• The government is set to change a four-decade-old definition of blindness to bring it in line with the WHO criteria and ensure that 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.

Necessity: 

• “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

Source: The Hindu