The Visionary Who Restored Sight and Built a Centre of Hope: The Story of Dr. Amod Gupta

In 1974 a young doctor named Amod Gupta walked into the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh as a junior resident in ophthalmology. He completed his MS and stayed on, never leaving the same department for more than forty years. What began as a modest single-corridor eye unit would, under his leadership, grow into one of India’s most advanced eye-care centres.

At the age of thirty-nine he became Head of the Department of Ophthalmology—a post he held from 1989 until 2015. He also served as Dean of PGIMER from 2011 to 2014. His greatest institutional achievement was the creation of the Advanced Eye Centre in 2006. What had once been a simple department was transformed into a modern tertiary-care facility capable of handling nearly two thousand patients a day, with specialised clinics and cutting-edge services.

Dr. Gupta became known as the “father of uveitis” in India. At a time when ocular inflammation was often treated only with steroids and little attention was paid to underlying causes, he studied the patterns of uveitis in Indian patients with scientific rigour. He was among the first to describe tubercular serpiginous-like choroiditis—an important manifestation of ocular tuberculosis—and helped establish clearer diagnostic and treatment pathways that prevented blindness in countless patients. He also reported the beneficial role of lipid-lowering statin drugs in diabetic retinopathy, expanding the use of medicines previously reserved for heart disease.

He published more than four hundred research papers, founded the Uveitis Society of India and served as its first President, and later became President of the Vitreoretinal Society of India. He performed tens of thousands of eye surgeries and mentored generations of ophthalmologists who now lead services across India and abroad. In 2014 the Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Shri. Other honours followed, including the Vigyan Ratan and international recognition such as the Von Szily medal.

Colleagues remember him not only for scientific brilliance but for quiet integrity. He started morning academic sessions at 7:45 a.m. that continue to this day. Remarkably, he handed over the headship of the department five months before his own retirement—an uncommon act of grace.

One evening after a busy clinic, a young resident asked him, “Sir, after building so much and teaching so many, what still gives you the greatest satisfaction?”

Dr. Amod Gupta smiled the gentle smile of a man who had spent a lifetime looking into eyes and restoring light.

“When a patient who came in nearly blind walks out able to see their family again,” he said, “that is the real reward. The centre, the papers, the awards—they are only tools. The purpose is always the same: to give someone back the gift of sight, and with it, dignity and hope.”

And so the ophthalmologist who joined as a junior resident and left as Emeritus Professor continues to be remembered as the quiet builder who turned a small department into a beacon of advanced eye care, and who taught that true leadership means creating something lasting for others long after one has stepped aside.