BJP Yuva Morcha launches eye donation awareness program

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 27, 2012 : The BJP Yuva Morcha, Mangalore South unit, has launched a district-wide program to enhance public awareness on voluntary eye donation, called Kamala Jyothi.

The campaign was launched on the death anniversary of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the father of modern Hindutva and Hindu nationalism. On this occasion, 38 BJP activists, under the leadership of advocate Raghavendra Rao, president of BJP Yuva Morcha, Mangalore South unit, voluntarily pledged that they will donate their eyes.

The resource person was Sathish Prabhu, and the chief guest was Kishore Kumar. Among those present were Naveen, Shreedhar, Bharat, and Rakshith.

The campaign will now move across DK to create awareness among the public. Revealing facts and figures, Mr. Rao said that 15 million of the total 37 million blind people across the globe are from India, which requires 2.5 lakh donated eyes annually. However, eye banks across the country succeed in collecting just 25,000 eyes, 30 percent of which cannot be used. Stating that shortage of donated eyes is creating a lot of problems in India, he said that 26 percent of the blind people in India are children suffering from various corneal disorders, but only 10,000 of them get the medical assistance they require because of shortage of donated eyes.

Stating that people are now aware of the need for blood donation, he said that eye donation is just as important. Stating that many people believe that they will be born blind in their next life if they donate their eyes, he said that such blind beliefs must be eradicated and people must be encouraged to donate their eyes.