Mission For Vision for Eye healthcare by USM
Demokratic Front, Chandigarh, 23 November :
United Sikh Mission, under the Chairmanship of Rashpal Singh Khalsa, has taken a big initiative to make the health services accessible to all with a motive of making Rural Health ‘Accessible and Affordable’. He informed while addressing the media here today that their mission is to empower communities worldwide by addressing disparities in healthcare needs by eliminating preventable medical illnesses while promoting peace in the community to spread prosperity and kindness towards humanity.
Under this mission, the work of the building of ‘Khalsa Health Centre’ in Bias village, Jalandhar started this year in the month of June and is expected to be completed by October 2024. This Khalsa Health Centre is a tribute to the loving memory of Mata Pal Kaur and Mata Swaran Kaur, dedicated to serving the needy in the rural region.
USM has been serving the underprivileged in the State of Punjab since 2005 under their campaign “Mission For Vision” which started with a single eye camp in Bias Pind, Jalandhar to the current status of 2023-24 with 60 eye camps at 60 locations in the state covering population of more than 600 villages. (At an average, a camp covers adjoining 10 neighbouring villages).
Apart from this, there are 40 camps at 3 locations VPO Bias Pind (Jalandhar), VPO Latala (Ludhiana) and VPO Billi Waraich (Jalandhar) around the year to serve the community. By the year end of 2023, USM will nearly touch a total of 600 eye camps in a time span of 19 years since 2005.
Rashpal Singh informed that this “Mission for Vision” is a selfless act of serving the community across the State of Punjab and in the districts of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, Sangrur and more are scheduled in the coming weeks which will additionally cover villages in Rupnagar (Ropar), SBS Nagar Nawanshahr, Faridkot, Moga, Bathinda, Muktsar and Kurukshetra in Haryana. This nearly covers 17 Districts out of 23 Districts that is nearly 75% of the Punjab State’s region, he added. The camps this year began from 18 th September where apart from free eye check-up camps, there were provisions and arrangements for free medicines, free medicine for eye care, free spectacles, and free eye- surgeries at the camps and free meals provided along with pre and post operative care. It was shared that a total of 8719 OPD, 1165 Surgeries, 5060 Spectacles and 10903 Medicines were provided in the 21 camps held so far till last evening.
With a motive of protecting the Environment and ensuring Sustainability, USM undertook the monumental work of installing Solar Panels at Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, and the completion report of which has already been submitted to the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on 26 th June, 2023. Furthermore, 10 years of free maintenance has been further taken as ‘Seva’. A total of 1223 KW has been implemented on 17 buildings successfully which has reduced 33% of the power consumption at Sri Harmandir Sahib (Amritsar), Bir Baba Budha Sahib (Thatha, Tarn Taran) and Gurudwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji (Amritsar). A film has also been made on the Initiative of the Solar Panels to document and show the work accomplished with utmost clarity and transparency. It has been produced under the Sikhlens Community Voices Initiative and directed by Ojaswwee Sharma. It is available to watch on the website of the United Sikh Mission.
USM is in the process of making a Film titled ‘The Untold Story’ on its role in the making of the Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, aiming to reveal their untold narrative. The filming will commence in the 1 st quarter of 2024.
Rashpal Singh shared proactive steps taken by USM to protect their logos and the name of the foundation in order to Safeguard their Trademarks and Intellectual Property Rights to maintain their ethics and integrity for their social commitment. He further appealed to individuals and organizations to join hands as patrons, emphasizing the long-term goals in healthcare and education. He sought support for CSR, resource mobilization, volunteers, doctors, and the establishment of coordinators at District Levels across Punjab, with plans to expand to neighbouring states like Himachal and Jammu in near future. He expressed gratitude to all partners, specifically recognizing the role of Sikhlens in the Community Voices Initiative.
