Hyderabad: A total of 1,60,471 people got their vision tested in 1500 camps across the state on the first day of the Kanti Velugu programme on Thursday.
While 33,221 people were recognised as needing prescription glasses, the health department gave a total of 37,046 pairs of reading glasses to the beneficiaries.
A total of 72,580 men and 87,889 women, excluding two members of the transgender community, underwent screening. 978 screening camps were held in rural areas, as opposed to the 522 camps that were hosted in metropolitan areas.
Though the programme was formally launched by the chief minister on Wednesday, it started functioning on Thursday.
Health minister T Harish Rao inaugurated it at a camp set up at the Vivekananda Community hall in Ameerpet, Hyderabad on Thursday.
Speaking at the launch event, Harish Rao said, that, unlike the first phase, spectacles distributed this time are made in Telangana with eye testing being conducted at 16,533 centres across the state.
Details including name, age, gender, mobile number, Aadhar card number, social status and address are taken for registration on the patient’s arrival at the camp.
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