Cuttack, Aug. 11: Orissa High Court today directed the state government to submit within 10 days a status report on the implementation of the National Programme for Control of Blindness.

The order was issued while considering the liability of the government in paying compensation for eyesight loss during cataract surgery at a government hospital at Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district last September.

A letter petition had alleged that 16 persons had lost their eyesight because of medical negligence and indifference of authorities and the victims should be compensated. The high court had treated the letter petition as a PIL.

“The two-judge bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra sought details of annual grants received from the Centre and the pattern of expenditure incurred by the state government for implementation of the national programme,” advocate and petitioner Prabir Kumar Das told The Telegraph.

“The court also sought details of the number of NGOs involved in the implementation of the programme through the District Blindness Control Societies, funds allocated to them and the monitoring process,” Das said.

Earlier, in pursuance of a high court order, district and sessions judge (Kalahandi) Ashok Acharya had conducted an inquiry and confirmed in his report that 16 persons had cataract surgery at the camp lost eyesight because of post-operative complications and lack of care.

During the inquiry, nine other persons claiming to be affected at the camp had filed separate affidavits along with documents, the report said.