NHPC gifts smile to kids with cleft

GERUKAMUKH: Even a month ago, parents of Suresh Sinte, a nine-year-old boy from the remote Motkur Village in Assam's Lakhimpur district, were facing trouble in feeding him as he was born with cleft deformity.
Monica Sinte and her husband Basu Sinte is a happy couple today who no longer need to take extra care of Suresh as he can eat on his own like all others after a surgery conducted by Operation Smile and fully sponsored by the NHPC Lower Subansiri hydro-electric project authorities.
Suresh was among the 85 patients who had undergone NHPC-sponsored cleft surgery by Operation Smile from March to May in Guwahati.
"My son was unable to eat easily and we had to take extra care while feeding him... but today we are relieved after his surgery... We had no money for the surgery and Suresh was left in God's mercy," said a visibly happy Monica, while attending the post-operative outreach camp at NHPC project site here on Saturday.
Parents of other patients like Roma Chetry, Putuli Pegu, Bitupon Sonowal and many others have expressed their gratitude to the NHPC authorities and Operation Smile group for their generous gesture in curing their children.
In February NHPC executive director Rakesh had declared that his intention was to work towards surgical treatment and rehabilitation of all such people in the districts of Dhemaji and Norh Lakhimpur in neighbouring Assam besides, Papum Pare, Lower Subansiri and West Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.
"I would like to make all the stakeholder districts adjacent to the Lower Subansiri project 'Cleft-free' and NHPC would strive to achieve this through Corporate Responsibility Scheme (CSR)," Rakesh declared while addressing the gathering.
"Not just 85 patients but an equal number of families received a new lease of life through the life-changing surgeries," said Operation Smile project director (India) Dalip Pandey while addressing the gathering.