A state-of-the-art eye care centre that would house facilities; equipment and expertise related to eye care under one roof has been inaugurated at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.

The centre has 100 beds and eight operation theatres. In extension to the already existing department of ophthalmology, which started working in 1962, the advanced eye care centre would work as a tertiary centre with special focus on prevention and control of blindness.

It promises an entire gamut of latest facilities, including refractive surgery, phaco-emulsification and microsurgery. The centre would be the first in the country to offer molecular biologic technique for eye infections from a single drop of ocular fluid.

The hospital will be a boon to people from the surrounding states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, though people from all over the country are expected to use its facilities.