Vedanta campaign to aid 2,500 children with free operations
It was by chance that Anand Jha, Chief Executive Officer, GBH American Hospital, stumbled on the Khushi campaign when he and his team made up their mind to conduct lip cleft and palate operations for 2,500 children free-of-cost.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are caused by abnormal facial development during gestation. A cleft is a fissure or opening — a gap. It is caused due to the non-fusion of the body’s natural structures that form before birth. Surgery to rectify cleft costs about Rs 12,000-15,000.
Khushi, a blog, is a social media campaign of Vedanta Resources plc to bring in like-minded people in different spheres of life to help the society in whatever way they can.
The campaign has helped identify the needy children and conduct 60 operations by roping in US-based Smile Train, a charity organisation that does this operation through their 170 partner hospitals spread across 110 cities in India.
Every year about 35,000 children are born with cleft lips and cleft palates in India while this problem is quite prevalent in developing countries, said Jha.
“The campaign intends to conduct this operation for children across the country,” he added.
Launched with an intention to help malnourished children, Khushi seems to have taken much twist and turns to touch base with different needy children.
India needs a mass initiative at the ground level and also national awareness campaign to communicate the need for nutrition, good health and education for malnourished children, says Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Group.
Khushi was conceived to promote this cause and motivate people of similar minds to take individual steps towards making India a better country, he said.
Started in April last year with only seven members, Khushi now has 25,000 members group with 58,000 page views. People from various professions such as professors, students, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, journalists and social workers have become part of this movement.
In the last one year, Khushi has made a few members sponsor education of children of housemaids or those who beg on the streets. Many professors and teachers are taking classes on pavements for street children.
A few light-hearted members have adopted street children. Vedanta Group also chips in by taking up large issues that requires corporate intervention that include adoption of Anganwadi centres, adoption of schools for infrastructure improvement and providing mid-day meals to schools.
The story published in Hindu Business Line on 17th April 2013
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