Whither govt scheme? Basanti got treated of eye cancer with NGO-supported crowd funding for meeting hospital expenses

By Rosamma Thomas

Imagine having a tumour the size of a tennis ball, protruding from your eye. Imagine it was cancerous, and you had no means to get it treated. If you can imagine that much, you could possibly also consider that not too many people would be happy to greet you and talk to you, since they would not be able to bear the sight of the pink ball of flesh bulging from your eye.

What you imagined was the plight of Basanti, a resident of Laprana village in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Not everyone who met her was indifferent to her plight, though. Workers of Sarfaroshi Foundation met the elderly woman and intervened to see how they could help.

It is pertinent to mention here that ‘Sarfaroshi’ in Persian means readiness to sacrifice one’s life. The poem ‘Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna’ by Bismil Azimabadi, composed about 100 years ago, after the 1919 Jallianwallah Bagh massacre, was a rousing call to freedom.

“Every Sarfaroshi dreams of a world where Hindus and Muslims can live together peacefully,” explains the website of the Foundation, “Sarfaroshi is the practical magic we need to erase differences and build a world of people that learn to live with each other.”

Sarfaroshi Foundation is based in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, and was founded by Revati Laul, journalist and author of The Anatomy of Hate, which details the background story of some of the perpetrators of violence in the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Finding Basanti suffering, Sarfaroshi put out a call for crowdfunding her treatment – and thanks to generous donations, it was possible to take Basanti to Delhi for treatment. Biopsy was conducted at Dr Shroff’s Charitable Eye Hospital, and Basanti went through chemotherapy at Apollo Hospital. She underwent surgery, and radiation therapy continues.

In a ‘thank you’ note to contributors, Sarfaroshi Foundation explained that Basanti kept her spirits up, longing for her favourite food and complaining about hospital food. She wore crisp cotton sarees to hospital, and although chemotherapy took a toll on her hair and skin, she is recovering now and the suppleness of her skin is returning, her hair growing back.

There is still the growth in the eye, much reduced in size, and treatment continues.

That an elderly woman should depend on workers of a non-profit for such essential treatment, and that funds should be raised through crowd-funding for meeting hospital expenses is a sad commentary on the efficacy of ‘double-engine governance’ in .

There is now a scheme of the Union government that covers all Indians, over 70 years of age, regardless of income status, offering health insurance coverage of up to Rs5 lakh.  Such schemes require enrolment, and not all old people are aware of this provision.

What is also remarkable is that the “luxury market” in India is growing at a furious pace – Maybach, a German luxury car that sells at Rs3 crore in India, sold 10 cars every week in 2024.  

New India: Where cancer treatment is thanks to timely intervention by staffers of a non-profit, while rich young Indians spend Rs3 crore on foreign cars.