GUWAHATI: About 4000 students of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) pledged to donate their eyes and help the cause of the visually challenged across the world on World Sight Day on Thursday.
Led by the visually challenged students of Jyoti Niketan School, Narengi, the students of USTM along with university staff and authorities participated in a blind walk on the university campus which was a part of the larger programme called ‘World Blind Walk’ being held simultaneously across 200 locations in India, Sri Lanka, China, Philippines and Canada.
The walk-a-thon was organised by NavJanan NGO run by the Claretian Missionaries in the North East in association with USTM.
The visually impaired children also enthralled all present with songs at the end of the walk-a-thon.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM said, “We want to make our students socially responsible and become ambassadors for social awareness. The purpose is to express our solidarity with the visually challenged people and to motivate for eye donation.”
World Blind Walk is bringing together over 500 organisations across the globe from social, developmental, medical, academic and religious backgrounds on a single platform to push for a global movement on eye donation.
According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 39 million people are visually impaired worldwide.
