PM Modi helps fix hole in 6-year-old’s heart

"Modi Sarkar mala madat pahije," wrote Vaishali Yadav in a letter to the Prime Minister. The six-year-old from Hadapsar had a hole in her heart and was too poor for surgery. And, five days after posting that letter with her school identity card, Modi answered. Vaishali got a free surgery done this week at Ruby Hall Clinic, after a letter from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) prompted the district collector to convene a meeting with representatives from all Pune hospitals.Vaishali, who studies at Pradnya Shishu Vihar school in Phursungi, belongs to the below poverty line (BPL) category and couldn't afford to get her operation done in any Pune hospital. She also lacked BPL documents, which prevented her from availing of any BPL heath scheme of the government. She resides with her uncle, Pratap Yadav, a small time painter, who even had to sell the girl's only toy, a cycle, for a mere Rs 90 so that he can buy her medicines. So, she decided to write a letter directly to the PM.Speaking to Mirror, Vaishali said, "I saw my kaka sitting sadly after being rejected by many hospitals. Just then, Modi appeared on the television screen. I brought out a pen and paper and said I want to write to the PM about my condition, so that my operation can be done for free. And, surprisingly, my kaka agreed. I tore a page from my notebook and wrote everything to Modi, right from my heart condition to being extremely poor."Yadav added, "Since we lack any proper address, we chose to take her school's ID card, stuck it onto the letter and posted it. We never thought it would receive any response. But, only five days on, a few people from the school came looking for Vaishali and me. We were told the district collector and district health officer were looking for us. Immediately, a meeting was called by the collector, where hospitals from Pune were called and the letter from PMO saying "help the girl accordingly" was widely discussed. Ruby Hall Clinic immediately chose to help us for free and our operation was done this week."District civil surgeon Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, who had called the meeting along with district collector Saurabh Rao, was shocked to see the PM's letter, which reached on May 25 with the girl's letter attached. "It lacked any phone number of the girl or her parents. So, we approached the patient's school as it had her ID card. That's how we located her. Ruby Hall Clinic immediately came forward and, within nine days of contacting the patient, the surgery was performed according to the PM's wishes," he explained.Dr Purvez Grant, Ruby Hall Clinic's chairman, added, "The patient came with the PM's reference and we did it for free. We have done as many as 100 paediatric surgeries in the last one year without charging a single penny."