartered accountant, cost accountant and company secretary, and he runs the Skyline Group of Companies in real estate development, within and outside of West Bengal. He graduated from St. Xavier's College and holds a Master of Commerce degree from Calcutta University.
Mr. Mehta believes strongly in his responsibility to give back to his community. "Service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on this earth," he says. He has led a variety of significant service and health-related projects in India, including the construction of 500 homes and distribution of 10,000 shelter kits for survivors of natural disasters, an initiative to provide more than 2,500 heart surgeries for children and the establishment of a state-of-the-art eye hospital in Kolkata. He has been very involved in Rotary - as a club member, chair of international and national committees, and as worldwide president of Rotary International. During his presidency, he visited 40 countries and met about 30 of their heads of state. He has been working tirelessly to promote literacy in South Asia and is also an advocate for women's empowerment. He has conceived, designed and scaled up the Rotary India Literacy Mission by starting initiatives like the T-E-A-C-H program.
Mr. Mehta has received a number of awards through his Rotary involvement, including the Meritorious Service Award, Distinguished Service Award and Service Above Self Award. He was awarded the Mahatma Award for global social impact in 2022. He has been conferred upon the Honorary Doctorate Award for his contribution in the field of literacy, and he continues to devote a significant amount of time to humanitarian programmes for communities in India.
As someone who is dedicated to making a change in the world with a track record of making an impact through his efforts, Mr. Mehta is a great asset to Operation Eyesight's India Board of Trustees. His guiding principle is, "You see things as they are and ask why; I dream of things that never were and ask, why not?"
Mr. Mehta lives in Kolkata with his wife, Rashi, who also has an impressive history of humanitarianism. They are proud parents to their adult children, son Chiraag and daughter Chandni.
Ms. Karuna Luthar has a passion for working on environmental and social challenges. A chartered accountant with diverse experience in banking and business operations, she is now a social auditor and trainer for non-profits. She is also a board member at India Club Dubai, one of the largest non-profit social organizations in the United Arab Emirates, with her main interests being leadership development for teenagers and sustainability.
Job Titles:
- Resource Mobilization Associate
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Practice Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian School of Business
Dr. S. Ramnarayan (Ram) has been Practice Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian School of Business for the last 15 years. He has also been a professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and visiting faculty at the University of Bamberg, Germany and at his alma mater, the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
An engineering graduate, MBA and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior at the Case Western Reserve University, he has also been a manager and consultant at different stages of his career. He has carried out research assignments funded by the United States Office of Personnel Management, Ford Foundation, World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, Department for International Development, and German Sciences Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the India Team
- Manager - Finance & Administration
Job Titles:
- Member of the India Team
- Head - Resource Mobilization
Job Titles:
- Member of the India Team
- Programme Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the India Team
- Resource Mobilization Associate
Job Titles:
- Director - International Programs