Bihar: Gaya residents get eye treatment, free of cost under Ayushman Bharat Yojana

Gaya, June 8 Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Eye Hospital, inaugurated five years ago in 2020, has become a landmark location in Bihar's Gaya, owing to its famed eye care centre catering to more than 10 lakh people, not just from the city but also adjoining towns including Nawada, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, and Nalanda.

The hospital, situated at Kajha village of Wazirganj block of Gaya, is primarily an eye hospital, providing treatment for all types of eye diseases. The hospital has a modular Operation Theatre, two other OTs, 100 indoor patient beds and is equipped with a pathological lab, a spectacle and medicine shop, world-class diagnostic equipment, and a team of trained eye surgeons and paramedical staff.

The hospital is again in the spotlight over providing free eye surgery to thousands of patients under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). About 40 per cent of the patients in the hospital are Ayushman cardholders and hence have access to medicines as well as surgeries free of cost under the yojana.

Many Ayushman Bharat scheme beneficiaries shared their story with IANS and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching such a scheme.

Balinder Singh of Bhedia village in Manpur block said: "I was treated under the Ayushman card. I got timely treatment, food and all facilities. If this card was not there, my treatment would not have been possible."

“In our family, my wife has this card. There is a younger boy, he will also get it made. I thank the central government for this scheme," he added.

A woman named Malti Devi, who got her eyes treated at the hospital, said: "My card has been made. The eye operation has been done without any money spent. I want to thank the Modi government. With the help of the Central government, my eyes have been treated."

She further stated: "This government is taking special care of the poor. Ayushman cards are being made in rural areas. This initiative is spreading awareness, also. People get to know from one person to another that eye treatment is being done in the hospital. This makes people aware, and they also get themselves treated. If this card had not been there, my eyes would not have been treated. This has been possible because of the Central government, and I want to thank PM Modi for this."

Notably, the hospital provided eye care services to 26,240 OPD patients and performed cataract surgery on hundreds of patients through 637 rural eye camps last year. In view of its quality of services and social impact, it was also awarded a certificate of appreciation in 2022 and 2023.

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