Dr. Mehray undertook Subhas Chandra Bose like travel to revolutionise ophthalmology

The year was 1934-35. Independence of India was still a distant dream. A government doctor serving at Khairabad dispensary in Sitapur district of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) was waiting for a train at Khairabad Railway station. The locomotive arrived and he boarded it with a dream more surreal than Indian freedom. 

Khairabad Railway Station

The train took him to Lahore from where he was to take a Bus to Peshawar. In a fashion which would be repeated 7 years later by Subhas Chandra Bose, the doctor crossed Afghanistan by foot. He would stop at places, work, earn money to travel further. Sometimes a cart or other times a lorry or car would help him move towards Turkey. Once in Turkey, he took a train to Vienna, his final destination. Vienna at that time had the most advanced ophthalmological training institutes in the world. This journey took him almost a year to complete. 

The doctor was Dr. Mahesh Prasad Mehray who was serving at the District Dispensary at Khairabad and had established an eye hospital in Khairabad in 1926. Dr. Mehray had earlier studied at King George’s Medical College, Lucknow and Egmore (Madras) Ophthalmic Training Centre before further training at Vienna in 1935. 

Eye Hospital established in 1926 at Khairabad

On return to India, Dr. Mehray restarted his public service. People from far off places would throng to Khairabad to get their eyes treated. Once, the wife of the Governor of U.P saw a large crowd while travelling through Khairabad. She enquired which mela was that only to know that the crowd was to get treated from Dr. Mehray.  

An impressed lady would go on to ask Raja of Mahmudabad and Nawab of Aurangabad to help Dr. Mehray in the construction of a bigger hospital. The construction started in 1942-43 and completed in 1945. Sitapur Eye Hospital came to be known as one of the best in eye care in India.

Sitapur Eye Hospital

One of his assistants Jadunath Singh recalls, “His sole purpose was to provide quality eye care to all, especially to the underprivileged, and to conquer preventable blindness at the grassroots level. In addition to this, teaching, training, and research formed an integral part of the Institute. The discovery and research of drugs, Diamox, Neptazine, and Chloromycin ointment took place in this eye hospital.”

He further noted, “Sitapur Eye Hospital became Asia’s largest eye hospital, spanning over 25 acres with all subspecialities established in due course: Departments of Retina (1956) headed by Dr. J. M. Pahwa, Glaucoma (1956), Oculoplasty (1957) headed by Dr. H. L. Patni, Squint and Orthoptics (1960) supported by Dr. Keith Lyall, Cornea (1960) and the School of Orthoptics (1960) headed by Dr. Sudha Awasthi and ably supported by Ms Sushil Vohra, the Chief Orthoptist. The School of Optometry was established in 1961 to meet the requirement of spectacles in Sitapur Eye Hospital and its branches. The Nehru Institute of Ophthalmology (1965) was created to train ophthalmologists to meet the growing surgical needs. Low Vision Aids and Home for the Blind (1967) were started to make the blind self‑reliant.”   

Lal Bahadur Shastri with Dr. Mehray at Sitapur Eye Hospital      

The hospital was one of the first where financially able people were charged while the poor were treated for free. Of the 1200 beds, 1000 were for the free patients. Keratomalacia and corneal ulcer wards were set up to cater to the specific local needs. A team was stationed at Haridwar to “collect corneas from the deceased, transport them overnight in a moist chamber to Sitapur” for the transplant surgery.

Dr. Mahesh Prasad Mehray was adorned with several well‑deserved awards and recognitions including the Padma Shri (1955) and Padma Bhushan (1970), the B.C Roy award, Rustom Merwaniji Alpaiwalla award and the titles of Rai Sahib and Rai Bahadur.