Forging relationships with Nepal, Indian army eye surgeons restore vision of Himalayan elderly

LUCKNOW: At least 29 Nepal nationals, including 17 civilians from Dharan of Sunsari district, Koshi province of the Himalayan nation, had their vision restored by a group of Indian army eye surgeons who travelled to Bagdogra from Delhi and Lucknow to conduct a mega eye camp.
A total of 354 surgical procedures, including five minimally invasive glaucoma operations, were performed during the four-day mega eye camp organised at 158 Base hospital, Bengdubi, situated near Bagdogra airport under Trishakti Corps under Eastern Command.

Brigadier Sanjay Mishra, PVSM, from Army hospital research and referral (RR) New Delhi, who headed the team for eye surgeries in the camp, said, "Over 1,700 OPDs were attended by us, and out of them more than 20 percent patients underwent surgery for various issues including cataract, glaucoma."
"As part of a goodwill gesture and to continue to forge cordial relationships with Himalayan neighbour, at least 29 Nepal nationals who were brought more than 100 kilometres away from Bagdogra, were assisted by our team in restoring their vision. There were 17 civilian Nepal nationals and the remainder were veterans," added the decorated ophthalmologist of the Indian army (IA).
The camp received patients from Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim and Nepal. According to IA, Lucas Toppo, a 97-year-old patient's vision was also restored by the ophthalmologist team comprising Lt Col Ravi Chauhan, Lt Col Ishan Aggarwal (from Command Hospital Lucknow), Major Amrita Joshi, Major Rolli Khurana (158 Base hospital) and seven resident doctors.
Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tiwari, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command, commended the team efforts.
Since December, the team has conducted back-to-back three successful eye camps in Dehradun (December 2024) and Jaipur (February 2025).
The West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose on March 10, had requested defence minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Upendra Dwivedi to hold an eye camp in Bengdubi for veterans, as the region has approximately 96,000 ex-servicemen and their dependents.