OKARA, Oct 19: Over 1,500 poor farmers of a nearby village have urged the governor and chief minister to declare their area as calamity-hit.

They say their village 19/1.R Rehana Wala, some 15 km away from the city, has been hit by a hailstorm a month ago. They say the hailstorm damaged paddy sown over hundreds of acres. The affected villagers have submitted lists of losses to the district authorities but to no avail.

They have appealed to the governor and chief minister to look into the matter to compensate them.

MEETING: The Punjab government has chalked out a programme to save over 800,000 people from going blind.

This was stated in a meeting held in connection with the white cane day. The meeting, which was arranged by NGO Jeewan, was addressed by Zohair Nushat Foundation chief Dr Nadeem Sohail.

He said that the foundation held free eye camps twice a year.

Social workers Rana Zahid, Asif Khan, Rao Khalid and Chaudhry Naseer also spoke.