Shreya’s treatment still a dream for her mother

Ghaziabad: After Dorris Francis, the Federation of Association of Apartment Owners (FedAOA) the apex body of apartment owners’ associations (AoA) in Ghaziabad, has come up with help for Ganga Devi. A domestic help by profession, Ganga has been running from pillar to post for the treatment of Shreya, her ailing four-year-old daughter, for the last six months.
Shreya has been diagnosed with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), a congenital heart condition in which the heart has a hole in the wall between its lower chambers.She has 3 holes in her heart, which leads to breathlessness, weakness and loss of consciousness.
A resident of Bhetia in Bihar, Ganga shifted to her father’s place in Kanavani village near Indirapuram after her husband refused to bear the expenses for the child’s treatment and left her six months ago. Ganga’s father Premanand Das, who is a rickshaw-puller, has been spending his daily earnings of a few hundred rupees for his granddaughter’s treatment.
Ganga lost her job as a domestic help around two months ago because of irregularities at work due to her daughter’s treatment. “My employers asked me to stop coming because I often had to miss work, and told me to come back only when my daughter gets well,” she said. At times, Ganga did not have any money to pay for food and other daily necessities.
The cash crunch caused by the recent demonetisation of high value currency also ensured that Ganga did not receive any help from the willing residents, who could not help her with hard cash, despite being willing to do so. Also, Ganga did not have a bank account of her own and also could not open one due to the absence of any identity or address proof. This ruled out the possibility of receiving any financial help from people who wanted to donate via electronic transfers.
Ganga’s father had to sell his land and take loans at heavy interest rates from money lenders to continue Shreya’s treatment. “These private money lenders charged us interest rates of 45 to 60%,” Premanand said.
She was introduced to Alok Kumar, a social worker associated with FedAoA, by a friend after Kumar managed to rally support for Dorris Francis, the traffic hero from Ghaziabad who was diagnosed with cancer recently.
Speaking to TOI, Alok said that the first thing she required was an identity proof to open a bank account. Alok approached Kewal Lakhera, a Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation councillor, to make a certificate of identity for Ganga. On the basis of the certificate, a savings account was opened for Ganga at the Canara Bank branch in Indirapuram.
Societies associated with FedAoA have started collecting funds for Ganga. The AoA at Gaur Green Vista has been collecting money for Ganga since the last two days. They have handed over Rs 3,750 collected from the society to Ganga. Parul Singh, a member, said that they will continue collection throughout the weekend. “We are also planning to provide groceries, blankets and other items of daily requirements for her as well,” she added.
On the other hand, Dorris Francis has released Rs 50,000 from the fund collected for the treatment of her cancer for Shreya.
Ganga and her father have already spent over Rs 1,24,000 for Shreya’s treatment, and are in desperate need of funds for her treatment. Doctors who diagnosed Shreya said that she needed immediate surgery, which would cost around Rs 2.5 to 3 lakhs.