Centre deputes eye specialists for J&K

New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) The central government on Wednesday deputed a three-member eye specialists team from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Jammu and Kashmir to treat scores of Kashmiris with eye injuries from pellet guns, an official source said here.

The eye specialists have been sent to assist the state government in providing medical care to the persons injured in the ongoing clashes in the state.

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda has assured all cooperation to the state government.

The deploying of eye specialists to Jammu and Kashmir follows a request from the state government.

An official spokesperson said Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti spoke to Union Health Minister Nadda requesting him to send a specialized team of doctors, including retina surgeons.

The official said the state government was also facilitating shifting outside the state any injured who may need super-specialized treatment.

According to doctors at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital, more than 100 people, including some minors, with pellet bullet wounds in their eyes have been treated.

Doctors at the hospital have conducted more than 80 eye surgeries in the last four days. Other hospitals in the valley have also received hundreds of injured hit by pellets.