In a moment of desperation Aarti Sharma, a mother of four children, living in Agra, posted on a Facebook page named Jan Sahyog Sangthan, saying she was willing to sell her kidney to raise money for her children’s education.
“To complete my children’s education, I would like to sell my kidneys. My blood group is B+. I sought help under the scheme CM Awas Yojana to District administration of Agra, but in this country beti bachao beti padhao is just a drama,” Aarti’s message read.
Aarti had told the media her husband lost his garment business after demonetisations and their debts piled up and the family could not afford the cost of education of their four children.
Little did she know that her message would touch a chord almost over 2,000 kms away, in a village in Kerala.
After her desperate Facebook plea was reported by News 18 Kerala, Thaliparamba MLA James Mathew took note of the report.
Pained by the woman’s plea for help, James Mathew decided to swing into action. In order to help the needy mother, Mathew decided to place charity boxes in 115 schools in his constituency.
“If the family is willing, we will arrange sponsorship for the children’s education in Kerala and arrange to send them to a boarding school,” the MLA told TNM.
And true to his promise, on June 22 two school teachers--Ravi and Janardhanan--from Thaloparamba village of Kannur district reached Delhi with Rs 2,05,000 to hand it over to Aarti.
“We collected Rs 2 lakh in 20 days and selected two teachers to go to Agra and hand over the money to the family. We all, including the students, watched the function live on TV,” James told TNM.
Ravi and Janardhanan, represented the students and teachers of 115 schools in Thaliparamba constituency, who collected the money to help the family for Aarti’s children's education.
“She was so happy and have expressed her gratitude to Kerala when we handed over the money. They were in extremely poor situation and she wanted to give education to her children. She has also expressed her willingness to come to Kerala for the education,” Ravi told The News Minute.
Aarti lives with her eight-member family in a 300-sq-ft rented house in Eco Colony in Rohata. Her husband Manoj Sharma works as a driver and earns Rs 5,000 per month. According to media report they have been unable to pay their rent for the past few months and could be evicted from the house at any point.
Ravi said that a function was arranged by local activists in Shaheed community hall in Agra, to hand over the money to the family. “That was an emotional event. It is painful to hear her stories. She, her husband and the children were present in the function. She was emotional when we handed over the money,” he said.
Thanking the children of Thaliparamba for giving her a help hand, Aarti said, “I was tired of asking for help that is why I decided to sell my kidney. But children of Kerala helped me. I am proud that there are such kind of children in my country.”