According to a World Health Organisation study 70 to 80 per cent of all blindness cases in India are curable, said, Minister of State for Personnel and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Suresh Pachouri.

The minister also released a book 'Disaster Management through Panchayati Raj', written by Director General of Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology, Kamal Taori.

Speaking at a seminar on, 'Blindness Eradication: Vision 2020', experts called for concerted effort to eliminate avoidable blindness from major causes like cataract, xerophthalmia, refractory error, low vision and trachoma, and save lakhs of people from turning blind. Lack of affordable eye care was also mentioned as the main cause for blindness in the country. It was suggested that eye check-ups should be made compulsory during admission to schools.

Mr. Vivek Tankha, Chairman, Justice Tankha Memorial Trust, said that awareness was the key to the prevention of blindness in the country as avoidable blindness cases were found mostly in poverty-stricken areas.

Some forty children from Madhya Pradesh who were adopted by Justice Tankha Memorial Trust for 'high-tech treatment' to cure their blindness in association with Delhi Medical Association were felicitated by the Minister at the seminar.