It was only two weeks ago that M. Gnanasekar, a lathe worker from Ganapathy, walked into the collectorate to petition Collector M. Karunagaran seeking medical help for his two-year-old daughter.
Doctors at a private eye hospital in the city had diagnosed the child, Yashika, with having congenital cataract on her right eye when Mr. Gnanasekar and his wife Geetha took the child to a medical camp. “After the doctors explained the problem to me, I approached the hospital, which said it would cost around Rs. 20,000 for the operation.”
He then said that he decided to avail of the Tamil Nadu State Government’s medical insurance scheme to get his daughter operated on but could to do so because he did not have a public distribution system (ration) card. His request with the district administration for a fresh card is still pending.
After realising that his request for a PDS card would take time and that he would not be able to have Yashika operated in time, Mr. Gnanasekar moved the Collector for help. This news was reported in the media then.
KG Hospital management, which read the news, contacted the district administration, reached Mr. Gnanasekar and then operated the child on Saturday last at no cost. Doctor Manoj Ramachandran said it was good that the child was operated so early because delay would have meant that the damage to the right eye turned permanent.
He also said that the hospital performed the surgery under the ‘Kalam KG Crusade Against Childhood Blindness’ programme. Thus far the Hospital has performed over 100 surgeries and screened over two lakh children.
