S. Ramadorai receiving the award from Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Sankara Nethralaya, a renowned institution in ophthalmic care, honoured S. Ramadorai, former CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with the Sankara Ratna Award 2024 for his transformative contributions to nation-building efforts, especially in the IT sector.

He received the award from Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan at an event held in Chennai. The Minister also felicitated industrialist and philanthropist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti. He also highlighted the impact TCS as an organisation has made.

In his welcome address, T.S. Surendran, Chairman of Sankara Nethralaya, called Mr. Ramadorai a role model for youngsters.

Delivering his acceptance speech, Mr. Ramadorai said: “The Tata Group has had a long-standing relationship with Sankara Nethralaya — a collaboration inspired by Jamshedji Tata’s belief that ‘in a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder in business but is, in fact, the very purpose of its existence’.”

He recollected that Nani Palkhivala’s support was instrumental in the establishment of Sankara Nethralaya during his tenure as a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and as Director of Tata Sons.

“During my early days at TCS, when Mr. Palkhivala was the chairperson and F.C. Kohli the director-in-charge, we had done many projects on hospital management systems — an early step in integrating technology with public good,” Mr. Ramadorai said.

“Later, when I took over as the CEO of TCS, I had the privilege of partnering with Sankara Nethralaya to implement the Tata Hospital Management System and develop an advanced Ophthalmic Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to enhance patient care,” he added.

He also pointed out that Sankara Nethralaya was a model for delivering world-class affordable healthcare, and there was an urgent need to expand such initiatives to remote areas, especially regions in the Northeast.

Instituted in 2002, the Sankara Ratna Award honours individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and societal impact.