Samarendra Das was awarded this prize in 2007 for his pioneering work in establishing eye hospitals and clinics in India

Samarendra Das founded an ophthalmic trust fund through which he has ensured the funding and creation of 16 Eye Hospitals and Eye clinics in India that see 91,000 patients and perform 10,000 eye operations per year. None of these patients can afford and are not charged any money for their treatment.