INTRODUCTION Diabetes has been identified as a major risk factor for dry eye syndrome. One of the probable diagnostic parameters for dry eye syndrome can be the measurement of tear meniscus height using optical coherence tomography. AIM The aim of this study is to use the tear meniscus height for the detection of dry eye syndrome and compare the same among diabetic and non–diabetic subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was done in the Department of ophthalmology of a tertiary care hospital . it was an unmatched case control hospital based study. 50 eyes of diabetic patients who’ve been known cases of diabetes for more than 5 years and 50 eyes of non diabetic patients ,free of any systemic illness, were studied .All patients were in the age group of 40–60 years. RESULTS In our study, the tear meniscus height of 25 diabetic patients and 25 non diabetic patients were examined using optical coherence tomography.The mean tear meniscus height in diabetic patients was 247+/– 33.5µm .The mean tear meniscus height in non diabetics was 304+/– 28µm. The p value was found to be <0.05 using 95% confidence interval which was significant using unpaired t test. CONCLUSION The tear meniscus height is decreased in patients with diabetes as compared to non diabetics and measurement of tear meniscus by OCT is a rapid and non invasive way to provide valuable insight regarding dry eye in diabetes and also for early diagnosis and treatment.