Four Panchayats of Katkamsandi Block Declared as Free from Cataract Blindness Backlog

10 January 2023, Katkamsandi (Hazaribagh): Today four Panchayats namely Katkamsandi, Kanchanpur, Bargadda and Gadokhar in Katkamsandi block of Hazaribagh district have been declared as Free from Cataract Blindness Backlog. The declaration came to the fore in the functions held at Katkamsandi block office and Kanchanpur panchayat building under aegis of Inclusive Eye Health Programme by NBJK with support of Sightsavers.

Many dignitaries as the Block Development Officer of Katkamsandi Mrs. Devyanti Kumari, NBJK Secretary Mr. Satish Girija and officials from Sightavers like Mr. Sudipto Mohanti (Area Director), Ms. Sapna Surin (State Lead), Mr. Jitendra Kumar (Senior Programme Officer), Mr. Kirti Rawat (DPO-IEHP), Ms. Nidhi Kshetri (DPO-Social Security), Mr. Sudhir Gupta (BPM-JSLPS), Panchayats’ Mukhiyas, PRIs Members, Mr. Varun Pandey, Mr. Deepak Sharma, JSLPS cadres and villagers were present on the occasion.

Mr. Satish Girija said that we aim to make Hazaribagh district free from Cataract caused blindness in the year 2023. The guests have appreciated the achievement of IEHP and thanked all concerned persons for their cooperation.

Before this, a special eye screening camp was organized by NBJK run LNJP Eye Hospital, Bahera (Chouparan, Hazaribagh) for aged persons, PwDs, women and the patients of Diabetic Retinopathy at Ramdev Khairka panchayat in Daru block of the district. This ensured eye checkup for 108 persons including 29 PwDs and detected 13 patients of Cataract while glasses were provided to 9 handicapped.

The very presence of Ms. Shatabdi Mazumdar (Traainee IAS-cum-BDO, Daru block) was quite encouraging for the camp. She praised the initiative of Inclusive Eye Health Programme and its reach at grassroots.

It’s significant that there has been a lot of cooperation from JSLPS, BDOs, Mukhiyas and community to make the programme successful.