Mysuru: – Nearly 250 people with eye problems participated in a free cataract eye screening mega camp at Mysore Race Club Eye Hospital here this morning.

The camp organised by H.H. Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Foundation (HHSNW) in association with MRC Eye Hospital was inaugurated by the Foundation President Pramoda Devi Wadiyar.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Pramoda Devi said that this is the first initiative of the Foundation, launched in the memory of her late husband Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, in Mysuru and there are plans to involve it in many other social activities in the future.

“The camp has been organised very systematically with clean beds and it is very heartening to see many people from the villages coming to get their eyes screened,” she said.  

In all more than 250 people from the city and surrounding areas in the District had registered for the camp. MRC Eye Hospital’s Dr. M.S. Usha, Chief Ophthalmologist and Dr. M. Brinda Prasad were in charge of the eye camp.

After the screening of the camp which went on till 1 pm, the patients screened for cataract will undergo surgery tomorrow at the hospital and they will be discharged on June 27, said Dr. Usha.

Recalling the contributions of MRC Eye Hospital, Hospital Committee Chairman G.K. Balakrishnan said that it was due to the vision of Ideal Jawa Founder Farrokh Irani that the eye hospital was set up in 1995 and in 23 years of its existence, it has performed over 76,000 eye cataract operations out of which nearly 50,000 have been done free of cost.

MRC is the only race club to involve in such a noble initiative in the country and it is a matter of credit that since its inception not a single complaint regarding eye surgeries have been reported, he said.

There are also plans to set up an Eye Bank shortly. As part of the outreach programmes, MRC Eye Hospital conducts free eye camps every Monday in Mysuru, Mandya and Kodagu and every third Monday in Nanjangud, he said.

The post graduate students from all over the country come here to learn about cataract surgeries, and the doctors visit schools to enlighten them about eye care and how to protect themselves from fire hazards during Deepavali and other occasions, he said.

MRC Charitable Trust Chairman G. Venkatesh, Hospital Committee Members Dr. N. Nithyananda Rao, Dr. Vijaykumar, Muthappa, Dr. Ajit Kumar Raj Urs, Ambarish Urs, MRC  Secretary K.G. Ananth Raj Urs, Foundation Secretary Reginald Wesley and others were present.