The Pledge
You — today, in about two minutes
Take the pledge on the Government of India's official portal. A pledge is a declaration of intent, not a contract — what makes it real is telling your family, because they will be the ones who act on it.
41st National Eye Donation Fortnight25 August – 8 September 2026
Eye donation —Leave light behind.
When the cornea — the eye’s clear front window — turns cloudy, the world goes dark. Donated after death, your corneas may bring it back for someone. That is vision beyond life: the ultimate legacy.
- Official Government of India pledge portal
- Takes about two minutes
- Opens in a new tab
The journey of a gift
You pledge today
A simple decisionthat begins a legacy.
Your family callsan eye bank
One call. They take itfrom there.
Surgeons restoresight
Your gift becomessomeone's vision.
The gift of sight
What eye donation actually means, in plain words.
A life may end. The light it carried doesn’t have to.
When the cornea turns cloudy through infection, injury or disease, light can no longer reach the eye. The world fades — even though the eye behind it still works. A corneal transplant replaces that clouded window with clear, healthy donated tissue, and may restore sight.
Eye donation is the decision to give your corneas after death. It costs nothing, takes minutes, and age or spectacles are no barrier. For someone living with corneal blindness, it may mean seeing their family, their work, their world again.
- Donation happensonly after death
- No cost, nopayment — ever
- No changeto the face
- Last rites arenever delayed
How it works
The journey of light.
Three chapters, three sets of hands.Only the first one is yours.
The Gift
Your family and the eye bank — after death
The family calls the nearest eye bank as soon as possible — ideally within four to six hours. The eye bank's trained team comes to the home or hospital, completes the donation gently in about 15–20 minutes, and evaluates the tissue for safety. There is no disfigurement and no delay to last rites.
The Transplant
Surgeons and a recipient — in the OT
Corneal tissue found suitable is allotted to a waiting recipient. At a cornea transplant centre, surgeons graft the donated cornea onto the recipient's eye — and in the weeks that follow, for many, sight returns. This is the chapter where hospitals like Insight serve.
Common questions
Know beforeyou pledge.
Straight answers to the questions families ask most. For anything specific to a situation, the eye bank’s team is always the right authority.
Almost everyone. Age is not a barrier, and neither are spectacles, cataract surgery, diabetes or hypertension. A few medical conditions can make tissue unsuitable, but that decision is always made by the eye bank's medical team at the time of donation. A pledge is simply your declared intent — it is not a guarantee that the tissue will be used.
No. The procedure is carried out gently by the eye bank's trained professionals, usually in 15–20 minutes, and leaves no visible change to the face. The team comes to the home or hospital, the donor is treated with complete dignity, and last rites can proceed without delay.
Usually, yes. Spectacle wearers and people who have had cataract or other eye surgery can often still donate. What matters is the health of the cornea, and the eye bank evaluates that after donation.
Yes. The next of kin can consent to eye donation even if the person never pledged. Equally, a pledge only works if your family knows about it and calls an eye bank in time — which is why sharing your decision matters as much as the pledge itself.
Neither. Eye donation is entirely voluntary and free: the donor's family pays nothing and receives nothing. Commercial trade in human organs or tissue is illegal in India under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, and eye banks are government-registered organisations.
An honest distinction
Where we fit in — and where we don’t.
Two very different institutions carry the gift of sight. It helps to know exactly who does what.
For donations
An eye bank
A registered organisation that receives, evaluates and stores donated corneas. After a death, this is whom your family calls — the eye bank's team handles everything from there.
Insight’s role
A cornea transplant centre
A surgical centre where donated corneas are transplanted to restore sight. This is Insight's role — our cornea surgeons perform full-thickness and lamellar corneal transplants, using tissue that reaches us through the eye-bank system.
Vision beyond life
The pledge takes two minutes.The gift can last a lifetime.
Take the Eye Donation PledgeOfficial Government of India portal · opens in a new tab
Then tell your family — their phone call is what turns a pledge into a gift.
For eye donation after a death: call 1919 (toll-free) or your nearest eye bank.