Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami pledges to donate eyes; launches website to help create awareness

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday pledged to donate his eyes after his death and launched a website to facilitate easy registration of people willing to donate their eyes.

Palaniswami signed a declaration giving his consent to donate his eyes after a death and received a certificate for it from Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan at a simple ceremony at the Secretariat here. Later, Palaniswami launched a website, that allows a person to give consent to donate their eyes at the click of a mouse.

A statement from the government said over 68 lakh people, mostly children and youngsters, have iris malfunction and eyes donated by people after their death are handy to restore vision in such persons.

“Since people are clueless about where and how to donate their eyes, the government has created a website to facilitate eye donation and create a registry of eye donors,” the statement said.

Those willing to donate their eyes, the statement said, can register on the website by filling in their personal details after which they will receive a certificate.