BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Raipur Dec 18, 2012, 00:08 IST

Chhattisgarh government, on Monday , has ordered a probe on the botched eye camp held in Mahasamund district in which 15 patients allegedly lost their vision.

The patients mostly from the rural pocket, had undergone cataract surgeries in the camp. The preliminary investigation suggested that they developed infection post surgeray. The state government had shifted all the infected patients to a hospital here for better treatment.

The state’s health minister, Amar Agrawal on Monday visited the hospital and talked to the patients. “A probe has been ordered and strict action will be taken against the doctors found guilty for any negligence in the camp,” Agrawal said.

Senior health official and eye expert Dr Subhash Mishra has been asked to investigate the matter and submit a report to the government within 10 days.

He announced that the state government would bear the entire expenditure for medical treatment of these patients.

The camp was organized by a social organisation Shree Krishna Agrawal Memorial Trust at the Community Health Centre at Bagbahra, about 100 kms from Raipur. In the camp, 145 persons had undergone the surgery that too in just two days on December 9 and 10.

The health department officials said Dr Charu Dutt Kalamkar and Amrita Mukherjee from the Trust and Dr PC Patra from the state government performed and supervised the surgeries in the camp.

After the surgery, 15 patients including eight women developed swelling and pus in the operated eye. When the matter spilled out in open, the authorities immediately shifted them to MGM eye hospital in Raipur.

The doctors attending on them confirmed that the seriousness of the matter and said the possibility of their sight recovery was bleak.