The Visionary of Clear Sight

In the corridors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, Mahipal S. Sachdev trained as a physician and specialised in ophthalmology at the Dr. R.P. Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences. A fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., sharpened the skills he would bring home to transform eye care in India.

He returned to AIIMS as faculty, rising from Assistant Professor in 1987 to Associate Professor. In 1996 he joined Indraprastha Apollo Hospital as Senior Consultant and, at the same time, opened a modest eye clinic in Safdarjung Enclave. That small beginning grew into Centre for Sight—a nationwide network of specialised eye hospitals that now serves patients across dozens of cities.

Dr. Sachdev is recognised as one of the pioneers of phacoemulsification cataract surgery in India and co-authored the first Indian textbook on the subject, A Practical Guide to Phacoemulsification. He introduced advanced procedures such as blade-free LASIK, SMILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction), and other refractive techniques to the country, performing thousands of sight-restoring operations. He has presented more than 150 papers, published over a hundred articles, and trained generations of ophthalmologists. Leadership roles followed: President of the All India Ophthalmological Society, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society of India, and other national and international positions.

In 2007 the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri for his contributions to medicine. Other honours include the SAS Silver Medal for performing over a thousand LASIK procedures in a single year and the Rashtriya Gaurav Award.

Married to Dr. Alka Sachdev and the father of two daughters, Prof. Mahipal S. Sachdev continues as Chairman and Medical Director of Centre for Sight. In operating theatres where cloudy lenses are replaced with crystal clarity and refractive errors are corrected with microscopic precision, his lifelong mission endures: that every eye in India deserves the best possible chance to see the world clearly.