Dr. M C Modi

Murigeppa Channaveerappa Modi (4 October 1916 – 11 November 2005) was an Indian ophthalmologist and eye surgeon.

Dr. Modi was an Ayurvedic Eye surgeon who performed a record half-a-million (more than five-lakh) eye surgeries. He travelled to remote villages and towns of India to hold mass eye camps. He was known for his dexterity as a surgeon and diagnostic acumen. He Studied DAM from Kankanwadi Ayurvedic College Belagavi, Karnataka. 

An Indian ophthalmologist, born in  Bilagi  of Bagalkot district. He is an alumnus of KLE U's Shri B M Kankanawadi Ayurved Mahavidyalaya Belgaum.

After attending Gandhiji's historic prayer meeting in Bombay on August 8, 1942, where the Quit India resolution was adopted, Modi abandoned a profitable career in private practise. His life was altered by that meeting. The talented ophthalmologist Modi has devoted his life to helping those who are blind. "When I witnessed blind individuals begging, I was moved. Simply put, they lacked the funds to visit a doctor. Modi remembered. "Dr. Modi is thought to have completed a record five lakh (half a million) eye surgery. He travelled to India's rural cities and villages to host massive eye camps. 

He was the pioneer of mass eye surgery in India. He being an Ayurvedic surgeon The Guinness Book of World Records lists Modi as the "most dedicated doctor," for performing the highest number of eye surgeries. He performed as many as 833 cataract operations in one day.

 He visited 46,120 villages and 12,118,630 patients, and performed a total of 610,564 operations to February 1993."When my time comes I would like to disappear silently" he concluded. He meant that when death comes to him he would accept it wholeheartedly and die without troubling anyone with all the good and bad he did. 

 In 1980, Dr. Modi set up the M.C. Modi Charitable Eye Hospital in Mahalakshmipuram, Bangalore: initially functioning as camp-based eye hospital, it treated thousands of poor and needy patients with eye ailments over the years, and is now a super-specialty eye hospital. Today, the hospital is headed by his son, Amarnath Modi. 

 In an assembly line fashion, Modi operated 40 patients an hour, attending to four patients at a time. Ambidextrous, he performed delicate eye surgeries with his left hand. He did cataract operations, squint corrections and cornea transplants. Earlier, Modi used to perform 600 to 700 operations a day in his camps. But later stages in Karnataka, he operated on 200 to 300 patients every day. Dr. Modi was a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council for a term in the 1990s. 

 Dr. Modi set out to hold eye camps in the then Bombay State, which included parts of Karnataka. He travelled to remote villages and towns to hold camps, often with very little financial or medical support. He mobilized support from local voluntary organizations and people. He also received assistance from India and abroad for his mission. Those operated upon were being given spectacles free of cost. 

 Dr. Modi's phenomenal contributions in the field of medical social service has not gone unappreciated. The government of India has awarded him with its highest awards of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. Hellen Keller, the blind and deaf-mute American author, attended one of his camps in 1954, and asked him: "Have you insured your hands?" Dr. Modi appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records in the year 1986, for performing 833 eye operations in a day, the highest in the world. These operations were conducted in Tirupati in 1968 over 14 continuous hours. He was fondly called "Modi, Kannukotta anna", the brother who gave vision, by people in his native state Karnataka. This anna has performed all the eye operations free of cost. Helen Keller, who spoke of him as "a light piercing the darkness with his selfless service". 

 Awards:

Padma Shri  in 1956

Padma Bhushan in 1968

Knight of the Blind award

Doctarate by Mysore University, Karnataka University and Puna University

Watumull Award Humanitarian Award in 1989.