Eye surgeries stopped only in Mettur GH: Govt

Health Minister C Vijaya Bhaskar informed this in the House while replying to a question from Leader of Opposition M K Stalin during a special Calling Attention Motion discussion on the Salem incident. Participating in the discussion, Stalin sought to know if eye surgeries have been suspended in government hospitals across the state following the issue in Mettur government hospital. To this, the Minister clarified that except in Mettur GH, eye surgeries were being performed in other hospitals. 

Moreover, the persons affected during the cataract operation in Mettur were later given advanced treatment in Coimbatore and Salem hospitals. Vijaya Bhaskar elaborated that cataract surgeries were being performed in the state under the National Blindness Prevention Programme and a total of 5.5 lakh were being treated every year. 

Claiming that Tamil Nadu was ahead of other states in implementing the scheme, the Minister said that about 1.96 lakh have been operated upon so far this year have regained vision, in the state. However, the minister assured to looked in to a specific complaint from Stalin about eye surgeries not being done at Tiruvallur government hospitals. 

Earlier DMK MLA R Rajendran on Wednesday urged the state government to pay Rs 1 crore each as compensation to the 23 victims for the botched cataract surgeries performed at Mettur government hospital. He also demanded the State government to order a judicial probe in to the issue and pay Rs 1 crore compensation to each one of the victims in Mettur. 

However, Vijaya Bhaskar politely turned down the MLA’s request by reminding how the DMK had only paid Rs 1 lakh each to such victims when it was in power. Claiming that chief minister J Jayalaithaa had announced Rs 3 lakh to each victim immediately after coming to know about the incident even without a demand being placed before her, Vijaya Bhaskar said that the CM also deputed senior ministers to visit the affected persons and ensured that advanced medical facilities were provided to them. The minister informed the House that two of the 23 victims have regained complete vision after treatment and the infection for 17 patients was under control.

Mukulathore Puli Padai leader S Karunas drew the ire of the Opposition benches after he questioned why the DMK Madurai (central) member PT Palanivel Thiagarajan knowing the hoary traditions and culture of his home town addressed the House in English. Leader of the Opposition MK Stalin intervened to state that Karunas’s remarks be expunged to which speaker S Dhanapal disallowed it stating that both Karunas speech and Stalin’s objections were on record.  Deputy Opposition Leader Duraimurugan added that the remarks be expunged as Karunas being new did not know assembly tradition. “In fact, we can talk in Telugu if permitted,” he added. Dhanapal refused saying that Karunas had not used any unparliamentary word necessitating to expunge his remarks. When Dhanapal asked Thiagarajan to reply, he ended it by admitting that his Tamil was not good enough for technical terms and that he had sought permission to talk in English.