Muzaffarpur Eye Blinding Incident

Recent heinous eye operation case in Muzaffarpur is a manifestation of deteriorating state of health care and state’s accountability towards the people, and precisely for this reason Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar owes the people of the state an answer as to why people’s lives are being played with. During Covid times also we saw the incompetence of Health Minister Mangal Pandey when we saw lakhs of people dying due to the ramshackle health system. The demand arose at that time to improve the system and eliminate loot, arbitrariness and mismanagement. But the government took no steps in this direction. It is beyond comprehension why Nitish Kumar is persisting with such an incompetent Minister.

This has resulted in many people suffering from eye defects and 16 people becoming blind in the Muzaffarpur eye operation incident. Most of these people are from poor communities. This incident has once again exposed the government's insensitivity towards the common people's medical needs and treatment. These 26 people had cataract operations done in a private hospital in the city. This is a case of criminal negligence and immediate action must be taken against the guilty persons.

CPIML demands that the government should ensure an effective system to monitor private hospitals, sack the incompetent Health Minister, pay minimum Rs 10 lakhs as compensation to all the victims, and ensure proper medical treatment for them. A protest in this regard was organized at Muzaffarpur under the joint banners of CPIML and Insaf Manch.