Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Saturday stated that it has so far conducted eye screening for more than 1,58,54,982 crore people under its public eye care initiative ‘Kanti Velugu’.
Over 21,85,945 people have been given reading glasses in Kanti Velugu medical camps across the state so far.
The initiative that started with the slogan of a ‘blindness-free Telangana’ goal has successfully been conducted across the state in 11, 862 Gram Panchayat Wards and 3495 Municipal Wards.
On August 15, 2018, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao started the first phase of the Kanti Velugu program in Malkapur of Medak district to correct vision defects.
The program lasted for 8 months where free eye examinations were conducted for one crore 50 lakh people along with spectacles distributed to 50 lakh people.
Following that, the second phase of the Kanti Velugu program in Khammam on January 18 began when 92.75 percent of people got eye tests in the state in a span of 84 days.
All public representatives including the medical department, panchayat raj, municipal and other departments are participating in it. For monitoring, the government has formed quality control teams at the state level and district levels.
Near vision problems are common
The figures recorded in the camps in all the districts revealed that there are more people who are troubled by not being able to see closely, the government said.
Many people over the age of 40 come to the camp with nearsightedness. Reading glasses are provided to such people immediately.
Besides these, vitamin A, D, and B complex tablets are being distributed to many people who are coming with eye problems.
People above the age of 50 are mostly suffering from cataracts. The medical staff said that they are communicating information about the time of treatment to those who need surgery through mobile phones.
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