A person unable to count fingers from a distance of 6m is categorised as “blind” in India, against the WHO’s stipulation of 3m.

The government is set to change a four-decade-old definition of blindness to bring it in line with the WHO criteria and ensure the Indian data on blindness meets the global estimates.

As defined under the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), a person unable to count fingers from a distance of six metres is categorised as “blind” in India, against the WHO’s stipulation of three metres.

“We will bring the definition of blindness at par with the WHO’s criteria. Because of the current definition, we project a higher figure of blind people from India at any international forum. Thus India gets presented in a poor light compared to other countries,” said Promila Gupta, NPCB Deputy Director-General.

Also, she said, the data “we generate under the programme cannot be compared with the global estimates as other countries are following the WHO criteria”.