Lok Sabha Question No. 101 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-02
Subject: Blindness
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 101 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND FEBRUARY, 2018

## BLINDNESS

## 101. SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India is one of the countries worst affected by blindness;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the number of visually impaired persons in the country, particularly in the rural and tribal areas, State/UT - wise;
- (d) the funds allocated and spent to deal with blindness during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT - wise; and
- (e) the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Government to check the rising number of cases of blindness in the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE ( SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL )

- (a) & (b): As per the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Data on Visual Impairment 2010, China accounts for 20.9% an d India 20.5% of the total blindness in the classified 6 WHO regions in the world.

As  per  the  Rapid  Assessment  of  Avoidable  Blindness  (RAAB)  conducted  under  the National Programme for Control of Blindness & Visual Impairment (NPCB&VI) in the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare during the year 2006 - 07, the prevalence of blindness in India was found to be 1% (as per the earlier definition of blindness of visual acuity <6/60).

The number of blind persons in India also appears hi gh due to large population base, increase in ageing population and semi tropical location of the country, lack of public a orthodox beliefs and  economic constraints etc. The causes of blindness in India are as un

- Cataract (62.6%)
- Refractive Error (19.7%)
- Glaucoma ( 5.80%)
- Corneal Blindness (0.9%)
- Posterior Segment Disorder (4.7%)
- Posterior Capsular Opacification (0.9%)
- Surgical Complication (1.2%)
- Others (4.1%)

(c): As per the estimates of detailed Blindness Survey conducted in 2001 - 02, the State/UT -wise number of visually impaired persons in the country including rural and tribal areas atA nnexure- I.

(d): The funds approved under the State Programme Implementation Plan (SPIP) and spent during eac h of the last three years and current year under this programme, State/UT - wise is at Annexure - II.

(e): The following steps have been  taken under NPCB&VI to check the rising number of cases of blindness in the country:

- Decentralized implementation of the scheme through State/District Health Societies;
- Reduction in the backlog of blind persons by active screening and transporting ope cases to fixed eye -care  facilities  at  Government  and  identified  NGO  eye  hospitals  fo operation/treatment;
- Besides Catar ct, provision for treatment/management of other eye diseases like, Diabe Retinopathy,  Glaucoma,  Corneal  Blindness,  Retinal  Diseases,  Childhood  Blindnes including Retinopathy of Prematurity etc.;
- Involvement of private practitioners in eye care services;
- Screening of children for identification and treatment of refractive errors and dis of free spectacles to those suffering from refractive errors under School Eye Scr Programme;
- Coll ection of donated eyes for corneal transplantation and strengthening of eye ba services;
- In- service training to Eye Surgeons in various fields of ophthalmology for develop of skills;
- Strengthening of eye -care infrastructure at various levels to im prove quantity and quality of eye -care services;
- Promoting preventive Eye care and creating awareness through IEC activities;
- Regular monitoring and evaluation for effective implementation of the programme.

## Estimated Blind/Visually Impaired Persons in India

|   S.No. | State/UTs            |   Prevalence of Blindness (Survey 2001- 02) |   Estimated Blind Persons (visual acuity <6/60) NPCB definition |   by Estimated Visually Impaired persons (visually acuity <6/18) by NPCB definition |
|---------|----------------------|---------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | ANDAMAN & NICOBAR    |                                        1.1  |                                                            3919 |                                                                               19595 |
|       2 | ANDHRA PRADESH       |                                        1.42 |                                                         1075331 |                                                                             5376655 |
|       3 | ARUNACHAL PRADESH    |                                        2.28 |                                                           24877 |                                                                              124387 |
|       4 | ASSAM                |                                        3.05 |                                                          812471 |                                                                             4062357 |
|       5 | BIHAR                |                                        0.78 |                                                          646455 |                                                                             3232273 |
|       6 | CHANDIGARH           |                                        1.01 |                                                            9099 |                                                                               45496 |
|       7 | CHHATTISGARH         |                                        1.61 |                                                          334815 |                                                                             1674074 |
|       8 | DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI |                                        1.07 |                                                            2359 |                                                                               11794 |
|       9 | DAMAN & DIU          |                                        1.07 |                                                            1691 |                                                                                8456 |
|      10 | DELHI                |                                        1.13 |                                                          155748 |                                                                              778738 |
|      11 | GOA                  |                                        1.52 |                                                           20429 |                                                                              102144 |
|      12 | GUJARAT              |                                        1.07 |                                                          541388 |                                                                             2706939 |
|      13 | HARYANA              |                                        1.89 |                                                          398468 |                                                                             1992342 |
|      14 | HIMACHAL PRADESH     |                                        0.7  |                                                           42541 |                                                                              212704 |
|      15 | JAMMU & KASHMIR      |                                        1.61 |                                                          162126 |                                                                              810628 |
|      16 | JHARKHAND            |                                        1.41 |                                                          379423 |                                                                             1897115 |
|      17 | KARNATAKA            |                                        1.78 |                                                          938664 |                                                                             4693322 |
|      18 | KERALA               |                                        0.56 |                                                          178296 |                                                                              891481 |
|      19 | LAKSHADWEEP          |                                        1.1  |                                                             667 |                                                                                3333 |
|      20 | MADHYA PRADESH       |                                        1.16 |                                                          700467 |                                                                             3502337 |
|      21 | MAHARASHTRA          |                                        0.95 |                                                          919146 |                                                                             4595732 |
|      22 | MANIPUR              |                                        1.38 |                                                           32963 |                                                                              164816 |
|      23 | MEGHALAYA            |                                        0.74 |                                                           17065 |                                                                               85325 |
|      24 | MIZORAM              |                                        0.78 |                                                            6950 |                                                                               34751 |
|      25 | NAGALAND             |                                        1.05 |                                                           20881 |                                                                              104403 |
|      26 | ODISHA               |                                        1.4  |                                                          513897 |                                                                             2569484 |
|      27 | PUDUCHERRY           |                                        0.78 |                                                            7596 |                                                                               37979 |
|      28 | PUNJAB               |                                        1.01 |                                                          245322 |                                                                             1226609 |
|      29 | RAJASTHAN            |                                        1.55 |                                                          875333 |                                                                             4376667 |
|      30 | SIKKIM               |                                        0.65 |                                                            3513 |                                                                               17566 |
|      31 | TAMIL NADU           |                                        0.78 |                                                          484465 |                                                                             2422323 |
|      32 | TRIPURA              |                                        0.77 |                                                           24572 |                                                                              122860 |
|      33 | UTTAR PRADESH        |                                        0.94 |                                                         1560897 |                                                                             7804484 |
|      34 | UTTARAKHAND          |                                        0.56 |                                                           47486 |                                                                              237428 |
|      35 | WEST BENGAL          |                                        1.19 |                                                          954632 |                                                                             4773160 |

Source: Blindness survey 2001 - 02.

## Annexure II

Details of SPIP Approval Vs Expenditure under National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment for FY 2014 -15 to 2017 - 18

## Rs. In Lakhs

| S. No.                    | Name of the State/UTs     | 2014- 15                  | 2014- 15                  | 2015- 16                  | 2015- 16                  | 2016- 17                  | 2016- 17                  | 2017- 18                  | 2017- 18                  |
|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
| S. No.                    | Name of the State/UTs     | SPIP Approv als           | Expendit ure              | SPIP Approva ls           | Expendit ure              | SPIP Approva ls           | Expendit ure              | SPIP Approva ls           | Expend iture              |
| A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    | A. High Focus States .    |
| 1                         | Bihar                     | 500.00                    | 0.00                      | 1112.00                   | 824.77                    | 1379.16                   | 618.16                    | 1857.90                   | 119.36                    |
| 2                         | C hhattisgarh             | 818.74                    | 328.71                    | 458.00                    | 307.38                    | 761.20                    | 434.18                    | 961.73                    | 102.95                    |
| 3                         | Himachal Pradesh          | 134.00                    | 141.37                    | 100.00                    | 151.92                    | 127.00                    | 90.15                     | 243.51                    | 11.38                     |
| 4                         | Jammu & Kashmir           | 400.00                    | 134.19                    | 400.00                    | 146.03                    | 534.24                    | 67.72                     | 413.59                    | 101.71                    |
| 5                         | Jharkhand                 | 1000.00                   | 0.00                      | 466.00                    | 254.00                    | 685.77                    | 538.78                    | 583.57                    | 98.12                     |
| 6                         | Madhya Pradesh            | 0.00                      | 1308.24                   | 1000.00                   | 1672.04                   | 1834.13                   | 2420.69                   | 2657.60                   | 473.08                    |
| 7                         | Odisha                    | 1238.80                   | 862.41                    | 900.00                    | 874.04                    | 1384.09                   | 846.88                    | 1840.79                   | 223.84                    |
| 8                         | Rajasthan                 | 1500.00                   | 955.19                    | 904.57                    | 1372.00                   | 1708.13                   | 1458.38                   | 1809.38                   | 272.33                    |
| 9                         | Uttar                     | Pradesh3800.00            | 1965.61                   | 2200.00                   | 1582.45                   | 2481.94                   | 1811.67                   | 5065.15                   | 543.60                    |
| 10                        | Uttarakhand               | 706.14                    | 563.00                    | 274.00                    | 177.65                    | 213.44                    | 167.93                    | 289.69                    | 2.20                      |
|                           | Sub Total                 | 10097.68                  | 6258.72                   | 7814.57                   | 7362.28                   | 11109.10                  | 8454.54                   | 15722.91                  | 1948.57                   |
| B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              | B. NE States              |
| 11                        | Arunachal Pradesh         | 349.00                    | 0.00                      | 251.25                    | 0.00                      | 335.38                    | 206.13                    | 391.68                    | 43.20                     |
| 12                        | Assam                     | 1300.00                   | 1197.64                   | 1355.25                   | 1073.30                   | 1401.56                   | 621.16                    | 1598.67                   | 158.78                    |
| 13                        | Manipur                   | 500.50                    | 18.12                     | 168.30                    | 36.12                     | 418.46                    | 24.54                     | 844.60                    | 0.94                      |
| 14                        | Meghalaya                 | 330.00                    | 0.00                      | 190.50                    | 45.69                     | 203.02                    | 87.70                     | 101.64                    | 0.00                      |
| 15                        | Mizoram                   | 300.00                    | 189.64                    | 297.00                    | 128.78                    | 214.31                    | 113.36                    | 368.79                    | 7.92                      |
| 16                        | Nagaland                  | 238.88                    | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | 324.11                    | 90.96                     | 309.57                    | 72.89                     |
| 17                        | Sikkim                    | 264.00                    | 115.04                    | 198.21                    | 114.06                    | 79.96                     | 82.79                     | 69.15                     | 27.42                     |
| 18                        | Tripura                   | 0.00                      | 72.93                     | 300.00                    | 220.18                    | 0.00                      | 178.35                    | 331.53                    | 12.60                     |
|                           | Sub Total                 | 3282.38                   | 1593.37                   | 2760.51                   | 1618.12                   | 2976.80                   | 1404.99                   | 4015.63                   | 323.75                    |
| C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States | C. Non- High Focus States |
| 19                        | Andhra Pradesh            | 600.00                    | 0.00                      | 539.00                    | 1300.45                   | 773.39                    | 1140.19                   | 1950.14                   | 243.08                    |
| 20                        | Goa                       | 214.00                    | 59.57                     | 145.00                    | 75.54                     | 142.74                    | 58.91,                    | 73.82                     | 10.76                     |
| 21                        | Gujarat                   | 28.58                     | 2347.51                   | 569.00                    | 2247.89                   | 2238.79                   | 2277.84                   | 2302.19                   | 636.70                    |
| 22                        | Haryana                   | 296.78                    | 273.10                    | 234.00                    | 241.79                    | 0.00                      | 219.48                    | 208.99                    | 18.14                     |
| 23                        | Karnataka                 | 2171.18                   | 1135.84                   | 1073.89                   | 981.17                    | 1959.73                   | 1398.44                   | 3209.78                   | 154.06                    |
| 24                        | Kerala                    | 579.00                    | 106.34                    | 400.50                    | 434.61                    | 554.07                    | 419.21                    | 593.81                    | 113.21                    |
| 25                        | Maharashtra               | 2000.00                   | 1394.76                   | 1840.41                   | 1168.12                   | 2160.83                   | 1417.35                   | 2978.67                   | 39.30                     |
| 26                        | Punjab                    | 801.54                    | 583.00                    | 323.78                    | 749.89                    | 700.66                    | 490.79                    | 807.29                    | 34.13                     |
| 27                        | Tamil Nadu                | 0.00                      | 3039.80                   | 991.32                    | 1606.12                   | 2013.90                   | 2411.41                   | 2350.04                   | 1228.05                   |
| 28.                       | Telangana                 | 300.00                    | 0.00                      | 1520.00                   | 415.04                    | 770.01                    | 575.25                    | 1447.45                   | 845.10                    |
| 29                        | West Bengal               | 700.00                    | 909.60                    | 950.00                    | 697.20                    | 1724.69                   | 1056.59                   | 2123.65                   | 214.49                    |
|                           | Sub Total                 | 7691.08                   | 9849.52                   | 8586.90                   | 9917.82                   | 13038.81                  | 11465.47                  | 18045.83                  | 3537.01                   |

| D. Small States/UTs   | D. Small States/UTs       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |         |
|-----------------------|---------------------------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|---------|
| 30                    | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |    42.11 |    18.62 |   274    |    11.26 |    61.63 |    15.82 |    71.68 |    0.88 |
| 31                    | Chandigarh                |    85    |    58.01 |    68.13 |    53.29 |    74.09 |    52.12 |    65.1  |    9.66 |
| 32                    | Dadra & Nagar Haveli      |    58    |    28.45 |    18.96 |    24.46 |    56.23 |    33.12 |    34.58 |    4.33 |
| 33                    | Daman & Diu               |    40    |    21.32 |     0    |    11.15 |    23.76 |     2.34 |    16.97 |    0.33 |
| 34                    | Delhi                     |   289    |   110.61 |   199.5  |   143.19 |   261.1  |    90.91 |   564.54 |   26.42 |
| 35                    | Lakshadweep               |    40    |     0    |    10.26 |     0    |    16.07 |     0    |    22.43 |    0    |
| 36                    | Puducherry                |   175    |     0    |    75    |    26.83 |    97.18 |    90.76 |    80.75 |    4.76 |
|                       | Sub Total                 |   729.11 |   237.01 |   645.85 |   270.17 |   590.06 |   285.08 |   856.05 |   46.38 |
|                       | Grand Total.              | 21800.2  | 17938.6  | 19807.8  | 19168.4  | 27714.8  | 21610.1  | 38640.4  | 5855.72 |

## Note:

- 1.SPIP stands for State Program Implementation Plan.
- 2.Expenditure includes expenditure against Central Release, State share & unsp nt balances at the beginning of year. Expenditure for the F.Y. 2017 - 18 is updated upto 30.09.2017, hence provisional.
- 3.The Above Figures are as per FMR reported by State/UTs.