Siliguri Greater

I am pleased to share a vibrant report about the Cabinet Schooling session held on 19th May 2024 (Sunday) at Hotel Tourist Inn, Siliguri. It was a truly precious session, marked by insightful presentations and a strong sense of camaraderie.

Key Highlights:
- Keynote Speaker: PID Lion G.S. Hora delivered an inspiring keynote address.
- Faculty Speakers: LCIF Area Leader Lion Nirmal Gidra and PDG Lion Kedar Gajmer shared their extensive knowledge and experiences, enriching the session with their expertise.

The event was further graced by the presence of:
- District Governor Elect: Lion Dipak Agarwal, whose vibrant energy promises a bright future for our district.
- District Governor: Lion Suresh Sinhal, providing valuable guidance and support.
- 1st Vice District Governor Elect: Lion Suresh Kr. Agarwal, bringing enthusiasm and forward-thinking leadership.
- 2nd Vice District Governor: Lion CA Pankaj Maskara, underscoring the collaborative spirit within our club.

This session successfully laid the groundwork for our future endeavors, reinforcing our commitment to community service and leadership development.

The National Conference On Community Ophthalmology being the 16th Annual Conference of Vision 2020: The Right to Sight India jointly with the MD 322 Sight First Conclave was organized at Siliguri Greater Lions Shri Vidya Sagar Oswal Eye Hospital, a branch hospital of Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospitals and Eye Care Systems and a permanent project of Lions Club Of Siliguri Greater on 3rd & 4th September 2022.

The Conference was inaugurated on September 3rd virtually by Chief Guest Dr. V. K Paul, Member Niti Ayog. Lion A P Singh, 3rd International Vice President of Lions Club International blessed the conference with his presence on both 3rd and 4th September 2022. Vision2020: The Right To Sight India President Mr. R. N Mohanty, CEO Vision 2020 Dr. Phanindra Babu Nukella, International Director of Lions Clubs International Lion R. Mathanagopal, Multiple Council Chairman Lion Shankar Das, Past International Director Lion G. S Hora and Past International Director Lion Bishnu Bajoria were some of the Lions dignitaries present in the conference.

The 2 day 16th Annual Conference of Vision 2020: The Right To Sight India and the MD 322 Sight First Annual Conclave was jointly conducted for the first time in the history of the country and saw an overwhelming foot fall of 900+ eye hospital delegates including Ophthalmologists, Ophthalmic professionals, Pharma & Optical Care companies, CEOs, Operations and Administrative staff from 230+ eye hospitals which included 150+ Vision 2020 eye hospitals and 73+ Lions Eye Hospitals from across the nation and also all International NGOs supporting the cause of Community Ophthalmology. Setting the goal of the 2 day programme Dr. V. K Paul in his inaugural address stressed on increasing the number of Ophthalmologists in India from the present 21000+. He added that presently one Ophthalmologist is available to cater to a population of more than a lakh and work has to begin to double the available number of ophthalmologist in next 3 years urging for support from the visiting delegates from premium ophthalmic institutes of the country. Adding to what Dr. V. K Paul said Guest Of Honour Lion A. P Singh highlighted the work of the 150+ Lions Eye Hospitals in the country and the contribution Lions Eye Hospitals have made towards meeting the Vision 2020 goal of creating an avoidable blindness free nation. Stressing on essential collaborations to increase infrastructural and human resource capacity he welcomed all stakeholders to join hands to pave the way towards mission 2030 where no one is left behind.

From the programme inauguration stage the Annual Sight First Change Maker Awards 2022 was also announced for the Category of Eye Health Hero to PDG Lion Dr. Abdul Kaiyum from Raniganj, while Ritwik Bhattacharya, a young Vision Technician from Jamalpur was awarded with the Eye Health Imminent Leader Award. Similarly, Vision 2020 member hospitals were also awarded under different catergories for their exemplary & outstanding work in eye care.

The 2 day workshop saw more than 200+ sessions under 5 different scientific tracks and continuously running 11+ Classroom Workshops. Elaborate discussion took place on strategies to attain the Theme of the Conference ‘Leave No One Behind’. The goal of the Conference was to equip all Hospitals and Eye Care providers with strategies and methodology to be adopted for spreading the work of community eye care to every nook and corner of the Country so that no single patient is devoid to access quality eye care due to financial constraints, inaccessibility or distances involved in ensuring reach for quality eye care to them.

The programme also saw more than 32+ companies, market players in eye care who exhibited their products, diagnostic and treatment equipments to the visiting guests. The programme began with the Pre-Conference Session on September 2nd on Quality and Accreditation for eye hospitals seeking NABH certification and continued for the next 2 days concluding on September 4th, 2022. The programme was the first such event to bring Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital and its eye care services across the region to the national board pulling necessary attention and recognition to the Lions service hospital. Through the programme the delegates visiting from across the country also witnessed the Gateway to the North East India, Siliguri as a city of service and of multiple Lions service projects.

Total Member strength: 88

Administrative Report

PST Schooling (Sheron Ke Pathshala): PST attended on 23rd June 2019.

Installation Ceremony: “Neev – The Beginning” was held on 22nd June 2019 and our Chief Guest was Lion Dwarka Jalan, Pune who installed the team LY 19-20 headed by President Lion Bharat Changia. Thanks to the Program Chairman Ln Umesh Prasad for this successful program.

Club Directory: Our Clubs directory was released on the day of Installation i.e. 22nd June to kick start the celebrations of our 40th Year. Kudos to Ln Pramode Garg for all his efforts in publishing this directory & on time release.

General & Board Meetings: They are being held regularly

Monthly Accounts: They are being submitted regularly

District & International Dues: Cleared in the month of early July.

DLLI: President Ln Bharat Changia & Secretary Ln Ashis Paul attended this training program on 10th & 11th of August.

Projects

Permanent Projects: Siliguri Greater Lions Eyes Hospital & Siliguri Greater Lions SVO Eye Hospital

SGLEH: Our Hospital launched its own brand of optical frames on 27th Aug. It’s a remarkable achievement by TEAM SGLEH.

FOOD FOR ALL: Jan Aahar II was launched officially during General Meeting on 13th July by our District Governor and is served at various locations. Till date we have served more than 30,000 meals.

Netra Jyoti: One District One Activity was launched on 13th July and we completed 2119 surgeries, 59365 eyes screening and 36 various Lions Clubs participated. Thanks to our Team Hospital under the Chairmanship of Ln P C Maskara and Ln Suresh Singhal, GST Chairperson for this great achievement.

Vision Centers: Our Eyes Hospital in partnership with Wen Giving Foundation, Australia opened two new vision centers in Bijanbari & Dhupguri on 15th July 2019.

Dhoop Chhaon – Free distribution of Umbrellas: Under One District One Activity, we distributed the umbrellas to City Traffic Police on 26th July. Program Chairman Ln Vinay Bajaj made the good arrangements.

Wheelchair & Tricycle distribution: After the National Anthem, to celebrate the Independence Day in true spirit, we distributed 14 wheelchairs and 2 tricycles to make life easy for the underprivileged. We thank all the benevolent sponsors Ln Bipan Singhal, Ln G P Toshniwal, Ln Pramode Garg, Lion Rajesh Agarwal, L n Bharat Changia, Ln Yogendra Goel, Ln Pikesh Kr Saha, Ln Arun Singhal, Ln Sushil Agarwal & Ln Santosh Agarwal.

Water Cooler & Filter: Lion Omprakash Agarwal agreed to sponsor the water cooler to be installed at our UNIT II, SGLEH which will help lots of our patients and local public at large.

Football Tournament: Our Club sponsored 2nd year BAPAN DEY MINI POST KNOCK OUT FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT on 1st September 2019 at Siliguri College Ground. Chief GUEST was SRI ACHINTO GUPTA & Guest of Honour PID Lion G S Hora. Eyes & Diabetes Camp was also organized by our Eyes Hospital. More than 20 members were there to witness. The winner and runners up were awarded trophies by Lion Bipin Behari Gupta and Lion Sharad Rathi.

Box Cricket: We sponsored & attended the BOX Cricket organized by Lions Club of Greater Yuva on 7th & 8th of September. To celebrate this event’s success, Greater Yuva has sponsored 51 Cataract Surgeries.

Blood Donation Camp: We organised a Mega Blood Donation Camp on 8th September at Vega Circle Mall in association with Begraj Group and Lions Club of Uttarayon Centennial. DG, VDGs, PDGs, CS, GST, eminent social personalities, our members & guests were present during the inauguration. Total of 108 units went to our credit.

Saree Distribution: We purchased 88 sarees and distributed them to our members to gift it to their maid.

Chhat Puja: We distributed Chaat Souph to 108 needy people at our UNIT I Eyes Hospital premises on 31st October 2019.

Peace Poster Contest: It was held at Club Montana Vista on 10th November. 114 students participated. Tiffin & medals were awarded to all the participants and winners were awarded. Thanks to Lion Somesh Ghosh, Chairperson for the good arrangements.

Diabetes & Health Checkup Camp: Was organized in association with Apollo Health Clinic on 14th Nov. 360 patients were screened for general health, blood pressure, diabetes & eyes. 20 eyes patients were referred to Unit I, SGLEH. 500 people of the remote locality were served free food alongwith the patients. As Program Chairperson, Lion Narayan Prasad Agarwal did all the arrangements with complete support of Lion Somesh Ghosh.

Cyclothon: Lions Club of Siliguri Greater & its flagship Project Siliguri Greater Lions Eyes Hospital conducted Cyclothon Really for diabetes awareness on 17th November which is for the first time. More than 80 cyclists took part in this. The program was flagged off by Inspector General (IG) of Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) Shri S S Bandhopadhya from Bagha Jatin Park and he too participated in the same. Rally was flagged off in presence of Lion Bharat Changia, President of Lions Club of Siliguri Greater, PDG P C Maskara, Secretary Lion Ashish Paul, Program Chairman Lion Gopal Gupta, On Suresh Sinhal, Ln Umesh Prasad, Ln P L Kedia, Ln Dilip Agarwal, Ln Santosh Mitruka, Ln Mahendra Bansal, Ln Pravin Jhawar, members from the SSB, BSF and Lions Club of Siliguri Greater & Greater Femina. This rally was a great success considering the vast participation and message passed to the residents of Siliguri.

Walkathon: Walkathon Rally was organised by Lions Club of Siliguri Greater, Greater Lions Eyes Hospital and Lions Club of Siliguri Terai Shakti jointly on 17th November. In the spirit of Lionism we did it together to create mass awareness towards silent killer disease – Diabetes. The program was flagged off by Inspector General(IG) of Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) Shri S S Bandhopadhya, Medical Commandant V. Raja of BSF & Dr. Arundhati from Panitanki More in presence of IPDG Lion Srawan Chowdhary, PDG Lion P C Maskara, PDG Lion Binod Agarwal, Lion Bharat Changia, President, Lions Club of Siliguri Greater, Lion Ritu Bansal, President of Terai Shakti along with Lion members from Greater and Terai Family, eminent members from the SSB, BSF, students, staff of Siliguri Greater Lions Eyes Hospital and local residents. It was a great connect with the local people and traffic people who extended complete cooperation to make it fully successful with participation of more than 600 people.

Futsal: Lions Club of Siliguri Greater participated in Futsal 2.0 League organized by Lions Club of Siliguri Greater Youth on 17th November. We qualified for the finals and could take the Runners Trophy. Thanks to our team and Captain Lion BS Barmi, Lion Ashis Paul & Lion Jitendra Agarwal for scoring winning goals and Lion Rajesh Agarwal for saving many goals.

Tour De Lions: It was a great pleasure for our Club to participate and welcome the greatest Awareness Campaign – Project TOUR DE LIONS on SAVE WATER-SAVE BHARAT, SAY NO TO PLASTICS & PLANT FRUIT BEARING TREES FOR BIRDS along with the cycle rally of 3165 kms from Bhuj (Gujarat) to Guwahati (Assam) on 20th Nov. It involved 361 clubs including Nepal making it an international project and covering 7 states in 22 days. We received this rally at Lions Tower on 20th Nov and hosted their stay & meals. On 21st our DG Lion Sanjay Agarwal flagged off the rally after breakfast.

Remarkable Moments

Official Visit: International Director Lion Dr. Nawal J Malu visited our Eyes Hospital Unit I on 22nd July 2019 and gave us a good review.

Sikkim CM Visit: A very proud moment for our Club, Shri P S Tamang (Golay), Honorable Chief Minister of Sikkim visited our Hospital Siliguri Greater Lions Eyes Hospital - Unit I on 7th August 2019. He was shown the complete facilities available with us. He also met with the patients and was very impressed with the state of art facilities of our hospital. More than 80 Lion members were present.
https://www.facebook.com/khabarsamay/videos/404180413545745/

Seminar on Rights of Disabled 2016: Sponsored & facilitated by our Club, Durjoy Advocacy Group did this seminar at Siliguri Greater Lions Eyes Hospital to educate more than 100 specially abled people on their rights and facilities provided by the government. Chief Guest was MLA and Mayor Shri. Asok Narayan Bhattacharya, Guest of Honour PID Ln G S Hora, Guests were Gangotri Chakraborty, President, North Bengal Council for Disabled and National Disability Consultant and former National Cricketer Indian National Blind Team Shri Vivek Singh. Special thanks to Program Chairman Ln Yogendra Goel for the last moment arrangements. Their refreshments & snacks were sponsored by Ln Yogendra Goel & Ln Bharat Changia.

Official Visit: Lion Gudrun Bjort Yngvadottir, Immediate Past International President and LCIF Chairperson visited UNIT II, Eyes Hospital on 2nd of September 2019 alongwith PID Dr. Jon, PID Lion A P Singh, PID Ln Sangeeta Jatia & PID Ln G S Hora. She was so happy to see the facilities and infrastructure and praised during her short address. During the banquet dinner hosted by our District, all the newly committed MJFs were honoured and our Club was felicitated for becoming a MODEL CLUB.

ICON of North Bengal: Leading Newspaper Dainik Jagran awarded our Club as ICON of North Bengal.

Programs

Awards program: - धन्यवाद was organized on 28th June 2019. Thanks to our IPP Ln Bishnu Kedia & MOC Ln Dilip Agarwal for the wonderful Award presentations.

CA & Doctors Day – It was celebrated at our Eyes Hospital UNIT I and we honoured all our CA’s, Doctors of Greater Family & both our Eyes Hospitals. Thanks to our Program Chairman Ln N K Gidra & MOC Ln Vikash Bansal for the well conduction of this program.

Lapel Pins:To celebrate our Clubs 40th year we launched our exclusive lapel pins on 13th of July in presence of our DG Ln Sanjay Agarwal, PID Ln G S Hora, PDG Ln P K Shah, PDG Ln P C Maskara, PDG Ln Dr. R K Agarwal, PMCC Ln Nirmal Gidra & PDG Ln Binod Agarwal.

Cabinet Installation Ceremony: Our Club attended Lakshya at The Four Vedas on 21st July 2019.

Religious Tour: Greater Lions HMT had 46 members on board this tour to Hyderabad, Mallikarjun & Tirupati Balaji from 1st August ~ 5th August. Program Chairman Ln Pawan Agarwal & Co-Chairman Ln Bishnu Kedia organized the entire Tirth Yatra extremely well and everybody enjoyed it. Prasadam was distributed to all the members.

Independence Day:We celebrated this day 15th August with pride and in presence of our DG Lion Sanjay Agarwal, PID Lion G S Hora, PDG Lion P C Maskara & PDG Lion P K Shah. Our President Ln Bharat Changia unfurled the National Flag followed by our National Anthem. Thanks to Program Chairman Ln Naresh Kumar Agarwal.

Lionsfare:We attended the award ceremony on 17th Aug organized by IPDG Ln Srawan Choudhary. We were honoured by many prestigious awards from International President & IPDG. Thanks to IPP Ln Bishnu Kedia for these laurels to our Club.

Mission Mangal: On 18th Aug a cinema show was organized at The Carnival followed by delicious lunch. More than 180 Greater Family members alongwith Cabinet Secretary Lion Neeraj Choudhary attended & enjoyed the show. Thanks to our PDG Ln P K Shah for supporting this event.

New members: Two New Members Lion Jitendra Agarwal, Tashi Takgye, Metro Height, Sevoke Road and Mr. Gopal Kumar Gupta, Shree Shyam Daskarma Bhandar, Kelahati were inducted into the Greater family.

Diwali Celebrations: We celebrated Diwali in Rajasthani Theme on 30th October 2019 and all the members were delighted by the ambience, stalls, programs, hitea & food – all Unique to Rajasthan. Thanks to the Sponsors PDG Ln P K Shah & Ln Dr. T M Tiwari & Program Chairpersons Ln Kanahiyalal Goyal, Ln Dr. T M Tiwari, Femina & Youth for this wonderful & enjoyable program and Ln Kanahiyalal Goyal again for the delicious Rajasthani food.

21st December 2019: DG Visit, Board Meeting, 40th Year Celebrations, Launching of Punar Jyoti & Gift of Sight, Honouring of our MJF members and our donors.

4th & 5th Jan 2020: Ramailo Picnic at Namchi & Ravangla: It was a super PICNIC with a very unique tour covering religious yatra, Rudra Abhishek, Sight Seeing, Snowfall etc.

Food for hunger by lions club of slg greater

Distributed 300 Blankets and 200 Food Packets slg greater

Bike Ralley by slg greater

Rally for diabetics slg greater