THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ABU HASEM KHAN CHOUDHURY)
(a): National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) is a decentralized scheme
under implementation through State/District Health Societies functioning in the States.
Identification of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and release of grant to them for
the activities undertaken by them are undertaken by the respective State/District Health
Society.
Under NPCB, the grant-in-aid for Cataract operation is fixed at Rs.750/- per Cataract
operation. The payment is made by the District authorities as per NPCB guidelines and
deduction is made according to the facility provided by the concerned NGOs (for example,
if the lens is supplied by district authorities then the amount of Rs.200/- is deducted
per lens provided). The break- up of Rs.750/- is given below:
S. Material ECCE/IOL SICS/PHACO
No. (in rupees) (in rupees)
1 Drugs and Consumables 200 200
2 Sutures 50 0
3 Spectacles 125 125
4 Transport/POL 100 100
5 Organization & Publicity 75 75
6 IOL, Viscoelastics & 200 250 additional consumables Total 750 750
Further, payment of Cataract Operations depends upon, submission of Cataract Surgical Records
in the prescribed format by the concerned NGOs and physical verification of 5% of patients
who have undergone Cataract Operations by the District authorities on a monthly basis.
Director-in-Chief, Health Services, Bihar, Patna has reported that there is no difference in
payments made to NGOs in Bihar. It has further been reported that no special attention is
given to any NGO by State Authority by neglecting others.
(b): As per NPCB guideline, NGOs seeking non-recurring grants under NPCB shall seek
reimbursement in the prescribed format within maximum of three months of surgery/intervention
/screening of eye. No claims shall be valid after lapse of three months. The District
Programme Manager (DPM) shall acknowledge the receipt of the claim document and shall be
required to settle the claim in a period not exceeding three months time. These guidelines
have been circulated to all States time and again for strict compliance and during review
of the programme at various levels.
Director-in-Chief, Health Services, Bihar, Patna, has reported that from the year 2012-13,
State of Bihar is following the practice of Management Information System (MIS) in which
NGOs have to enter the number of Cataract operations done by them to ensure early and timely
payment.
(c): NPCB being a decentralized scheme, identification of NGOs and release of grant for the
activities undertaken by them is the role of concerned State/District Health Society.
Director-in-Chief, Health Services, Bihar, Patna, has reported that no NGO from Madhubani has
submitted any documents for payment during the last three years (2009-10 to 2011-12). As per
the report, an amount of Rs.7,39,80,705/- is due to various NGOs for the period 2009-10 to
2011-12.
