Telangana's Kanti Velugu screens 10 million for eye problems

Hyderabad: The Telangana government's Kanti Velugu programme, aimed at preventing controllable blindness, has achieved a milestone by screening one crore (10 million) people for eye problems. The second phase of the programme started on January 19 and is ongoing until June 15. Health staff are screening all individuals over 18 years old at Kanti Velugu camps set up in all Gram Panchayats in the State. A total of 1,500 teams are working towards creating a Guinness World Record.

At a programme held in Sadashivpet to celebrate the milestone, Minister Harish Rao commended the government staff for their efforts and congratulated them on reaching one crore screenings in just 50 working days. The Minister stated that CM K Chandrashekar Rao reviews the programme daily and emphasised the importance of identifying vision problems early. Many people tend to ignore minor vision problems which can lead to more serious issues over time.

In the 49 days since the programme started, 46,83,476 men, 52,88,570 women, and 3,279 transgender people have undergone eye screenings. Elderly people who have received glasses after their eye tests are very satisfied. The first phase of the Kanti Velugu programme was launched on August 15, 2018, in Malkapur, Medak district, and continued for eight months. During the first phase, free eye examinations were conducted for 50 lakh people and 50 lakh spectacles were distributed.

This time, the government is distributing locally-made spectacles from Sultanpur Medical Equipment Park in Sangareddy district, supporting local industries and creating employment opportunities. In contrast, the government previously distributed imported spectacles from other States. In addition, the Minister criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foundation stone-laying ceremony for development works in AIIMS, stating that the Telangana government has established eight medical colleges in one go and plans to start another nine colleges this year.