PATNA, Sept. 7 -- In a rare act of compassion, the families of two septuagenarians donated their eyes to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna on Thursday, demonstrating that age is no barrier to giving the gift of sight. The children of Shraddhanand Singh and Vinod Kumar Jalan, both 72, consented to the donation through the facilitation of the Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti, a Patna-based public charitable society established in 2003. Their contribution will help restore vision to at least four blind individuals. "This noble gesture coincides with the ongoing Eye Donation Fortnight (August 25-September 8)," said Bimal Jain, general secretary of the samiti. He added that this was the third donation facilitated by the organisation during the fortnight, and at least the fifth in the state. Earlier, Rinki Kayal had donated the eyes of her father, Nirmal Kanodiya, 69, at Darbhanga Medical College Hospital on August 28. Prior to that, the samiti facilitated the donation of Vishwanath Poddar's eyes at Nalanda Medical College Hospital in Patna on August 23, with the consent of his children, Sanjay and Suman Poddar, who the samiti feted on September 4. On Friday, the samiti honoured Singh's son, Arun Kranti Yadav, with a shawl and citation, and acknowledged the contribution of Jalan's children - Puneet Jalan, Pankaj Jalan and Sachin Banka. Doctors used the occasion to stress that there is no age bar for eye donation. "Anyone above two years can donate unless affected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, Syphilis, or an unknown cause of death," said Dr Amit Raj, professor and head of ophthalmology at AIIMS Patna. The AIIMS eye bank, functional since April 30, has recorded 20 donations in the past three months - all facilitated directly by families without prior pledges. Of the 47 pledges registered so far, five were made during the current awareness drive. IGIMS, on the other hand, has registered 60 pledges during this fortnight. Since its eye bank's inception in October 2014, the institute has recorded 575 donations, 958 corneal transplants, and 639 pledges, said Dr Bibhuti Prassan Sinha, head of ophthalmology at IGIMS. Addressing myths around eye donation, Dr Ajeet Kumar Dwivedi, director of the Rajendranagar Super Specialty Ophthalmic Science Centre, said, "Donating eyes does not cause blindness in the next life. Nor does it disfigure the body, as only the cornea is extracted, not the entire eye." He also advised families on simple measures to preserve corneas after death, such as elevating the head, switching off fans, keeping moist cotton on the eyes, and using air conditioning where possible. The centre has collected around 120 pledges during the fortnight. Despite Bihar having 10 eye banks, the state, against its requirement of 12,000 corneas, records only 250-300 donations annually, far below the national average of 60,000-65,000. Of the nearly 1,600 eye donations in Bihar so far, the Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti has facilitated nearly 350, said Suraj Kumar, the samiti's office in-charge. "Death is inevitable, but the best way to achieve immortality is through eye and organ donation," said Jain, urging more people to pledge for the cause. Vice-president Arun Satyamurthy echoed the sentiment, invoking the legacy of Maharishi Dadhichi....