NGO gives 13-year-old Rs 8.5 lakh for kidney transplant

Three days after 13-year-old Varun wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him for monetary help for his kidney transplant, he received Rs 8.5 lakh from an Uttarakhand-based NGO that works with the government.

"We have been in the hospital since May this year," said Kamal Kishore, Varun's father. "We got him discharged in July but his condition worsened. I have lost my job in these four months and my family is surviving on the savings we had," he added.

With both his kidneys failed, Varun currently requires two dialysis a week. The family is a Below Poverty Line cardholder.

Following his letter to the PM and tweets to Delhi Chief Minister and Health Minister, Varun was reassured by an NGO, Hans Foundation, that his treatment would be taken care of.

A recent letter to the Under Secretary of Prime Minister's Relief Fund written by the Additional Private Secretary to the Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences stated, "Master Varun has been diagnosed as a case of end-stage renal disease and advised kidney transplant by Dr K Anand, Department of Pediatrics, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Considering the pathetic financial condition, I am directed by the Minister to kindly consider this case sympathetically and sanction a total amount of Rs 8,50,000 for his treatment."