BMC to provide school children with spectacles…..Sukhada Tatke
MUMBAI: For some, wearing spectacles is a necessity or even a fashion statement. But for thousands of children studying in civic schools, it is symptomatic of a deeper malaise. With more than 2,000 students ending up with spectacles last year, experts think that a serious deficiency in food intake could be the reason.Taking note of the rising number of students affected by retinal problems in civic schools, the BMC has in its latest budget made a provision for providing spectacles to thousands of students. While the token amount has not been announced in the budget presented on February 1, the municipal corporation has taken serious stock of the problem as it provided spectacles to because of which in 2010 due to which as many as 2,863 students in 2010 were provided with spectacles under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.
Former education committee chairman Ram Barot said, “A basic vitamin A deficiency in these children is leading to the problem. The children’s food intake that the children eat is not nutritious. Besides, there are other conditions like most of the children study in the dark. Apart from this, they battle all kinds of conditions, and most of them study in the dark. If their problems are not detected at an early stage, then the children are likely to face severe disorders.”
Apart from this, The BMC has also addressed the need of students affected by heart problems. The civic body The BMC has allocated Rs 15 lakh to facilitate for facilitating the heart surgeries of two children. “During the school health diagnosis programme, it was observed that 15 students suffered from heart and other severe ailments. Of the 15, two students have undergone heart surgeries,” said additional municipal commissioner M M Adtani.
According to the BMC, between 2009 and 2010, a mere 1,78,939 students from primary schools, 16,094 students from secondary schools and 656 students from the schools for mentally challenged underwent medical check ups. As many as 292 students from the schools on the city’s outskirts were checked and treated. From June 2010 to December 2010, nearly 80,492 students underwent check-ups. Of these, 25,302 students were found to be suffering from minor illnesses and were treated at municipal dispensaries, while 5,681 students required further treatment in municipal hospitals.