Patna: The Nalanda Medical College and Hospital will soon set up an eye bank, its superintendent Dr Gopal Krishna said on Wednesday.

Dr Krishna told The Telegraph: "An eye bank with all the latest facilities will be set up at Nalanda Medical College shortly. The site has been inspected and soon a proposal will be sent to the health department."

Azad Hind Prasad, officer on special duty in the health department, recently inspected site for the eye bank on the NMCH campus, Dr Krishna said.

NMCH principal Dr Sitaram Prasad, head of department, eye, Dr Rajesh Kumar Tiwari and hospital administrator Dr Dharmendra Kumar were also present at the inspection conducted on orders of chief minister Nitish Kumar and health minister Mangal Pandey. The leaders have shown personal interest in setting up the eye bank at NMCH.

Superintendent Dr Krishna said the eye bank - located behind the hospital's eye department - will be set up on an area of 2,000sqft. Work on the eye bank will start soon after approval from the health department. The NMCH superintendent said: "The eye bank will provide state-of-the-art facilities."

A foreign institution will help support the hospital. Once it starts functioning, the foreign institution will be responsible to oversee the eye bank for the first five years.

Among the government facilities in the state, only Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences has an eye bank. It has successfully conducted around 200 corneal transplants so far. Even the state's premier medical college, Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), does not have an eye bank.

The eye PMCH bank was functional on paper since 1986, but it remained a non-starter. The authorities have claimed lack of equipment, manpower and other reasons for failing to have a fully functional eye bank.

Dr Krishna, however, said once the eye bank becomes functional at NMCH, it will be nothing less than a boon for poor patients in need of corneal transplant.