Dr. Vikas Mahatme (born 11 December 1957) is Padmashri Awarded Indian ophthalmologist, social entrepreneur, visionary and a former member of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha. Born in Amravati, he comes from Nagpur in the state of Maharashtra. He is well known across Maharashtra for his charitable and social works. He founded a charitable trust – S. Mahatme Eye Welfare Charitable Trust that runs Mahatme Eye Bank eye hospital in Nagpur as well as branches in Mumbai, Amravati, Gadchiroli and Pune. He received the Padma Shri for his charitable community work as an ophthalmologist. In June 2016, Mahatme was the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections, which he won unopposed. His candidature was strongly backed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. He belongs to the Dhangar community. He has expressed support for implementing Scheduled Tribe reservation for Dhangar community in Maharashtra and is its first community member to get elected to parliament. He is currently a member of the Indian Nursing Council.
Early life and education
Born in December 1957 in remote Wathoda Shukleswar village in Amravati, he underwent many struggles during his childhood, namely, lack of basic infrastructure like electricity. He used to go to a friends house to study under the light, as he didn't have electricity at his house. At the same time, he believes that they helped him to grow will and humility in his character. As a curious and energetic child, he attributes the instrumental role of his hobbies (like playing table tennis) to aid his reflexes and coordination during his career as an eye surgeon in the future. He recollects a childhood incident when he walked in a mango orchard and asked the gardener that who owns all the trees. The gardener replied that the tree belonged to the village community. He marks this conversation as a crucial life-lesson that imbibed the value of collective ethos in him. He moved to Nagpur while his father was serving in a central excise job where he continued his education until postgraduation in the Government Medical College situated there. After his MBBS and a masters in surgery in ophthalmology, he opened a clinic in the courtyard of his house on the outskirts of the Nagpur city. He has also been a lecturer in the Department of Ophthalmology in Government Medical College at Nagpur.
Professional career as an ophthalmologist
Personal achievements
Dr. Mahatme has had a bright professional career as an eye surgeon. He earned an international stature, evident by him being invited to demonstrate his surgical skills in various countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Romania, Russia, Egypt, Iraq and also various places in India. Apart from being an expert surgeon and practitioner, he possesses a sharp mind as an innovating researcher. He is credited for developing 'Woodcutter's Nucleus Cracking’, a modern technique for phacoemulsification. He also developed a pigment for Corneal Tattooing and Filtration Enhancing knot for glaucoma surgeries. Mahatme is an eye surgeon of international repute and has successfully performed over one lakh eye surgeries. He is the first ophthalmologist to demonstrate live surgery that was telecasted via-two way audio-video conferencing in 32 cities in India simultaneously. His contributions are widely accepted throughout the ophthalmologist community. He is associated with the National Programme of Control of Blindness (N.P.C.B.). He has been the President, Geriatric Society of India. He is an active Member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (A.A.O.), All India Ophthalmological Society (A.I.O.S.), D.O.S., M.O.S., V.O.S., and N.A.O. He has worked with various international NGOs like Sight Saver, Help-Age India, Impact India, Empathy Foundation, Orbis International, RPG Foundation, SAAD Foundation, Volkart Foundation, Vision 2020. He is a member of the Indian Nursing Council (since Aug 2017). He was awarded the Col. Rangachari Award by the All India Ophthalmological Society for the best paper read at the special plenary session of annual conference in 1996.