The changemaker: A 17-year-old’s innovation to prevent blindness

At just 17, Siddhartha Manaktala has defied expectations

At just 17, Siddhartha Manaktala has defied expectations. Despite still being in school and lacking formal specialisation, he created an artificial intelligence (AI) app that scans photographs to assess eyesight and could help prevent blindness.

Manaktala during one of the screening held in Gurugram. (HT)

Taking his initiative forward, Manaktala, a Class XII student at Pathways World School, Aravalli, spends his weekends conducting eye screening camps in government schools, villages and factories across Haryana. He says his mission is to ensure that poverty never becomes the reason someone loses vision.

His innovation, EyeSpy, an artificial intelligence-powered smartphone platform, screens people for seven eye diseases using a photograph taken with a mobile phone.

“I didn’t build EyeSpy to win awards. I built it because millions of people never get an eye examination until it’s too late. If a smartphone can reach every village, healthcare should too. I want early eye screening to become as common as taking a selfie,” he says.

His journey has not been easy. With no formal training in medicine or AI, Manaktala taught himself coding and machine learning through online resources. His first model failed to achieve the accuracy needed. Instead of giving up, he sought guidance from doctors and researchers and eventually worked with the L V Prasad Eye Institute, where he rebuilt the platform.

Working with ophthalmologists, optometrists, NGOs, and government schools, Siddhartha has organised eight eye screening camps across Haryana, during which around 4,000 people have undergone eye examinations. He says the camps revealed that 99% of those screened had never had an eye test, while nearly one in six was found to have an undiagnosed eye disease.

But there was more to do. He says many families could not afford the spectacles or medicines doctors prescribed, realising that diagnosis alone would not change lives. He began raising money from friends, relatives and neighbours, convincing them that a small contribution could help someone get proper vision. The funds were used to create EyeSpy Field Kits, providing customised spectacles, prescribed eye drops and treatment guidance free of cost to those who needed them most.

One such beneficiary was Asha Kumari (12), a government school student whose poor eyesight had gone unnoticed for years. “I thought I wasn’t good at studies because I couldn’t read what the teacher wrote on the board. Now I enjoy my classes and want to continue my education,” she said.

Manaktala says he aims to screen at least 10,000 people and ensure that no child misses education, no worker loses a livelihood, and no family suffers because of eye vision.

(Siddhartha Manaktala is a resident of NIrwana Country in Sector 50 and a student of class 12 )