Thiruvananthapuram: Hridyam an initiative by Government of Kerala launched as part of Central government’s Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) to support children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) stopped in 2022. Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) withdrew from the project due to non-payment of dues from the Kerala Government.
The Hridyam scheme was launched in Kerala by the Center with an aim to reduce the infant mortality rate.
The implementation share of the Hridhyam scheme, which provides free treatment to babies born with complex heart diseases, is 60% from the center and 40% from the state. But due to the non-payment of Rs 69 lakh dues from the Kerala government in respect of the free treatment provided by Hridyam, and the fact that the state did not accept SCTIMST’s inclusion of new facilities in the memorandum of understanding, SCTIMST withdrew from the project from March 2022.
Since many children are receiving excellent free treatment, the office bearers of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology Employees Sangh, part of BMS, personally met BJP State President K Surendran and submitted a petition to restart Hridyam at SCTIMST. Following this the BJP state president sent a letter to the Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh requesting the restoration of the project in SCTIMST and necessary interventions were made.
Sree Chitra Employees Sangh General Secretary Ranjith Kumar V and President Abhilash SG informed that in the reply letter of Union Minister there are mentions of SCTIMST informing the plan being passed by the governing body of the institute and the state government had been approached for necessary steps to restore the project. They also thanked the BJP state president for his effective intervention in the matter.
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