Outside the crowded venue of Chief Minister’s mass contact programme, Balan and Bindu, siblings from a small village near Balussery, sat eagerly for their turn. Unlike many other complainants, they had no feet to walk to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and their decaying hands could not even hold a petition.
The duo, who belonged to a seven-member family, was on their last attempt to beseech something to keep them alive and carry on treatment for acro-dystrophica and osteodystrophy, a condition in which the patient experiences defective bone development and decaying of organs.
“We had knocked all possible doors in our area, in vain,” said Balan and Bindu.
Their feeble voice echoed the anxiety over their worsening condition and its irreversible impacts already appearing on the body.
On Saturday, the siblings started at 4 a.m. from their village home. A few relatives and residents helped them reach the city headquarters and meet the Chief Minister.
“We are badly in need of a new house so that we can shift from the hilly area and continue the treatment. And live as long as possible,” they said.
M.M. Rajani, their sister who was present at the programme, said the treatment continued to be a dilemma for the entire family.
“They cannot be taken to hospital by a vehicle as the road condition is poor in the hilly area. In emergency situations, we carry them on shoulders to reach the distant hospital,” she said.
The siblings were granted Rs.50,000 each for immediate treatment at the mass contact programme. Considering their plea, direction was also issued to the district administration to find out a convenient spot for the family near Balussery and construct a new house.