IndiaStates and CapitalsUttarakhand(Dehradun)

U’khand’s youngest eye donor is unrecognised, and a proposal to name an eye bank after he failed to materialise.

In 2007, the parents of a seven-day-old infant who passed away due to a respiratory illness donated his eyes to two blind children, but his contribution to the nation’s struggle against corneal blindness has gone unnoticed.

A proposal to name an eye bank after Arjun of the hill state Uttarakhand, who was likely the youngest organ donor, never saw the light of day.

Eight years ago, former Uttarakhand governor K K Paul approved naming a proposed eye bank at the Gandhi Shatabdi Eye Hospital in Dehradun after the infant.

In 2015, the then-chief secretary Om Prakash sent a letter to the Directorate General of Health stating that the governor has approved naming the hospital’s proposed eye bank after Arjun.

The child’s father, Sandeep Chawla, who resides in Gadarpur, Udham Singh Nagar district, told PTI that there was an effort a few years ago to name an eye bank in the state after Arjun, but nothing came of it.

Since then, Uttarakhand has had two administrations and four chief ministers, but he added that the hospital’s proposed eye bank has not been established, let alone named after the infant.

“Arjun was our oldest child. Losing him so soon after his birth was incredibly traumatic. But because we were actively involved in an eye donation campaign, we decided in that difficult moment to donate his eyes to a blind person,” Chawla said.

Soon thereafter, Chawla received a phone call from the eye bank in Delhi, to which he had donated his deceased son’s eyes, informing him that they had been successfully transplanted, one pair to each of two blind children.
“At the time, it was unheard of for an infant as young as Arjun to donate an eye,” he explained.

Chawla stated that the Limca Book of Records and the India Book of Records also list Arjun as the youngest eye donor.

“Naming an eye bank after my son would have encouraged individuals to donate eyes. “That was the reasoning behind naming an eye bank after Arjun,” he explained.

In a number of documents, prominent government officials and people’s representatives recommend establishing an eye bank in the state and naming it in honour of Arjun.
“However, these records are currently concealed in government files. Even the Khatima Punjabi Sabha had brought up the issue with the current chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, but he did not consider it much,” Chawla said.

He stated that the initiative to name an eye bank after the neonatal eye donor began in 2010.

Originally, the eye bank was intended to be established at the Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani, but due to some technical complications involving the forest department, it was decided to name the proposed eye bank at the Gandhi Shatabdi Eye Hospital after him, Chawla explained.

He emphasised that the proposed ocular bank at the hospital has yet to be established and named after Arjun.

When contacted, Chief Medical Superintendent of Coronation Hospital Shikha Jangpangi acknowledged that the Gandhi Shatabdi Eye Hospital does not yet have an eye bank.

“Attempts were made to establish an eye bank in this area, but teething problems arose. It does not meet the standards and technical requirements for an eye bank,” she said.

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