Governor Droupadi Murmu called upon people of the State to do away with superstitions and spread awareness for donating eyes.
Eye donation is a noble cause and people should understand its value, she said during the ‘Run for Vision’ programme organised under Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank, the charitable wing of Kashyap memorial Eye Hospital here on Saturday.
The Governor commended the authorities for organising such programmes that encourage people to donate eyes. She said that about 75,000 people from Primitive Tribal Groups live in the State in Santhal Pargana, Sahebganj, Pakur, Dumka, littipara areas and many of the kids among them are malnourished. Due to malnutrition they also face vision problems so there was a need for organising eye check up camps in their area with the help of the Welfare Department, she added.
She also recalled, on the occasion, how a teacher of her school made the students feel when an organ of the body is missing and said that people should understand the value of God’s gift.
Addressing an august gathering on the occasion, Health Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi said that he had organised eye checkup camp with the help of KMEH at Vishrampur, in Palamu. He said that under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RSBK) the medical facilities would be reached by KMEH to the children suffering from cataract.
Tests of premature kids would also be conducted and those who would need would undergo laser treatment.
Social Welfare Minister louis Marandi said on the occasion thanked Founder Director of KMEH Dr Bharti Kashyap for helping the Welfare department in securing vision for the children belonging to ST, SC and backward classes. We could understand the value of vision when we had the dark house experience in Gujarat to know the problem.
Founder Director of KMEH, Dr BP Kashyap thanked all the eminent persons present during the programme for making it successful. He extended special thanks to the kin of the people who have donated eyes to make others see the beautiful world.
Earlier, the ‘Run for Vision’ during the National Eye Donation Fortnight was organised from Ursuline Convent School to KMEH participated by hundreds of kids along with eminent persons of the State and city. Governor Droupadi Murmu felicitated family members of 13 eye donors on the occasion and also honoured social organizations including IMA, Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Punjabi Hindu Biradari for promoting eye donation in State.
“We have been organising Run for Vision for the last 13 years for encouraging people to donate eyes. We have also been running extensive campaign of vision security of children from SC, ST and backward classes with the help of Welfare department. In this course eye checkup was done of 1700 players and also of thousands of schools students studying in Welfare department schools in far off areas of the State. As many as 402 kids have been given free eyeglasses,” said Dr Bharti Kashyap.