Prime Minister with Vaishali whose heart surgery was funded by the PMO. (Source: PTI)
AFTER THE Prime Minister’s office (PMO) responded to a letter by six-year-old Vaishali Yadav from Pune who underwent an open heart surgery with the help of PMO and district administration, a special programme, Mission Dhanwantari, is set to be launched soon to help out children who have to undergo any medical treatment and need financial aid for the same.
The progamme, initiated under the collectorate, will see a committee set up to speed up the cases and a toll-free number will also be allotted for the purpose.
“Any child needing medical aid can contact via the toll-free number and a district committee on its panel will assess the genuineness of the case,’’ said Pune District Collector Saurabh Rao on the new initiative.
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The committee will include the district administration officials, district health officials and women and child welfare department officials. The district administration has already identified children who need such treatment from anganwadis and local schools. It has put forth names of 160 such children and the funds for their treatment would be released through various schemes of the government and through corporate social responsibility funds.
The district officials said that the socio-economic conditions of the child would be assessed before the permission is granted and the toll-free number will be monitored by the revenue officials to help reach out to the maximum number of needy children.
Vaishali had written a letter to the Prime Minister in May seeking help for treatment of a hole in her heart. The collectorate on the instructions from the PMO arranged for the treatment.
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