Sankurathri Foundation

Sankurathri Foundation is located in a serene locality with 5 acres of rural land, 10 km away from Kakinada was established by Dr. Chandrasekhar Sankurathri as a fond memorial to his wife Manjari Sankurathri, son Srikiran and daughter Sarada who were victims of the terrorist bombing of Air India Flight 182 (Kanishka) on 23rd June 1985. Dr. Chandrasekhar Sankurathri, following the bombing, resigned his job in Canada and returned to India in 1988. He established Manjari Sankurathri Memorial Foundation in 1989 in memory of his wife, which is a registered charity in Canada. He established the Sankurathri foundation in India in the same year. The Foundation’s primary goal is to improve the quality of life of needy people in the rural and remote areas of Andhra Pradesh. As a part of this vision he established a high school, Sarada Vidyalayam in 1992 on his daughter’s name, which is providing free education for rural children coming from economically backward communities, have educated above children, so far. He established Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology in 1993, named after his son. The institute is rendering ophthalmic services to more than 34 lakhs patients and performed more than 2.7 lakhs surgeries out of which 90% are free of cost to the needy. The Foundation also developed a wide network of 11 vision centers and 2 surgical centers to make eye care Accessible, Affordable and Equitable. It also has a wing Spandana, which is a disaster relief program to address the needs of the community during the natural calamities. Apart from the above programs, the Foundation has established a research program Chandrasekhar Medical Research Foundation as well, to do basic and clinical research in ophthalmology with specific interest in ocular genetics.