residing in rural and hilly areas of the
country. Cataract was estimated to increase
by more than 20,000 every year. The survey
also revealed that 80% of the blindness in
the country was either curable or preventable
if treated in time.
However, at that time, the accessibility
of eye care service in the country was meagre.
In rural and hilly areas, it was even poor.
The existence of eye care service was confined
to surgical eye camps organized once in a
while.
