The issue of release of funds under the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) to “undeserving” agencies has been taken to the Delhi High Court with a plea that the money is being given for deployment of untrained and unqualified manpower in the vision centres established across the country.
The Indian Optometry Federation (IOF) has raised a question mark over the release of funds under NPCB to non-government organisations and private companies which are allegedly deploying untrained manpower under various misleading names of vision technicians, refractionists, Eye Mitra, etc., at the vision centres.
Many of these individuals were in fact school drop-outs and prescribing lenses and ophthalmic medicines in an unauthorised manner, contended a writ petition moved by IOF in the High Court.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the High Court issued a notice on the writ petition to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare last week, asking it to file its reply within four weeks. The matter will come up for further hearing on November 23 this year.
