The health department is working on a large scale to prevent blindness
More than 1.80 lakh successful cataract operations were performed in the last one and a half years
Awareness about eye donation is increasing, 351 eye donations were done in one and a half years
Raipur, 18 July 2025
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnudev Sai and guidance of Health Minister Shri Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, the Health and Family Welfare Department of Chhattisgarh is working on a large scale to prevent blindness. One of the main causes of blindness is cataract, which is generally an age-related eye disease. After a certain age, its occurrence is considered normal, but vision can be regained by operating it. For its treatment, quality free eye operation facility is available in a total of 43 health institutions including 25 district hospitals and 10 medical colleges of the state, where eye operations are being done regularly.
1,45,580 cataract operations have been successfully performed in the state from April 2024 to March 2025 and 27,245 cataract operations from April 2025 to June 2025. The ambitious “Rashtriya Netra Jyoti Yojana” of the Government of India is being operated in the state, under which all the districts are to be provided “Cataract Blindness Backlog Free Status” (CBBFS). Under this scheme, patients blind due to cataract in both eyes are identified and freed from blindness by operation on priority basis.
So far, claims have been sent to the Government of India for declaring 11 districts of the state – Kabirdham, Raipur, Dhamtari, Balodabazar, Balod, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Khairagarh, Raigarh, Korba and Bastar – blindness free. The verification of claims of Kanker and Bemetara districts is in progress, after which the proposal will be sent to the Government of India.
The department is also alert to identify and treat “Glaucoma”, another major cause of blindness. This is a complex eye disease, of which the patient is not aware in the initial stage and by the time it is detected, the vision has already deteriorated. The vision lost due to this cannot be brought back. Its identification is possible only through regular eye tests. Hence, it is advisable to get an eye test done every 6 months after the age of 40 years. The facility for this test is available in all the development block centres of the state.
“Corneal Blindness Free State Scheme” is also being run to prevent corneal blindness. Under this, corneal blind patients have been identified in all the districts, verified by eye transplant centers and registered in the eye bank. As soon as eye donations are received, they are transplanted on priority basis. Eye donation is being encouraged through public awareness, as a result of which 263 eye donations have been completed from April 2024 to March 2025 and 88 eye donations have been completed from April 2025 to June 2025.
The facility for treatment of other common eye diseases is available free of cost in all the health centres of the state. Special clinics are organized on scheduled days in all the district hospitals, under which glaucoma, retina, diabetic retinopathy, pediatric ophthalmology and other eye diseases are treated. More than 81,000 such patients have been treated from April 2024 to March 2025 and more than 25,000 patients have been treated from April 2025 to June 2025.
The people of the state are continuously benefiting from quality eye health services, regular screening camps, testing with modern equipment and immediate surgery. The Health Department, Chhattisgarh is fully committed to providing better, effective and accessible eye care services to the people of the state.
