JULY 2013

Bi-monthly Herald of the Association of Schools & Colleges of Optometry (ASCO-INDIA)

Our New AMASCOs + FASCO 2013-14 Candidates

By MAY 2013 ASCOs ASSOCIATE MEMBERS (AMASCOs) numbered 77. Now
nearly 100. They were featured with
individual profiles in the MAY issue of
INSIGHT. More AMASCOs have been enrolled since then. Many have registered
for the FASCO (Fellowship of ASCO)
scheme. They and those who later became AMASCOs & registered for FASCO
are featured in this, the JULY issue of IN-

SIGHT, a FASCO SPECIAL!). Some of the

NEW AMASCOs (who may register later
for FASCO) are briefly profiled here:
K P Venkates Prabhu graduated from Lotus Bausch &
Lomb Instt of Optometry,
Coimbatore. He has done
his Masters as well. He is
a Consultant Optometrist in Lotus Eye
Hospital, Coimbatore and a part time

FASCO
Special

faculty in his alma mater. He is specialized in Low Vision and Squint.

G Nehemiah graduated
from Joseph School of
Optometry, Trichy. His Vitreo-Retinal fellowship was
done in Joseph eye Hospital, Trichy. Currently works as consultant Optometrist
in Dar Optics Intl, Dubai.

FASCO Profiles
CONTACT LENS
Speciality Co-ordinator: LAKSHMI SHINDE

Raghunath Shelke Works

for Yateem Optician in
Dubai, having worked earlier in Sawant Optometry
Clinic, Mumbai. He graduated in optometry from Lotus College,
Mumbai. He is keen on LV & CL.
Manish Khanna B.Optom
from Bharati Vidyapeeth,
Pune, Manish owns KOTA
OPTICS and is Consultant
Optometrist there since
2002. His specialties are Contact Lens &
Dispensing Optics. His roles encompass
the total management of Kota Optics,
heading a team of nine, include handling day to day activities, finance, inventory mngmnt, planning & marketing.
He is ASCOs Rajasthan Rep
Gauri Kunjeer graduated
in Clinical Optometry from
Bharati Vidyapeeth Univ,
Pune (Gold Medallist) and
is doing her Masters at
Hari Jyot College of Optometry, Navsari.
Member of IACLE. Served as faculty at
Bharati Vidyapeeth & now in Hari Jyot.
Was a consultant to the Intl Center for
Eye Care Education.She is the author of
several scientific papers and winner of
several awards & scholarships from academia & industry. Active in social work.
Shalini Peter did her graduation in Joseph School of
Optometry, Trichy & masters at Al Salama College
of Optometry & management studies, Calicut. She is an Asst Prof,
Lotus Bausch & Lomb Instt of Optometry, Coimbatore. She has specialized in
Low Vision & Contact Lens.

Faiza Bhombal is a trained

Optometrist from Aditya
Jyot Eye Hospital. She has
worked at prestigious institutes like Advanced Eye
Hospital & Institute (Navi Mumbai) &
Krishna Eye Centre (Mumbai). She stresses on learning more in Specialty Contact
Lens, Low Vision & Visual Rehabilitation
and Dispensing. She is a Consultant Optometrist in Krishna Eye Centre
Nishna is an Optometry
graduate who interned
at Al Salama Eye Hospital.
She is doing her Masters.
She has a variety of optometry skills. She handles classes in
Opticianary & for undergrads. Has conducted cataract surveys in 2municipalities & participated in more than 450 cataract, diabetic retinopathy, etc camps.
Enthusiastic participant in COEs. Interested in lens manufacturing as well
Vaibhavi Dave did her
D.Optom from SNDT,
Mumbai & is pursuing
B.Optom from ITM, Panvel.
She works as an optometrist in a clinical setup
Sheela Evangeline K completed her UG & PG from
ESO topping the class
(Gold Medallist) in both.
She is the clinical head @
Trinity Optics & guest lecturer, Geometric Optics, ESO
Samuel Livingstone K
graduated in optometry
from Sri Ramachandra
Univ, Chennai with distinction & completed his Fellowship
in Vision Therapy@Sankara Nethralaya(SN). He is also pursuing his Fellow-

ship of British Dispensing Optics- ABDO

UK (1st batch in India) at SN. He will be
commencing his M.Optom course in
Manipal Univ
Shraddha Kadam has completed her M. Optom from
Lotus College of Optometry in 2012, She completed one year fellowship
program in Specialty Contact Lens from
Shekhar Eye Research & currently working at Wavikar Eye Institute as a Faculty &
Specialty Contact Lens Consultant.
Maheshwari
Srinivasan
graduated from Elite
School of Optometry,
served as consultant Optometrist in Sankara Nethralaya & in Bahrain. She has been senior
faculty in Shri Prakash Institute of Optometry, a unit of Dr Agarwals Eye Hospitals, for 7 years
CLINICAL OPTOMETRY
Speciality Co-ordinator: RAMESH SVe

Kamalesh Raghavan completed his B Optom from

CG Univ and joined Ahalia
Foundation Eye Hospital,
Palakkad as consultant
optometrist.Now in Muscat with Elegant
Opticals. His areas of interest: clinical
optometry, contact lens & pediatric optometry
Ukti Shah is a Masters
student at Lotus College
of Optometry, Mumbai.
Working as a consultant
optometrist in Mumbai
Sarita Madhav Deshpande
is a Faculty in Laxmi Eye
Instt, Panvel. A graduate

of Lotus College of Optometry, Mumbai

and a fellow of LVPEI, she interned in
Lotus Eye Hospital, Drushti Eye Clinic &
Shroff Eye Hospital. She has a spectrum
of clinical skills
R C Zoramchhana did
his diploma in ophthalmic technology from Regional Instt of Paramedical & Nursing Sciences,
Mizoram. Working in a private clinic as
optometrist. Has undergone technical
service training at Mediscience Services,
Kolkata. He is organizing firms, i.e Visiontech Enterprise, on Distribution, Sales &
Service of Ophthalmic Eqpt
LOW VISION
Speciality Co-ordinator: PREMA CHANDE

E Leena graduated from

Joseph School of Optometry, Trichy. She did
her masters in Al Salama
College of Optometry &
management studies, Calicut. Currently works as an Asst Prof in PRIST Univ,
Pondicherry. She is specialized in Pediatric Optometry
Naganathan Muthuramalingam B.Optom, M.Phil: an
Optometrist for Comprehensive Eye Care, primarily
focuses on Public Health
and Community Optometry. He graduated from ESO and continued serving in
the Tele-Ophthalmology Dept of Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. He is currently a
Lecturer at Qassim Univ, Saudi Arabia
Gaurav Kr Bhardwaj B.Optom & M.Optom from
Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune. He is a
FIACLE & Member, British
contact lens association. Currently Asst
Prof & course coordinator for the masters program, Amity Medical School,
Haryana. He is a guest faculty for IGNOU.
He teaches advanced contact lens, LV
Care and applied optics. He was earlier
faculty for B.Optom subjects at Nagar
School of Optometry, Ahmedabad.
Gaurav has wide industrial experience:
AB OPTIQUE eye ear & Speech, Delhi as
consultant optometrist & Manager; GKB
RxLens,Gurgaon Branch as Optometrist;
Dristi Contact lens Clinic & Opticals,
Pune as Consultant Optometrist. Both
an organizer and participant in several
conferences & seminars
Md. Oliullah Abdal besides
being an Optometrist, has
business
management
training in Health Care
services. He has worked in
LV Prasad Eye Instt (Low Vision & Visual

Rehabilitation) & Advanced Eye Hospital

& Instt. He has teaching experience in
Aditya Jyot Institute of Optometry and
ITM Institute of Health Science (Navi
Mumbai). He did his MBA in Health Care
Services from SMU, Manipal and his fellowship in Clinical Optometry from LV
Prasad Eye Instt. He completed another
advanced diploma in clinical research
from New Delhi. He now heads Optometry & Hospital Administration at Krishna Eye Centre, Mumbai. His specialties
include contact lens & research
Sona Komalam after her
Diploma in Ophthalmic
Assistance from Govt
Medical College, Trissur,
she graduated from Lotus
Bausch & Lomb, Coimbatore. She completed Mastermind there. Worked as
consultant optometrist, Head of dept in
Optometry, ZYOPTIX, In-Charge at Vasan
eye care hospital, Cochin for nearly 4
years. Currently doing her Masters at
her alma-mater. She has worked in every
dept during her service. Very active and
prolific in optometry events & contests
Jemima S Hubert graduated from ESO, Chennai and
worked in Sankara Nethralaya. Now she is a lecturer
in Shri Prakash Instt of Optometry, a unit of Dr Agarwals Eye Hospital. She also heads the Low Vision Aids
department
Paras Desai B.Optom;
M.Optom works as lecturer in Hari Jyot College of
Optometry, Navsari and
as senior optometrist in Rotary Eye Institute. He visited Nigeria twice for free eye
cataract surgery camps. He was awarded
by Ministry of Health, Lagos State for his
service to the International eye camp.
His Research Paper was selected for the
12th Dr EV Scientific Session at Chennai
Jubairiya Aboobacker P
graduated in BSc Optometry and is doing her
masters. She has been
with Shone Opticals and
vision centre, the optical wing of Al Salama Eye hospital as an Optometrist,now
promoted as Director (Sales Development). Attended many COEs as faculty
in low vision & dispensing. Attended the
9th Annual Conference of Vision 2020 as
a speaker. Keenly interested in Low Vision, attended several camps and other
activities in LV awareness, screening &
rehabilitation
Md. Sirajudheen K is doing
his Masters in Optometry
at ALSalama College of
Optometry, Calicut having
graduated from ALSalama College of

Optometry, Perinnthalmanna. He works

at the AlSalama eye Hospital, Calicut
BINOCULAR VISION
Speciality Co-ordinator: ADITYA GOYAL

Trupti Khaladkar completed her graduation and

masters from Lotus College of Optometry, Mumbai. She is currently a Sr.
lecturer there
Keyur N Sharma B.Optom,M.Optom)(Gold Medalist) Faculty at B.M.C.O
and Consulting Optometrist at Shree K P Sanghavi
Eye Instt and Keshvi Eye Hospital, Surat.
Visiting Optometrist at AAShirwad Eye
Hospital , Navsari
Anitha Arvind is a consultant Optometrist and
in-charge of Optometry
training in Ratan Jyoti Netralaya, Gwalior. She has Industry experience with GANKO and was faculty in
several Colleges. She is ASCOs MP Rep
Debapriya Mukhopadhyay
at a very young age started
helping his ophthalmologist father. Graduated in
Optometry from VCOVS, Kolkata, interning in clinical optometry at Shri Prakash
Instt of Optometry, Chennai, doing a
study on difference of macular thickness
in cases of maculopathy versus normal
population. Founded Dr Ashok Kumar
Banerjee Charitable Foundation for the
underprivileged. Completed his Masters
from Bharti Vidyapeeth Univ, School Of
Optometry, Pune, while writing a booklet on Advanced Designs of Progressive
Lenses. Dr Parikshit Gogate guided his
Masters thesis on Compliance of spectacles wear amongst school children in
rural Pune. It was published in IJO this
year and presented in several natl and
intl conferences. With work experience
in A Dinshaw & Co, H V Desai Eye Hospital, Dr Gogates Eye Clinic, Sankara Nethralaya (as Research Project Coordinator
for Community and Tele-Ophthalmology), he is currently a Faculty at Sankara
College of Optometry, Bangalore
Caroline Premila Edwin
Pondicherry-based, has 22
yrs of Optometry experience. Academic in charge
& Assoc Prof in Clinical Refraction, Visual Optics, Dispensing Optics, Contact Lenses, Ophthalmic Instruments, Squint, orthoptics and binocular
vision, Hospital Procedures, Seminars,
Case presentations. She has extensive

experience as a consulting optometrist

and in private practice. She graduated in
Optometry from ESO and did her Masters in Lotus, Mumbai. She is a visiting
Prof with Ahalia Foundation, Palghat
Hakkim Junejo completed both his B.Optom &
M.Optom with distinction. Working as a clinical
Application
Consultant
in the CARE group for KAMRA corneal
inlays, Schwind excimer laser, Ziemer
Femto laser & Optovue OCT machines.
Part time faculty for 2 yrs at Al Salama
College of Optometry. Ex Secy of GOA
(Kerala Chapter). He is the only KAMRA
Corneal Inlay Application Consultant in
INDIA and trained in Schwind Germany
for LASIK Application and PRESBYMAX.
He is a Ziemer Femto trainer in INDIA
DISPENSING OPTICS
Speciality Co-ordinator: VIVEK MENDONSA

K S Karki graduated from

Joseph School of Optometry, Trichy. Currently
runs his own optical outlet. Area of interest: Dispensing Optics.
Skilled in subjective, objective refraction, contact lens fitting, progressive
trouble shooting
Paula Mehta completed
her B.Optom from West
Bengal University of Technology. She is currently a
junior lecturer and course
coordinator for dispensing optician program at Lotus College of Optometry
Ronald Romeo Noronha is
with Wavikar Eye Instt as
Sr.Optometrist and Professor at Wavikars College of
Optometry, Mumbai
Veshal Madan Founding
member of Bharti Vidyapeeths School of Optometry in 1998, Katraj,
Pune. did his UG from
ESO, with internship at Shri Ganapati
Netrayala and his M.Optom from Bharti
Vidyapeeth, Pune. Currently doing his
Management course in Pune Univ having done his 2-year Executive PGDPM
course (HRM) from Symbiosis, Pune. He
has been teaching optometry subjects
in Pune colleges. Has completed 7 successful years as Director In-charge & Assoc Prof, Dr DY Patil Instt of Optometry
& Visual Science, Pimpri. He is the Central Assessment Program (CAP) Director
there. He was accredited as FIACLE (Australia) and is pursuing his PhD in Dr DY
Patil Univ & AFMC, Pune. He is the Chief
Consulting Optometrist and Vision Care
Specialist at Drishti Eye Care Instt for 15

yrs. He is ASCOs Regional Rep-WEST

Md. Kunhi is HOD, Dept
of Optometry, Al Salama
Eye Hospital & Asst Prof,
Al Salama College of Optometry, Perintalmanna.
An active member of FIACLE, he delivers lectures in a variety of CMEs and w/
shops. He is an executive member of
Graduate Optometrists Assoc, Kerala;
ASCOs Rep for Kerala and honored by
ASCO as a high achiever. He graduated
& post-graduated in Optometry from Al
Salama. He has qualified in ICLEP (basic
& advanced)
Nilesh Thite is Assoc. Prof
at Bharati Vidyapeeth
Deemed Univ Medical
Colleges School of Optometry, Pune, where he completed his
Masters. He is Director of Educational
Programs & fellow of International Association of Contact Lens Educators,
Australia. He had a corporate stint with
Bausch & Lomb India as professional
services manager. Nilesh has vast experience in teaching Dispensing Optics,
Contact Lens and Refraction. Has presented scientific papers/posters in many
natl & intl conferences and has been a
faculty in many national & international
practitioner education programs in contact & ophthalmic lenses. He was recently honored with the fellowship of the
British Contact Lens Assoc
Rushit Patel Graduated
from Bharti Vidyapeeth,
Pune and did his masters
in Nagar School of Optometry (NSO), Ahmedabad.
He is a member of IACLE and visiting faculty at NSO. He is Consulting Optometrist at Nagar Chasmaghar, Ahmedabad
Balbheema Sirasagi is a
faculty in Vasan Instt of
Ophthalmology & Research, Blore. He graduated from DY Patil Instt. of
Optometry & Visual Science, Pune
Nirav Mehta is Principal
of Harijyot College of optometry, Navsari. He did
his B.Optom & M.Optom
(gold medallist) from
Bharthi Vidyapeeth Univ, Pune. He is
ASCOs Rep for Gujarat. His career spans
roles as consulting optometrist, entrepreneur and academic mentor. He is a
prominent member of IACLE
Noufal Md. graduated in
Optometry from Al Salama College of Optometry (ASCO) and obtained
his Masters. He worked
in Malabar Eye Hospital, Calicut; Focus
Opticals, UAE; & Trichur Eye Hospital in

various depts. he is associated with the

optometry prog of Al Salama, Calicut
PUBLIC HEALTH & COMMUNITY OPTOMETRY
Speciality Co-ordinator: Srinivas Maramula

Firdoos Jaman is an Optometrist in RIPANS (Regional Instt of Paramedical & Nursing Sciences) in
Aizawl. He has Diploma in Ophthalmic
Technology from RIPANS. He was selected by Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya,
Guwahati for a 1 yr refresher course on
various ophthalmic techniques & ophthalmic nursing at Sankara Nethralaya
Chennai. After a 4-year stint there he
joined at B.Optom MLCU, Shillong. He
has attended seminars and workshops
organized by various Ophthalmic manufacturing companies. He is ASCOs Rep
for Mizoram, Tirupura & Nagaland
Amit J. Shinde completed his B.Optom & M.Optom from Bharati Vidyapeeth Univ School of
Optometry. Since 2002, he
has been working as a teaching faculty
at his alma mater. The areas of interest
are Basic Optics, Dispensing Optics &
Low Vision, Public Health & Community Optometry. Currently he is an Assoc.
Professor and In-charge at alma-mater.
Ekta Satra is an Optometrist at Infiniti Eye Hospital.
She has conducted several
eye camps as chief optometrist, in Mauritius
Kuldip Soni Optometrist
in Rotary Eye Inst, Navsari. Awaiting his M.Optom
results there, where he
heads the Optical Shop.
He completed B.Optom from Hari Jyot
College of Optometry, Navsari where he
is a lecturer. He is also the proprietor of
Chasma Ghar, Bhachau-Kutch. Awarded
by Ministry of health, Lagos State, Nigeria for his work in their International Eye
camp in 2012 and earlier by the Ogun
State Govt, Nigeria
Noushad Chief Optometrist, Contact Lens specialist and HOD (last 4 years)
in Vasan Eye Care Hospital,
Kannur. He did his Dip.
Ophthalmic Asst in 2003 from ERF Instt
of Ophthalmology, Eye Research Foundation, Taliparamba & graduated in Optometry in 2009.

Nilesh Thite receives fellowship of British Contact Lens Association

Optometrist Nilesh Thite (see FASCO Profiles this issue) received the prestigious
Fellowship of British Contact Lens Association (FBCLA) during its clinical conference, Manchester, 6-9 June. The Fellowship recognizes a members standing in
Contact Lens & the anterior eye.
Members of the BCLA must be awarded
50 points by the academic committee

Nilesh Thite receiving FBCLA certificate

and satisfy the committee of their contact lens and / or anterior eye credentials
in an oral assessment based on the evidence presented.
Points can be awarded for any combination of the achievements such as case
record of advanced contact lens fits,
presentation of a paper or poster at the

Team India

BCLA, publication of a peer reviewed

journal article on contact lenses and/or
anterior eye, book chapter, patent in the
field of contact lenses and/or anterior
eye, etc. Nilesh presented two posters at
the conference. Ms Kunda Ganatra, Ms
Jyoti Dave and Ms Isha Dave from India
also attended this conference

Nilesh with his poster presentations

Alumnus Speak - Raghunath Shelke

Yes! Optometry offers a challenging,
interesting & rewarding career path.
Optometrists can choose to practice in
many different locales, to specialize in
diverse areas of patient care & to work in
a myriad of different practice situations.
The scope of optometry continues to
grow as new technologies & new treatments for eye diseases are developed.

As the primary eye care providers, optometrists are in a unique position to

improve the quality of Visual Life and
Health of their patients by providing
quality & comprehensive eye care.
I take this opportunity to thank the Outstanding Dedicated Person of our institute, Prema Madam (Principal Of Lotus
College). I thank Mentor Prasad Sir, Dir,

Sawant Optometry Clinic, Dombivli. He

changed my life in many ways. Im so
glad I am a part of this lovely profession.
From the start of my optometry career
I have learned a lot from my seniors &
colleagues. Raghunath D Shelke, Dubai.
(Raghunath is a FASCO 2013-14 candidate, see
FASCO profiles this issue)

Why Start an Optometry College?

HUGE demand for fresh Optometry
Graduates, very limited supply! INDIA
clearly needs 1,25,000 optometrists. We
have only 7,000 Graduates & 33,000 diploma holders! Placement for freshers
is guaranteed in Eye Hospitals, Colleges,
Optical Chains, etc @ Rs 25,000 pm,
highest in any applied science course in
India. B.Optom: 4 yrs incl. 1 yr compulsory internship; D.Optom: 2 yrs (D.Optom courses likely to be phased out with-

in a decade). DEMAND increasing from

D.Optoms for Lateral Entry to B.Optom
courses. DEMAND increasing for B.Optom seats in India & from other countries. B.Optom covers many subjects of
BSc Maths, Physics, Chemistry & Biology. Starting with B.Optom, institutions
can smoothen their entry into other BSc
courses.
PREREQUISITES ARE: UNIVERSITY
AFFILIATION and ATTACHMENT to an

EYE HOSPITAL. CLINICAL ATTACHMENT:

MOU with a good nearby Eye Hospital
(Strong MOU-Many benefits to College)
Classrooms: 1 in 1st year, 2 in 2nd yr, 3
in 3rd year Labs (from 1styr itself ): Optics, Anatomy & Physiology, Biochemistry. CURRICULUM: ASCO gives you the
widely accepted CMOC (Common Minimum Optometry Curriculum) & provides
you all services to start & run your optometry College!

ASCO MEMBER-SCHOOLS & COLLEGES

MAHARASHTRA Mumbai: Aditya Jyot Instt. of Optometry, Wadala. Laxmi Eye Hospital, Panvel. ITM-Instt of Health Science-College of Optometry. Lotus College of Optometry, JVPD. Premila Vithaldas Polytechnic, SNDT Womens Univ. Wavikar Eye Instt. Thane. Pune: Dr D Y Patil Instt of Optometry & Visual Sciences.
School of Optometry, Bharthi Vidyapeeth Univ. PBMAs HV Desai Eye Hospital, Hadapsar. Beed: Netradeep College of Optometry. Jalna: Shri Ganapati Nethralaya
College of Optometry. Nashik: College of Optometry & Ophthalmic Science. GUJARAT Ahmedabad: Nagar School of Optometry. Ahmedabad Instt of Medical
Sciences. Surat: Bhartimaiya School of Optometry. Navsari: Hari Jyot College of Optometry, Rotary Eye Instt. Dahod: Drashti College of Optometry. AP Hyderabad: UoH Dept of Medical Sciences. Bausch & Lomb School of Optometry. Pushpagiri Vitreo-Retina Instt. KARNATAKA Blore: Sankara College of Optometry.
Nethradhama School of Optometry. Manipal: Manipal Univ College of Allied Health Science. KERALA Palakkad: Ahalia Foundation Eye Hospital. Perintalmanna,
Malappuram Dt: Al Salama College of Optometry. Calicut: Malabar College of Optometry, Eddapal. TN Chennai: Elite School of Optometry. College of Allied
Univ, Sri Ramachandra Univ. Shri Prakash Instt of Optometry. Coimbatore:Lotus Bausch & Lomb School of Optometry. WB Kolkata: Krishnalaya School of Optometry. Vidyasagar College of Optometry & Vision Science. ASSAM Gauhati: Sankaradeva College of Optometry. Jorhat: Ridley College of Optometry. MEGHALAYA Shillong: Bansara College of Optometry. HARYANA Amity Univ Department of Optometry, Gurgaon UTTARAKHAND Pauri Garhwal: Kullanand Mundepi
Optometry & Eye Instt. PUNJAB Chandigarh: Chitkara Univ Dept of Health Sciences.

ADVERTISERS PLEASE NOTE: MAX DIMENSIONS for Ads in INSIGHT (height in cm x width in cm): INSIDE PAGE-FULL: 27.7 x 19; LAST PAGE-FULL: 29.7 x
21 + 5mm Bleed; DOUBLE-SPREAD (2 INSIDE PAGES): 27.7 x 40; ANY PAGE: 13 x 19; ANY PAGE: 6.5 x 19; OR 13 x 9; STRIP: 3 x 19; OR 13 x 4.25 (Ad material
preferred in the following formats: 1. Photoshop; 2. Corel draw; 3. InDesign; 4. Illustrator; 5. High-resolution, curved PDF) RATES: Full page in inside page :
Rs 10,000/-; Last page : Rs 12,000/-; Half Page in inside pages : Rs 6,000/-; Page In front or last page: Rs 7,500/-; page in inside pages: Rs 4,000/-; Page In
front/last page: Rs 5,000/-; Strip in inside pages: Rs 2,500/-; In front or last page: Rs 3,000/- (12.36% service tax is charged) DISCOUNT for ASCO members:10%;
Discount for REPEAT Ads: YEARLY(6 issues)10% reduction; HALF-YEARLY (3 issues) 5% reduction.; For contracts longer than 1 YEAR, further concessions
apply: Please discuss with ASCO asap. ASCO reserves the right to edit any material sent, or even reject the ad, if required to protect readers.

A103-cap
INR 90/- per pc.

A108 OPTOM NAMEPLATE

INR160/- with name INR 130/- without name

COFFEE MUG A109

INR 180/- per pc.

A101-T SHIRT with COLLAR

INR 330/- per pc

PEN WITH JOTTER REFILL A110

INR25/- per pc.

A107-OPTOM OATH
INR75/- per pc.

J108Fine Jute Cream College BagINR 500/J111-Jute Ladies Bag Green-INR 350/-

J105Blue Ladies Bag INR 400

Tel: 022-22012358, Fax: 022-22070048

www.asco-india.org

A102-OPTOM APRON
INR 350/- per pc.

A105-CAR STICKER
INR30/- per pc.

A104-MOUSE PAD
INR 50/- per pc

T110 Gents T-shirt (black)INR 450/-

43 Amrut Keshav Naik Marg, Fort, Mumbai 400001

J101Ladies Bag with hand design

and inner pocket INR 425/-

T114-Ladies T-shirtINR 450/-

[also in green T111 & grey T115]

T109-Ladies T-shirt (red)INR 450

LADIES BAG Fine Jute Ladies

College Bag J109 INR 1200/-

J107-Black College Bag INR 475/-

A106-BIKE STICKER
INR15/- per pc.

PEN WITH STRING A111

INR15/- per pc.

T116 Gents T-shirt (red)INR 450/-

Discount on Orders
5% above Rs. 10,000/7.5% above Rs. 50, 000/10% above Rs. 100,000/-

L105Leather pen- standINR 350

C103Ceramic Beer MugINR 400/-

J103Medium carry bag Jute with Eye Design

INR 100/-

T108Gents Tshirt Hands (black)INR 450/-

L101Leather Vertical Spectacle

case with buttonINR 350/-

P10-Paper pen standINR 280

J106Wine Bag INR 250/-

J102Small Carry Bag JuteINR 75/-

T113 & T112-Kids Tshirt 7yrs YellowINR 380/-

L102Leather Horizontal Spectacle

case with buttonINR 350/-

C102Ceramic Coffee Mug-INR 300/-

T105- BibI Love INR 250/BIBI Know What Organic Cotton T103. INR 250/-

L104Leather Key Chain-INR 175/-

FINE JUTE CONFERENCE FOLDER

J110 INR 350/-

CANE AND COTTON LADIES BAG

J112 INR 500/-

J113 Fine Jute Conference Folder INR 350/- Hand Crafted leather Folder L106, INR 600/-

C101Ceramic Coffee MugINR 300/-

T102 (3 yrs)- White INR 350/T112 (7 years) - Black INR 350/-

L03-LeatherVertical Specs case

with flapINR 350/-

ORDER ONLINE from our website www.asco-india.org OR vide email to ceo@asco-india.org OR by post to ASCO-India, 43 AMRUT KESHAV NAIK Marg, Fort, Mumbai 400 001

(EVERY RUPEE EARNED GOES OPTOMETRY EDUCATION IN INDIA)

MOMENTOS l GIFTS l PRIZES l UTILITARIAN ITEMS

UNiQUE, EXQUISITE, DURABLE, AFFORDABLE, NO WHERE ELSE ON EARTH!

DELIGHTFUL PRODUCTS for

OPTOMETRISTS

Spectacle Coverage and Spectacles Use among Elderly Population in Residential Care in AP
[By Srinivas Marmamula,1,2,3,4 L. V. Chandra Sekhar Ravuri,1,5 Mei Ying Boon,4 and
Rohit C. Khanna1]
1.Allen Foster Community Eye Health Research Centre, International Centre for
Advancement of Rural Eye care, L V Prasad
Eye Institute, L V PrasadMarg, Banjara
Hills, Hyderabad 500 034, India. 2.Bausch
& Lomb School of Optometry, L V Prasad
Eye Institute,Hyderabad 500 034, India.
3.Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology,Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
4.School of Optometry & Vision Science,
University of New SouthWales, Sydney
2033, Australia. 5.CommunityHealth&NutritionOffice, Area Hospital, Kandukur,
PrakasamDistrict, AP 523105, India.]
Correspondence should be addressed to
Srinivas Marmamula; srioptom@lvpei.org

Received 7 April 2013; Revised 4 June

2013; Accepted 10 June 2013 Academic Editor: Alberto Raggi Copyright

2013 Srinivas Marmamula et al. This is
an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited. Background: There is
limited research conducted on uncorrected refractive errors, presbyopia, and
spectacles use among the elderly population in residential care in developing
countries such as India.We conducted a
cross-sectional study among elderly in
residential care to assess the spectacle
coverage and spectacles usage in the
south Indian state ofAndhra Pradesh.
Methods. All 524 residents in the 26
homes for aged institutions in the
district were enumerated. Eye examina-

tion was performed that included visual

acuity (VA) assessment for distant and
near vision. A questionnaire was used
to collect information on spectacles use.
Results. 494/524 individuals were examined, 78% were women, and 72% had no
education.Themean age of participants
was 70 years.The spectacle coverage for
refractive errorswas 35.1% and 23.9%
for presbyopia. The prevalence of current use and past use of spectacles was
38.5% (95% CI: 34.242.8; n = 190) and
17.2% (95% CI: 13.942.8), respectively. Conclusions: There is low spectacle
coverage for both refractive errors and
presbyopia among elderly individuals in
residential care in the south Indian state
of Andhra Pradesh. Appropriate service
delivery systems should be developed
to reach out to this vulnerable group of
seniors on a priority basis.

Australian Leadership Awards Fellowships (ALAF) ASCO SCORES A SIXER!

Announcing the successful candidates for
the ALAF round 13 of the Optometry Faculty Development Program scheduled for
Aug 12-20, 2013 in Sydney, anchored by
the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Sydney
with support from India Vision Instt. Aus-

tralia Awards Fellowships aim to develop leadership, address priority regional

development issues, build partnerships
& links between Australian organizations and their partners in developing

countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America,

the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle
East. Ms Jayarajini Vasanth, Sri Ramachandra Univ & Research Instt, Chennai.
Jyothi Thomas, Manipal College of Allied
Health Sciences, Manipal. Mr Kartheek
Kumar Sangewar & Mr Shyam Sunder
Tummanapalli, Bausch & Lomb School
of Optometry, L V Prasad Eye Instt, ,Hyderabad. Mr Nirav Kumar Mehta, Hari
Jyot College of Optometry, Navsari. Sou-

mendra Nath Ghosh, NSHM Knowledge

Campus, Kolkata. ALL the successful
awardees are from ASCOs member colleges ! Furthermore, Jayarajini & Nirav
Mehta are ASCOs Representatives for
Chennai & Gujarat respectively. Soumendra was ASCOs Regional Rep East.
ASCO extends hearty congrats and best
wishes for continued success to all of
themt!

VisionCareIndia (An initiative by EnhanSight Online)

There is an acute need to develop the
vision for eye amongst our citizens and
spreading awareness about the Optometry Profession, specifically about Optometrists. We are initiating this effort
with support from ASCO-India.
VisionCareIndia is a project specifically
designed to create a platform that will
bring all stakeholders in eye care fraternity in a collaborative environment that
will break the traditional boundaries of
knowledge and wisdom sharing. In the
first stage of this project, we are devel-

oping two blogging sites. One will be

available for Citizens and Patients. Other
site will be accessible to Professionals
by Invitation only, where the blogs will
be by Professionals for Professionals.
Sample blogs for Citizen Website are
available on http://www.blogs.visioncareindia.org. Second website http://
www.problogs.visioncareindia.org, will
be launched soon after adequate contribution of blogs by professionals.
There are a lot of experiences that cannot be exactly converted into Research

Work, for sheer lack of numbers, methodology, etc. However, these experiences are worth sharing for the eyecare
fraternity. We request you to participate
in this effort with your blogs for both Citizens as well as Professionals. Please send
your blogs to blogs@visioncareindia.org. For
any query, please contact us on 09823458799.

Our exploration in the Optometry Profession brings a new dimension in enhancing growth for Optometrists. VisionCareIndia will be an exciting place
to be in.

IACLE expands its activities as membership grows

2013 is a busy year for the International
Association of Contact Lens Educators
with growth in all activities & important
changes to its management & structure.
Membership rose by 8% to 839, in Jan to
June, across 68 countries including over
200 from industry. There are now 285 FI-

ACLE Fellows worldwide. IACLE reached

more than 20,000 students in 600 academic institutions during this period.
AGM was held in Manchester to coincide with the British Contact Lens Associations Clinical Conference. IACLE was
registered as a not-for-profit corporation

in Ontario, Canada in May 2013, having

moved its secretariat from Australia.
Much of IACLE funding continued to
come from its sponsoring companies,
Platinum Sponsor Alcon, Gold Sponsors
CooperVision and The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care,

Bronze Sponsors Bausch + Lomb and

Abbott Medical Optics. The first web lectures were broadcast live in India & the
Americas, and would soon be rolled out
to other priority institutions in the Asia
Pacific and Latin America regions. The
technology works and feedback was
excellent,. For an organization like ours,
good internet connections allow us to
reach our members and students worldwide with high quality lectures. This is

a major initiative for us which well expand in future years. IACLE will be running a further 10 Members Meetings
and Train-the Trainer Programs in 2013,
primarily targeting priority countries.
It will also produce educational videos,
and compile a collection of industry/
member-donated videos, to be available
on its website and YouTube. Director of
Operations Bonnie Boshart said: Its en-

couraging to see growth in all our key performance indicators and new initiatives
such as our web lectures taking shape. We
have very ambitious plans for the rest of
this year and beyond. She thanked IACLEs
industry partners for their continuing support. International Association of Contact
Lens Educators iacle@iacle.org www.iacle.
org IACLE thanks the sponsors of global contact lens education

Sankara Nethralaya Invites You to Unique Contact Lens Workshops

LEARN MORE on CONTACT LENSES:
Specialty Contact Lens fitting 1st Sept
2013 Contact lens specialists have always recognized the importance of
contact lens fitting in pre post surgical
corneas and irregular corneas. Because
these corneas may be affected by pre
existing diseases, degeneration, or the
after effects of surgery, contact lens fitting requires the utmost skill and dedication. The current scenario of customers/patients expectations is to have a
closer proximity of their visiting doctors
/ Eye care practitioners. Having knowl-

edge and skill in fitting irregular corneas

is like adding feather to your cap to attract more patients to your practice.
DROPOUTS: ONE is TOO MANY!
REDUCING DROPOUTS and MAKING A
PROFITABLE PRACTICE 10th Nov 2013
Knowing the subject is knowledge, using the knowledge rightly is wisdom.
It is important for contact lens practitioners to keep a watch on updates and
convert the practice to current scenario.
Also the success of any practice is counted by How many loyal customers or patients do they have? To have longevity

of practice & loyal customers it is important to have a watch on dropouts. This

session helps you to apply the knowledge and reduce dropouts in a contact
lens practice. This session also gives an
update on latest developments and
trends in contact lens practices world
wide. Eligibility: Min 2 years diploma or
4 years degree optometry Registration
Fees: Rs. 500/- for each workshop, Maximum 50 registrants only on first come
first serve basis Venue:Medical Research
Foundation, 18 College Rd, Chennai 06.
clresearch@snmail.org (M) 9384853003

CALLING ALL D.OPTOMS & D.OAS ! HURRY!

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN OPTOMETRY

Degree Completion Program

November 2013 - February 2015

Expand your knowledge base and skill set in the

screening, diagnosis, management, and comanagement of ophthalmic conditions. This unique
collaboration is the first of its kind between the
Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University,
USA and three prestigious organizations in India:
Sankara Eye Care Institutions, Association of Schools
and Colleges of Optometry, and Chitkara University.
The program is designed for practitioners with a twoyear diploma who are interested in pursuing a
Bachelors Degree in Optometry. It will be offered in
four locations: Bangalore, Ludhiana, Anand and
Application Deadline: August 1, 2013
Guntur. The program features lectures and clinical
procedural labs taught by world-renowned educators.
Capacity is limited. For more information, please visit us online.
To submit your application, please visit our online application system.
If you have further questions, please contact the program coordinator via email at bscindia@salus.edu.

In cooperation with

ESSILOR CHIEF on Economic Loss of poor Vision in India

Hubert Sagnieres, chairman & CEO of
Essilor, the worlds largest maker of ophthalmic lenses, said India loses $37 billion (about Rs 203,500 crore) in annual productivity on account of poor eye vision
among its people. Sagnieres, who was
in Bangalore for the launch of a global
institute to create awareness about the
socio-economic impact of poor vision,
was quoting from a recent study by the
World Health Organization (WHO). The
study estimates that there are 550 million people in India - about half its population-who require vision correction
but are not adopting means to correct
it. In many cases, people, particularly
children, are not aware they need vision
correction. The brain compensates for
the loss of sight for some years, and the
mind gets used to it. But beyond a point,
the brain cannot handle it, Sagnieres
said. He recollected coming across a
12-year-old child in a school with severe
myopia that was discovered only during
a vision testing session. Nobody had
realized she had a problem. The teacher
told me the student was very attentive

in the first hours of school, but would go

into a dream-like state later in the day. The
brain would compensate for the vision
problem initially, but then got tired, he
said. Visual problems have a direct and
serious impact on childrens grades in
school. In India, 41% of children (under
18 years) are estimated to need visual
correction but are not corrected. About
42% of workers, 42% of drivers and 45%
of elderly people are similarly placed.
Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, who heads the
Paris-based Essilors new Vision Impact
Institute, said they had tested 2,100
drivers at the Bengaluru International
Airport, and over 25% of them needed
eyeglasses for vision correction. Some
60% of road accidents around the world
happens because of poor vision of the
driver, he said. A study among Indian
workers, he said, found that vision correction led to an over 30% increase in
their incomes & a 25% increase in productivity. Dr Pradeep AV, assistant professor in Dharwad-based SDM College
of Medical Sciences and Hospital, said
there was a definite lack of awareness

among people about impaired vision.

There is also some resistance to wearing
spectacles among villagers for the fear
of looking older. Last week I conducted
a camp in Dharwad where 40 out of 100
people had impaired vision. WHO estimates that globally poor vision results
in an economic productivity loss of
$275 billion, with China accounting for
the biggest chunk of that at $65 billion.
Some 4.2 billion people, or two-thirds
of the world population of 7 billion, are
estimated to have impaired vision. But
only 1.7 billion of those adopt vision
correction methods. The Vision Impact
Institute will work with governments to
generate awareness about the problem
and frame relevant policies. It will work
with universities to conduct further research. Essilor, which markets brands
like Crizal, Varilux and Transitions, finds
that a big problem in countries like India
was also the poor accessibility to corrective lenses. Theres just 1 eyeglass store
for 70,000 people now, against the required ratio of 1 to 10,000. India needs
over 100,000 new stores, Sagnieres said.

ROLE OF OPTOMETRY SCHOOLS IN EYE CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM

Refractive Error: Situational Analysis:
1. Uncorrected refractive error is the
major cause of avoidable vision impairment, and the second most common
cause of blindness in India. 2. In India,
an estimated 41 million people are blind
or vision impaired from uncorrected
distance refractive error. 3. Uncorrected presbyopia accounts for another 91
million people vision impaired people in
India. 4. Impairment due to eye disease
is estimated to be at least 26 million, of
whom almost seven million are blind. 5.
Almost half the population of India (i.e.
469 million people) have some form of
refractive error, and around 133 million
of them are blind or vision impaired as
a result of lack of correction, including
11 million children. 6. Refractive error is
easily diagnosed and measured. It is the
most treatable cause of vision impairment in most cases, an eye examination and a pair of spectacles is the only
form of treatment needed. 7. Millions of

people in India still do not have access

to basic eye care and refractive services
mainly due to a shortage of trained
professional manpower. esp optometrists. 8. The above figures multiply
dramatically in villages as compared to
towns and cities, as most of the professionals are clustered in the bigger cities
and towns. Present Available Solutions:
1. Though efforts have been made to
man the PHCs etc in villages, they have
not yielded fruitful results. 2. Even students from villages when professionally trained; migrate to cities and bigger
towns in search of better professional
opportunities. Hence the lacunae continue in the villages where the needs are
most. 3. The secondary referral centers
concentrate on more advanced abnormalities than refractive error. Possible
solution and partnership: 1. At present,
there are approximately 140 Schools &
Colleges of Optometry across India. 2.
We envisage all the schools to offer 4

year degree courses by 2020 (At present

a sizeable number of them offer diploma
in Optometry).
3. We are making efforts to upgrade &
update the existing diploma holders
to degree level. 4. On behalf of smaller towns and villages, each optometry
school would pledge to adopt villages
(numbers based on student & faculty
strength of the schools). 5. Third year
students would be posted in vision centers in villages on a rotation basis to diagnose and treat the conditions falling
under their purview and further refer
and co manage cases along with other
professionals. 6. The interns in the final
year would be posted residentially for a
good part of their internship to man the
vision centers. 7. These measures would
decrease the blindness due to refractive
errors and other vision threatening diseases and disorders. Colleges eager to
participate contact Prof P Sudarshan intellsouthtech@gmail.com

HARI JYOT COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY ROTARY EYE INSTITUTE (REI)

Hari Jyot College of Optometry is a premier educational institute of Gujarat. It is
a self-financed college with its own gov-

erning board and is managed by Rotary

Eye Institute. It has successfully completed seven years since inception. Affil-

iation is with Veer Narmad South Gujarat

Univ, Surat. In 2010 they also started the
Masters course.

The Rotary Eye Institute is a leading

charitable eye hospital at Navsari. Since
1977 it is serving economically underprivileged families of Gujarat and
neighboring tribal areas of Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It operates a 150-bed hospital with high tech
ophthalmology equipment. There are
10 full time ophthalmic surgeons and
90 others including Nursing, Para-medic
and administrative. The OPD examines
about 150 eye patients a day with specialized clinics: Cornea & Contact Lens,
Retina & Vitreous, Glaucoma, Squint &
Orthoptics. Providing total eye care under one roof, the institute also houses
a Pharmacy, Pathology Lab and Optical
manufacturing cum dispatching unit.
The Institute organizes over 300 free
eye camps annually. Till date 9,844 eye
camps were held. Every dayone camp!
More than 2million patients have been
served. More than 2.6 lakhs were operated. REI has set up Nine satellite centers
in tribal areas in and around Navsari, Valsad, Surat & Tapi Districts.
Community Ophthalmology in Nigeria
Nine very successful sojourns to Nigeria
serving more than 86,000 and carrying
out more than 9,000 surgeries. Students
are supported by selecting them for this
international community work. Technical assistance was provided to establish
the first Eye Bank in Nigeria.
COLLEGE PROJECTS:
The college has done many projects and
was represented in various conferences
such as Asia Pacific Optometry Conference, Dr E Vaithilingam annual session.
Students Project topics selected at various fora:
1.Induced astigmatism in suturless small

incision cataract surgery using superior

and temporal incision-Dr E Vaithilingam
conference, Chennai, 2010-2011. 2.Comparative study on saccadic and pursuity eye movements, stereo acuity and
accommodative facility in amblyopic
normal individual, 18th APOC, Singapore and Dr E Vaithilingam conference,
Chennai, 2010-2011. 3.Clinical profile
of pre & post exercise status of Accommodation & Convergence in Diamond
Workers, 18th APOC, Singapore 4.Technology based home vision screening &
creating awareness on Eye health, Dr E
Vaithilingam conference, Chennai, 20112012 5.Comparison of corneal curvature
and axial length between Indian and
Nigerian population, Dr E Vaithilingam
conference, Chennai, 2011-2012.
Bausch & Lomb conducts regular Mastermind in the Campus. Every year Essilor
provides practical and product training
for students. Ciba Vision also supports
the college for better and higher quality
education. Hari Jyot is the very first life
member of ASCO. It is closely associated
with International centre for eye care
Education (ICEE) & International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE)
Faculty of the college continuously update themselves in various conferences
and educational meets such as International Association of Preventive blindness (IAPB), Eyeteach program by India
vision institute, Pedagogic training for
faculty held at Manipal, IACLEs train the
trainer program, ASCOs Faculty Training
program in Low Vision, etc. Nirav Mehta
was selected for fellowship under Australia Leadership Awards, Aug 2013 at
Sydney.
All students do their internship in the

Rotary Eye Hospital in various departments. Students get skilled in clinical

work, dispensing,, community work,
OT and ward duties. They are exposed
to Eye Donation program as well. Students get vast experience with all specialized instruments such as Perimetry,
OCT, FFA, specular microscopy, A scan,
B scan, IOL master. Education tours are
held annually: Contact Lens at the vision
care institute of Johnson & Johnson at
Gurgaon, Essilor Ophthalmic training
and workshop, Bangalore. Graduating
students are recruited by Optical Chains
such as Titan eye +, Vision Express, Himalaya Opticals, as well as Eye Hospitals.
Students are also working with many
private practitioners and many alumni
have started their own private practice.
Some have become successful entrepreneurs! Hari Jyot college of Optometry
Rotary Eye institute, Opp. Fire Brigade Station, Dudhia Talav, Navsari -396445, Gujarat. Office 02637-251458 rotary@admin.
org Mr. Nirav Mehta, Incharge/principal
(M) 7359856999
nirmehta2020@yahoo.co.in

Community ophthalmology in nigeria

ASCO LV Project-Awareness Workshops for Special Educators

ASCO-LCO-SightSavers PROJECT: Low
Vision Awareness for Special Educators
As part of the ASCO-LCO-Sight Savers
Project, Low Vision clinics have been
established in Optometry Colleges in
Maharashtra and the Southern States.
Comprehensive Kits to set up primary
LV clinics were granted to member-colleges that participated in TWO training
batches held in 2013. Some participating colleges already had full clinics. To
increase referrals to all these LV clinics,

we are launching an awareness program

in Maharashtra & the Southern States for
special educators. This could be through
Sarva Shikshan Abhyan (contact details
were shared with LV faculty trainees
during training at Lotus College of Optometry (LCO), Mumbai). We are planning programs in each of the southern
states AND Maharashtra. Faculty from
Mumbai (if required) or local faculty
could be empowered to do a one-day
workshop for special educators. All

costs incurred could be borne from the

SightSavers grant. We can do 5 such programs to start with and budget around
Rs 15,000/- per workshop, with about
20 educators in each. We encourage the
ASCO member-Colleges who received
LV Clinic kits AND those who already
had such clinics, to host and conduct.
If interested in hosting please contact: Prof P
Sudarshan,CEO, ASCO-India.
(M) 098454-11129 intellsouthtech@gmail.com

ASCO-Industry Project to Elevate Optometry Colleges

Project March Ahead, to support Indian Optometry Colleges to reach global
standards.
1.THREE PARTNERS: ASCO, Industry partner & the Optometry College 2.Upto 5
colleges who volunteer in each zone,
starting with ASCO member colleges
3.Comprehensive, holistic advisory &
support service to become a world
class optometry Institute! 4.Upto 5 lacs
financial support per college from the
Eye Care Industry Partner 5.Proposal/
case study for each college starting
with latest professional Infrastructure
Mapping (IM). 6.ASCO member-colleges
only in phase I, non-member colleges in
phase II 7.Leads also to rating & ranking
by ASCO AND facilitates accreditation
8.Project duration of max 6 months for
each college 9.No financial outlay by
partner-colleges! 10.Overall responsibility on ASCO, to be shared by all partners

Dear Optometry College Head,

The demand for high quality optometry
graduates has never been greater in our
country!
There is a glaring shortage of Optometrists in eye hospitals, optical chains,
teaching & research institutions. All of
them are in despair to get quality optometrists at all levels. If this gap persists,
India simply cannot meet its Eye Care
targets, with its enormous population
suffering from correctible blindness.
There is a pressing need to enhance
the intake of students in our optome-

try colleges, to provide diploma holders

more locations, seats and opportunities to become graduates through lateral entry with flexible class-timings/
weekend programs, without the need
to give up their jobs and/or relocate
themselves. (The unique Chitkara Univ-Sankara-ASCO-Salus Univ initiative for lateral entry is a pacesetter & trendsetter. See article in
this issue). Nevertheless, Optometry Ed-

ucation today in India, mandates MORE

colleges across the length and breadth
of the country. Existing colleges that are
successful should set up new ones elsewhere on priority. See WHY START AN OPTPMETRY COLLEGE - this issue.

Optometry colleges also have no choice

but to grapple with the accelerating developments in the field in all specialties:
Clinical optometry, LV, BV, CL, Dispensing Optics AND in Public Health & Community Optometry [read about ASCOs
Fellowship Programs (FASCO) specialties in this issue]. Advances in Scientific
Research and technology development
are rapid and must be assimilated fast
in the curricula, classrooms, labs, clinics
and all patient-interface in our colleges.
Faculty training and re-training are imperative [see articles on ASCOs COEs
and Low Vision Faculty Training-3rd
Batch]. A close compact with industry
must be developed and strengthened
to sustain the relevance of educational
institutions. We must, without hesitancy,
aspire to attain world standards in Indian Optometry Education.

Quality publications & Quality Research

plus Technology Development should
no longer remain the preserve of the
developed countries. Isnt it astonishing
that a great deal of optometry research,
publications & technology development
ABROAD is actually done by Indians!?
Lets facilitate such work right here in
our country! An immediate priority is to
strengthen and elevate our existing optometry colleges HOLISTICALLY! For this
purpose a hands-on advisory service
project, PROJECT MARCH AHEAD, has
been planned by ASCO.
About 25 colleges will participate in
this project, in the 1st phase steered
by ASCO which has nearly 40 colleges
in 2013 across India as its valued members. 5 highly reputed Optical Chains/
Industries along with ASCO will provide
professional hand-holding support to
elevate the participating colleges in this
6 months-1yr project. In the second
phase colleges that are not members of
ASCO will be invited. The financial support to participant colleges will not exceed Rs 5 lacs. The senior professionals
of ASCO & the partner-industry will provide maximum PROFESSIONAL INPUTS
to the college. PHASE I:Member-Colleges
of ASCO are first required to volunteer for this
project. ASCO targets 5 colleges in each region
(NORTH

+CENTRAL,NORTH-EAST,EAST,WEST-

SOUTH). For regn: Prof P Sudarshan, CEO, ASCO-India (M)+919845411129 intellsouthtech@

gmail.com [ASCO thanks member-colleges
who have already registered]

Upcoming programs- IVI

Workshop on EyeTeach Research Methodology

which health factors contribute to treatment &

wide range of topics in optometry which includes

and Public Eye Health: IVI is pleased to announce

prevention of visual system anomalies, to devel-

recent advancements in optometry, career op-

EyeTeach Research Methodology Workshop on

op and apply quality assurance systems, to par-

portunities, evolving research areas, experiences

29-30 July, 2013 at Amity Univ, Gurgaon. It will be

ticipate and provide leadership in health-related

of key industry experts, among several others.

led by Prof Kovin Naidoo and Dr Jyoti Jaggernath

agencies, and to foster public awareness of the

Optometry schools across India are invited to par-

from AVRI and will bring together educators and

need for vision care. IVI Student Research Grants:

ticipate in this seminar series which will be held

researchers in optometry to discuss key meth-

IVI is pleased to announce five research grants

once every month starting from August 2013. In-

odological concepts, developing and writing a

worth INR 8000 each for optometry students

dividual schools are requested to make necessary

research proposal, undertaking a critical and

pursuing Bachelors & Masters in Optometry to

arrangements for effective delivery of the program

relevant literature review, research report plan-

undertake research projects. The grant will sup-

and group students based on the seminar topic.

ning and writing, qualitative & quantitative data

port creative and innovative research to further

Owing to technical specifications, invitations are

analysis and issues in eye care research. IVI is also

develop the optometry profession. To be eligible

open to 25 schools this year. Also note that appli-

organizing workshop on Public Eye Health on 31

for consideration, proposals must be submitted

cations will be prioritized based on received date.

July 2013. The workshop will be led by Prof Kovin

no later than 30 Aug, 2013. IVI Online seminar

For further details please visit www.indiavisioninstitute.org

Naidoo, Dr Jyoti Jaggernath & Dr Praveen Vashisht

series: IVI announces online seminar series for op-

or write to ivi@indiavisioninstitute.org. Last date for regn is

bringing together Optometrists to assess commu-

tometry students. This seminar series introduces a

fast approaching!

nity needs for vision care services, to determine

Shri Prakash Institute of Optometry, Chennai LATEST ASCO-MEMBER

Eye research centre & Dr Agarwals eye
hospital started Shri Prakash Institute of
Optometry in 2006. Eye research centre,
run by Dr.Agarwals eye hospitals, is a
non-profit organization committed to
eradicate blindness. Dr. Agarwals eye
hospital is one of the leading eye care
centres in India with state of the art diagnostic and treatment facilities. Hospital was promoted by internationally
renowned Prof Dr Amar Agarwal who is
at the forefront of Ophthalmology, introducing its latest advances in India. The
surgical techniques, developing surgical
equipments or instruments, all highlight the ongoing research in the institute and skills of the ophthalmologists.
Shri Prakash institute of Optometry is
co-located with Dr Agarwals eye hospi-

Computer Vision Syndrome Class

tal, Chennai, with spacious class rooms,

library and modern instructional infrastructure & facilities. Objective of the
college: To prepare a cadre of optometrists as Primary eye care professionals
by providing institutional education and
clinical training. Professionals to independently perform the different tasks of
routine clinical eye examination that include refraction, detection of any pathological disorders of the eye and visual
system Trained professionals for independent prescription for all types of optical corrections that include spectacles,
contact lens, low vision aids and vision
therapy exercises. Tutors and faculty in
an optometry institute Researchers in
fields like contact lens, low vision, sports

Cultural Program

Future Optometrists

Vishnupriya, University Gold Medalist

Student Initiatives

vision etc. At present the college offers

following courses: Certificate in ophthalmic techniques (1 yr); Certificate in
ophthalmic assistance (1 yr); Diploma in
ophthalmic techniques (2 yr); Diploma
in ophthalmic assistance (2 yr); Bachelor
in optometry (4 yr) Achievements (just
a birds eye view): The college started
with 8 students in the first batch. Now
there are 35 students in each batch, the
maximum per univ norms College has
produced university toppers every year
Has topped in various quiz competitions organized by Sri Ramachandra university Has organized public awareness
exhibitions on various blindness causing diseases [Chitkara Univ, Dept of Health
Sciences, is also becoming an ASCO member]

Zulaiha Mariam University Gold Medalist

RBI Guidelines for Model Education Loans

RBI notifications/guidelines for model
education loan specify the eligibility
and terms for education loans in India.
According to the scheme, commercial
banks cannot reject student loan for
amounts less than 4 Lakh for any student with a valid admission into a UGC
recognized course. According to the
guideline, the banks cannot charge any
upfront processing fees; the repayment
starts 1 year after the completion of the
course. Moreover, the banks should not
require any guarantee or collateral for
loans under 4 Lakh. Source: RBI notification outlining the scheme: http://tinyurl.
com/rbioutlining RBI notification clarifying Service Area requirement:
http://tinyurl.com/rbiservicearea
Summary of information in the notifications: Student Eligibility: Student should
be Indian national and should have secured admission to qualifying course.
Educational Institutions/Courses Covered: Almost every recognized institute

and course. Studies in India: School education including plus 2 stage Graduation courses : BA, B.Com., B.Sc., etc. Post
Graduation courses: Masters & Phd. Professional courses : Engineering, Medical, Agriculture, Veterinary, Law, Dental,
Management, Computer etc. Computer
certificate courses of reputed institutes
accredited to Dept. of Electronics or institutes aliated to university. Courses
like ICWA, CA, CFA etc Courses conducted by IIM, IIT, IISc, XLRI, NIFT etc. Courses
offered in India by reputed foreign universities. Evening courses of approved
institutes. Other courses leading to
diploma/ degree etc. conducted by colleges/ universities approved by UGC/
Govt./ AICTE/ AIBMS/ ICMR etc. Courses
offered by National Institutes and other
reputed private institutions. Banks may
have the system of appraising other institution courses depending on future
prospects/ recognition by user institutions. Studies abroad :- Graduation:

For job oriented professional/ technical

courses offered by reputed universities.
Post graduation: MCA, MBA, MS, etc.
Courses conducted by CIMA- London,
CPA in USA etc. Interest Rate: Should
not exceed Prime Lending Rate for loans
below 4 Lakh. Prime Lending Rate + 1%
for amounts above 4 Lakh. Collateral/
Guarantees Requirements: No collateral
or guarantee required for loans below
4Lakh. Repayment Period: repayment
starts 1 year after course completion.
Loan to be repaid in 5 to 7 years after the
start of repayment. Domicile Requirements: Students need not reside in the
service area of the bank. Bank cannot
reject the application because the student resides outside its service area. (RBI
notification clarifying the same). Participating Banks: All commercial banks
(nationalized and private). For any clarifications reqd. contact : swapnild@gmail.com

VERY LOW INTEREST EDUCATIONAL LOANS FOR OPTOMETRY STUDIES

Program Objective
The program aims to support Optometry
students with low cost loans for pursuing
B.Optom course. The loans will be
provided to students from very low
income background through a tripartite
arrangement between Rang De, ASCO
and the College. The loans will be backed
by a guarantee from another agency.

Funds raised by Rang De will be paid

directly to the institute
Share monthly progress reports with the
social investors
Provide an online loan tracking system
Role of ASCO : To act as facilitator
Role of the Student:
Agrees for inclusion of life, health and
accident insurance in the loan amount
Ensure that the loan is repaid in full
before pursuing higher studies
Agrees to pay a small amount as
repayment every month to ensure
continuous engagement

members. Students must be from low

income families with family income
income not exceeding Rs 80,000 in rural
areas and Rs 120,000 in urban areas
Student (if above 18) and parent/
guardian to be co applicants for the loan
Loan Product:
The loan will be provided for all 3
years of the course at the start of the
course every year. The candidate will
be provided a principal repayment
moratorium until course completion,
after which the principal repayments
will start. The interest will be paid by the
candidate monthly

Role of Optometry College:

To assess the students ability to repay
the loan
To collect data of the student and
facilitate loan applications
Loan Eligibility
Provide quarterly attendance and
Loan will be provided only to students
progress reports of the student(s) to
of optometry colleges that are ASCO
Rang De.
Collection of repayments from the
Loan amount
Upto Rs 50,000 per year for 3 years
students and remittance to Rang De. Loan tenure
5 years
1st year
4 years
2nd year
Role of Rang De:
3 years
3rd year
To raise funds for the students &
Repayment moratorium
Course duration for principal repayment
provide them low cost credit
INTEREST RATE
3% FLAT
(SIMPLE INTEREST)
To protect the interests of the
social investors through constant
Repayment mode
M
onthly
communication
Already 2 Optometry Colleges in Mumbai & Blore have signed MOUs. Several Loans to students sanctioned/processed.

LV PRIMARY CLINIC KIT Granted to Colleges (Value: Rs. 70,000), by ASCO-Sight Savers Project
VA Charts 4MLogMar Chart-Distant LogMar Chart-near Hand Magnifiers SPOT MAGNIFIER 2.5X,3.5X 8D LED HAND HELD 12D HAND HELD 44 D ILLUMINATED
Stand Magnifier 8D WHITE LED 36D WHITE LED 36D STAND MAGNIFIER DOME MAGNIFIER 2X Telescopes 4 X telescope 6 X Telescope Spectacle Magnifiers 5D
Spectacle Mgn with prism 8D Spectacle Mgn with prism 10D Spectacle Mgnf Half Eyed 12D Spectacle Mgnf Half Eyed 16D Spectacle Mgnf Half Eyed 20D Spectacle Mgnf Half Eyed 24D Spectacle Mgnf Half Eyed Non Optical Notex Letter Writing guide Signature Guide Cheque Guide Needle Threader

Optometry Training - Continuous Education : All India Initiative of ASCO & IVI
Optometrists, whether employed in
Eye Hospitals/clinics, as faculty in Optometry Colleges, as researchers, as
practitioners in optical chains/stores
or self-employed, all need continuous
training inputs to update them in their
specialties with developments in India &
abroad AND refresh them for their vocation and profession. The important specialties are CLINICAL OPTOMETRY, LOW
VISION, BINOCULAR VISION & THERAPY,
DISPENSING OPTICS, CONTACT LENS,
PUBLIC HEALTH & COMMUNITY OPTOMETRY. [ASCO has already started unique
All-India Fellowships in ALL these specialties
under the Fellow-ASCO (FASCO) program. 45
candidates from all across India have registered for the rigorous FASCO 2013-14 process, open to any optometrist.] ASCO & the

India Vision Institute have now launched

a series of COEs in the same themes

Aditya Goyal-Principal Sankara College of

Optometry && Vice President-ASCO-BV
COE-Kolkata July 3

across India, covering all regions. Three

one-day COEs were held in Kolkata at
Vidyasagar College of Optometry and
Vision Science (VCOVS) on 3rd, 4th, 5th
July, drawing participants from the Eastern & North-Eastern regions of India. The
COEs were on BV, LV & Dispensing Optics
steered by Mr Aditya Goyal, Principal,
Sankara College of Optometry, Bangalore & Vice President, ASCO; Ms Prema
Chande, Principal-Lotus College of Optometry, Mumbai & Governing body
member-ASCO; and Ms Paula Mehta,
Faculty, Lotus College of Optometry, respectively. Despite the short notice, participation was very high averaging more
than 30 each. All COEs enthusiastically
received and appreciated. Registration
fees were kept very low.
In August we will conduct these three
COEs on consecutive days in Chennai

Dr Debashish Kar-Director Vidyasagar

College of Optometry with COE participants-July 3

and one COE focusing on Refraction &

Dispensing at Patna. In September there
will be 3 COEs in NCR and ONE elsewhere. THE EXACT VENUES, DATES will
be notified soon. Such COEs plus COEs in
other specialties will be held averaging
4 or more in a month. The likely venues
will be NORTH-NCR, CHANDIGARH, JAIPUR, LUCKNOW, PATNA; WEST-MUMBAI,
PUNE, AHMEDABAD; SOUTH-CHENNAI,
COIMBATORE, BANGALORE, MANIPAL/
MANGALORE, HYDERABAD, CALICUT,
COCHIN; NORTHEAST-GUWAHATI, SHILLONG and other locations, in Optometry
institutions. We invite potential sponsors and host colleges, AND potential
participants to register their interest immediately.
Please contact Prof P Sudarshan, CEO-ASCO intellsouthtech@gmail.com (M) +9198454-11129

Prema Chande-Principal Lotus Colege of

Optometry-COE in Low Vision
-Kolkata July 4

Prof Paula Mehta, Faculty, Lotus College COE in Dispensing Optics, Kolkata July 5

ASCO acknowledges support from India Vision Institute, Brien Holden Vision Institute, Optometry Giving Sight and Sightsavers

TEAM ASCO: President: Vivek Mendonsa vivekm@asco-india.org; Vice President: Aditya Goyal vpresident@asco-india.org, adityagoyal@hotmail.com; Hon. Secy:
Ramesh S Ve ramesh.sve@manipal.edu, optoramesh_gp@yahoo .com; Treasurer: Prema Chande treasurer@asco-india.org, premachande@hotmail.com; CEO: Prof P Sudarshan
Punjab:
intellsouthtech@gmail.com; NORTH REP: Monica Chaudhr y monica.rchaudhry@gmail.com; NCR: Bhupesh Chanana
Preethi Pradhan preethi@chitkara.edu.in; UP: Imran Ahmad Ansari imranoptom@gmail.com; Rajasthan: Manish Khanna manish27057977@gmail.com; WEST REP:
Veshal Madan dypopts@gmail.com; Maharashtra: Komal Chaurasia
Mumbai: Hiral Korani hiralkorani@gmail.com; Gujarat: Nirav Mehta
nirmehta2020@yahoo .co.in; Ahmedabad: Usman Memon usmmemon@yahoo.co.in; MP: Anitha anitha2001ar vind@gmail.com; WB: Pablo Chandra pablo.chandra@
SOUTH
gmail.com; NORTH EAST REP: Soujanya Mondal ridleycollegecpeh@gmail.com; Mizoram, Tripura & Nagaland: Firdoos Khan
REP:saranya Balasubramaniam; TN : Pamela Suresh pamela.vasaninstitute@gmail.com; Chennai: Jayarajini Vasanth harshrajvas@yahoo.com; Karnataka: Ramesh
S Ve optoramesh_gp@yahoo.com; Bangalore: R Diwakar dot_diwakar@yahoo.co.in; Dr Rishi Bhardwa j, Vice Principal, Netradhama School of Optometr y, Bangalore
&
dr.rishi.bhardwaj@gmail.com AP: Kiran Challa kiranopt@gmail.com; Kerala: Md Kunhi kmk@live.in; NATIONAL REPS: Yogita Rajgandhi
Jayanta Bhattacharjee

From ASCO

43 Amrut K eshav Naik Marg , Fort, Mumbai 400001 .

Tel: 022-22012358 | F ax: 022-2207004 8