Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Jharkhand witnessed the conclusion of its largest-ever Mega Eye Surgical Camp on Thursday, as Indian Army and Indian Air Force ophthalmic teams wrapped up Operation DRISHTI at the Military Hospital in Namkum, Ranchi, in a landmark demonstration of military-led healthcare outreach for civilian communities.
Over 2,500 patients were screened at the camp, and more than 300 sight-restoring surgeries were successfully carried out during the event. The procedures included 260 cataract operations as well as advanced treatments for glaucoma and retinal conditions, addressing a spectrum of vision-threatening ailments that often go untreated in rural and underserved communities due to lack of access to specialist medical infrastructure.
Dignitaries who attended the closing ceremony praised the initiative and the professional commitment of the medical teams involved. They noted that Operation DRISHTI has now collectively benefited over 75,000 patients across the country since it was first launched, representing a remarkable expansion of the defence forces’ role in providing healthcare to civilian populations beyond their traditional mandates.
The armed forces’ medical outreach programmes, of which Operation DRISHTI is among the most impactful, reflect a wider philosophy of the military serving as an instrument of national development in addition to its primary security function. Army and Air Force medical teams regularly deploy to remote, tribal, and conflict-affected areas where civilian health infrastructure remains underdeveloped.
Cataract blindness remains one of the most preventable conditions causing vision loss in rural India, yet it continues to affect millions due to the high cost of treatment and the scarcity of ophthalmic surgeons outside major cities. Camps like Operation DRISHTI provide communities with access to world-class surgical intervention at no cost, delivering a direct and measurable improvement to quality of life.
The Ranchi camp’s scale and the number of surgeries performed sets a new benchmark for military health outreach in Jharkhand and is expected to inspire similar large-scale efforts in other underserved regions across the country.
