In the quiet hills of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh, a young boy from the modest village of Pabiana walked nearly ten kilometres every day to reach his high school in Rajgarh. That long daily journey, undertaken with quiet determination, shaped the character of the man who would one day restore sight to more than a hundred thousand people.

Jagat Ram completed his MBBS from Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, in 1978. He then joined the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh as a resident in ophthalmology, earning his MS in June 1982. From that moment, PGIMER became his lifelong home. He rose steadily through the ranks—faculty member, professor, head of the Department of Ophthalmology for many years—and in March 2017 assumed the office of Director of the institute, a post he held until his retirement in 2021 after more than four decades of service.

His special gift lay in cataract surgery, particularly the delicate work required for children. In 1994 he introduced the modern technique of phacoemulsification at PGIMER, replacing the older extracapsular method. The change allowed faster recovery and better outcomes. Over the years he performed more than 90,000 cataract operations on adults and over 10,000 procedures on children. Patients who had lived in darkness left his operating theatre able to see again.

He never confined his skill to the hospital walls. In more than 130 free eye-relief and screening camps across rural areas, he operated without charge. Between 2003 and 2005 the Government of India deputed him as Consultant Ophthalmologist to the Republic of Seychelles, where he helped clear the backlog of cataract blindness in the island nation.

International recognition followed. He received WHO fellowships in advanced phacoemulsification (1993–94) and paediatric cataract surgery (1998) at the Storm Eye Institute in the United States. In 2013 and again in 2016 the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery named him “Best of the Best” for innovative surgical techniques. In 2015, at the World Congress of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus in Barcelona, he was awarded the “Oscar of Paediatric Ophthalmology.”

One morning in the clinic a small boy, previously blind from congenital cataract, opened his eyes after surgery and looked around in wonder. “Doctor uncle,” the child said softly, “I can see my mother’s face.” Jagat Ram smiled, resting a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Then my work is complete for today.” Moments like these, repeated thousands of times, defined his career more than any trophy.

In 2019 the Government of India conferred the Padma Shri upon him for his distinguished contribution to medicine, specifically ophthalmology. When the news reached him he dedicated the honour to PGIMER, his patients and his family. “This award will only strengthen my resolve to keep serving,” he said.

Even after stepping down as Director, Professor Jagat Ram continues to practice, teaching and operating with the same precision and compassion that marked his long journey from the footpaths of Sirmaur to the operating theatres of one of India’s premier medical institutes. His story is one of steady excellence—of a village boy who walked ten kilometres to school and later walked countless patients out of darkness into light.