Gandhinagar: Union Home Minister and Gandhinagar Lok Sabha MP, Amit Shah, celebrated Raksha Bandhan on Friday with girls suffering from Type 1 juvenile diabetes, who tied rakhi to him on the occasion.
The girls met HM Shah as part of an initiative in the Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency aimed at ensuring free insulin for children aged up to 18 years diagnosed with Type-1 juvenile diabetes.
Shah wished the girls on Raksha Bandhan and extended his wishes for their good health and bright future.
Children with Type 1 diabetes require insulin injections throughout their lives.
According to party sources, the cost of lifelong treatment can place a substantial financial burden on economically weaker and deprived families.
The initiative follows guidelines issued on April 30 for Diabetes Mellitus in children under the ‘Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) 2.0’.
In Gandhinagar, an integrated system covering screening, diagnosis, insulin and treatment, monitoring and follow-up has been established to provide children aged between zero and 18 years with free insulin for life.
Speaking during the Raksha Bandhan celebration, Shah said the initiative is a significant step towards ensuring that children from poor and middle-class families did not remain without essential insulin because of the cost of treatment.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this is a historic initiative, because even many developed countries have not been able to implement such a system of providing insulin free of cost,” Shah said.
He said the initiative to make insulin available to children with diabetes reflected the government’s resolve of “service, sensitivity and security”.
“For the BJP government, public service is not merely a responsibility, but the core principle of sensitive governance. Only when the health of a daughter is protected, will the future of the family and society be secure,” Shah said.
He added, “On the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, this initiative of providing free insulin to daughters is also a symbol of our commitment towards the protection of daughters and the health of daughters.”
Shah said the arrangement in Gandhinagar had been put in place under his supervision to ensure that eligible children received the benefit of the initiative.
The system is intended to cover the process from initial screening and diagnosis to treatment, monitoring and subsequent follow-up.
He also said that the Centre’s efforts in the health sector under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made healthcare services more accessible to ordinary citizens.
“In Gujarat the state government under Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is working to take welfare-oriented schemes of the Centre to people,” he noted.
IANS
