Gems of India

In a state-run hospital in Nagaland’s Mon district, tuberculosis once followed a predictable path. Patients came late, diagnosis took days or weeks and treatment often began after the disease had already taken root. The hospital did not even have a radiologist.Things changed when a compact, battery-operated diagnostic system was installed. The device delivered results in 90 minutes, patients were screened and placed on treatment within a day. No one announced the change in status quo. The system simply began to work better than it had before.The India Health Fund, which supported the deployment of that diagnostic tool in Nagaland, was the catalyst for this silent revolution. Founded in 2017 by Tata Trusts and shaped by Ratan Tata’s belief that science and technology must serve neglected public health challenges, it identifies gaps within public healthcare systems and supports tools that make diagnosis faster, surveillance smarter and care more accessible.It is individuals and institutions like India Health Fund that this Republic Day special issue of India Today celebrates. These are the Gems of India, solving problems where they are the most entrenched and the outcomes uncertain..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}They do not come from any single sector or ideology. They work across healthcare, education, ecology, justice, urban governance, livelihoods and inclusion. Many work in conditions that are punishing—remote geographies, fragile ecosystems, overburdened public systems, marginalised communities, chronic underfunding. Yet they deliver results, big or small. So, if Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai does not treat scale as a threat to quality, Pune-based Aaji Care refuses to expand faster than quality allows. Aravind was founded in 1976 by Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy, and grew from an 11-bed clinic into a globally respected eyecare system that performs hundreds of thousands of surgeries every year. Nearly half its patients receive free or highly subsidised care. Yet the institution maintains clinical standards that rival the best hospitals in the world.Aaji Care emerged from a more personal crisis. When Prasad Bhide’s mother was bedridden for months, he saw how fragile India’s eldercare arrangements were. His response was structural: professional caregiver training, assisted-living centres for dementia, post-operative and palliative care. Aaji Care is not only a service provider. It also seeks to dispel the unease that shadows families who seek outside help.Other transformations unfold outside institutions. In Gujarat’s Amreli district, Savjibhai Dholakia revived groundwater through rainwater harvesting, restoring agriculture and livelihoods. In Telangana, Narsanna and Padma Koppula have demonstrated that regenerative farming can be both productive and resilient. In Gurugram, ecologist Vijay Dhasmana restored a wasteland—an abandoned mine, at that—into the Aravalli Biodiversity Park by scrupulously planting native trees. Today, it supports hundreds of plant species and significant wildlife, while serving as a reference point for urban ecological restoration.Justice, too, is being quietly shored up. The Majlis Legal Centre for Women and Children, founded by Flavia Agnes in 1991, recognised that survivors of violence needed empathetic legal help, and not a system that caused further harm. By combining individual legal aid with training and policy reform, Majlis helped reshape courtroom procedures. In Assam, UTSAH worked with the police—not against them—to institutionalise child-friendly policing through the Assam Police Sishu Mitra Programme.Collectively, these initiatives form a Force for Good, a constellation of change-makers working quietly across India. Driven by the pursuit of positive change, they are shaped by a vision in which prosperity, social welfare and environmental responsibility are not competing goals, but mutually reinforcing ones. They are shining examples of how to transform the Republic: by helping others to help themselves.Here are the Gems of India:Barefoot way of earning a living | Barefoot College, Tilonia, RajasthanBy removing education as a barrier to learning skills such as solar engineering, Barefoot College has empowered rural folk to make a livelihood for themselves and train others tooEnding chronic hunger | Akshaya Patra Foundation, BengaluruIndian children missing school due to chronic hunger has been a blight on the nation. Akshaya Patra is committed to fighting the food war and bringing more students to schoolCall of the rewild | Aravali Biodiversity Park, GurugramAn abandoned mining site has become a thriving ecosystem for native flora and fauna, thanks to a visionary ecologistA large heart for affordable healthcare | Narayana Health, BengaluruNarayana Health is revolutionising affordable cardiac care across the country with low-cost insurance plansThe water wizard | Dholakia Foundation, Amreli, GujaratDholakia Foundation's lake rejuvenation efforts in arid Amreli have turned around the lives of parched farmers thereSaving dying breeds | ICAR’s National Research Centre on Equines, BikanerThe Bikaner branch of the National Research Centre on Equines is researching surrogacy to improve the health of horse breeds, has developed technology to track ancestry and disease risks, and has even made their work commercialThe teacher of teachers | Pratham Educational Foundation, MumbaiPratham has deeply influenced policy and teaching practices in schools across India by focusing on outcomes rather than just access and conducting benchmark surveys to assess the quality of education being impartedReducing the disease burden | India Health Fund, Tata TrustsAI diagnostics, clinical decisions, disease surveillance—IHF is backing tech start-ups to reimagine public healthcare around India's lived realitiesFixing broken cities | Janaagraha, BengaluruFrom national policy advocacy to ground-up capacity-building, Janaagraha shows how patient institutional reform can reshape Indian cities at scaleSowing the seeds of sustenance | Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, Sangareddy, TelanganaSowing the seeds of sustenance | Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, Sangareddy, TelanganaThe gift of sight | Aravind Eye Hospital, MaduraiTrained medics and top doctors operating the latest machines have restored the eyesight of millions, mostly for free. Day in, day out, this is what Aravind Eye Hospital does to remain true to its founding visionThe ecofriendly champion | Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS)An NGO in Sikkim is empowering villagers through sustainable tourism and water management strategies that reverse environmental damageWaging justice against abuse | Majlis Legal Centre for Women and Children, MumbaiWith domestic violence and sexual abuse against women and children a sordid reality, Majlis Legal Centre takes this ogre head on and provides victims with the wherewithal and strength to emerge stronger from their ordealsThe mental health collective | India Mental Health Alliance, GurugramAs India's mental health needs surge, a new alliance is highlighting that coordination, and not launching more isolated programmes, is the missing linkRural salvation | Baif Development Research Foundation, Uruli Kanchan, PuneBAIF's work among the rural masses since the late 1960s, especially in dairying and women's empowerment, has helped lift thousands out of povertyWoman power to the fore | Seven Sisters Development Assistance (SeSTA), GuwahatiAs SeSTA spurs development in the Northeast, it draws ever closer to its goals: eliminating poverty, empowering women, and ensuring good health and climate change resilient villagesEnsuring dignity for the aged | Aaji Care, Mumbai, Pune and GoaAaji Care, an assisted-living centre for senior citizens, is raising standards of palliative care in three major cities and bringing long-overdue respect to caregiversSaviour of our rice diversity | Basudha Trust, Rayagada, OdishaBasudha's yeoman service in preserving traditional rice varieties has not just preserved forgotten seeds but also created a grassroots network of biodiversity custodiansGuardian angel of minors | UTSAH (Universal Team for Social Action and Help), GuwahatiMiguel Das Queah has helped many a child in Assam overcome their fear and speak up against sexual abuse by enabling a safe, child-friendly policing environmentHelping hand in the hills | Bethany Society, ShillongBethany Society's work with physically and mentally challenged children in Meghalaya has transformed many lives- EndsPublished By: Shyam BalasubramanianPublished On: Jan 24, 2026Must Watch

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Gems of India

Individuals and institutions who have reshaped people's lives across remote geographies, stressed public infrastructure and fragile ecosystems

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