PMO responds to the Pioneer report

 Strap: Grants Rs one Lakh to poor man for treatment of his son

 VIJAY DEO JHA

Establishment finally took notice of the pain of poor Surendra Ram (40) last week, the man who sold all his belongings to save his son Anuj Kumar (12), currently under treatment at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) took notice of report published in the Pioneer on December 19 last year, ‘Ram needs to be God to save his son!’ The PMO directed financial assistance to Ram whose son is suffering from complete paralysis from the last two years due to corporal punishment by his teacher.

 

An official of the PMO said that Ram was given a cheque of Rs one lakh from Prime Minister Relief Fund on January 3.  “PMO has taken note of the pain of the man after the news surfaced in the Pioneer. More payments could be made. The hospital authority has been asked to take proper medical care of child,” the official said.

 

Confirming this, Ram expressed his gratitude for raising his plight. “I am thankful to all of you and all those who helped me out; otherwise, who listen to poor people,” Ram said.

After the Pioneer report a team of central officials visited Ram and collected all the details. From the last two years Ram has been staying on hospital’s premise along with his wife Neelam. Hailing from Purnadeeh (Palamau), in Jharkhand this marginalised farmer has sold his entire property — two acres of land and pair of oxen — and even borrowed Rs 80,000 from local moneylenders for the treatment of his son.

The couple has been forced to the disgraceful act of begging outside Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where Anuj has been admitted in ward 34. Doctors say Anuj’s motor neurons, controlling movements of his limbs, have been damaged beyond repair. This can be partially improved only by highly specialised surgery and treatment which is very costly. Anuj has undergone two major surgeries and doctors expect a couple of others.

Having no means of income Ram had begged before all the high and mighty of Jharkhand government and politics. He had submitted petitions to the then Chief Minister, the Governor, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Kariya Munda, Chatra MP Inder Singh Namdhari, former HRD Minister Vaidyanath Ram etc, on different occasions. Among politicians and government only Subodh Kant Sahay (the then Union Minister) helped him out while rest offered assurance.

The district administration has provided him with a BPL card that holds no meaning because it merely certifies his poverty but offers no support or solution.

Ram twice met the CM in Delhi with a request for son — first when Munda was visiting an ailing relative, Gautam, admitted at Safdarjung in 2011 and next, when he was in Delhi to demand special status tag and package for Jharkhand. Ram had not sought a package; he had just prayed for a small favour.

For PMO it took two days to act and it took a year for CMO to respond Ram’s petition is pending.