After almost a year of inaction, the Kerala government has finally allocated Rs 59.48 lakh for cochlear implant upgradations. This decision, taken on July 22, will benefit 25 hearing-impaired adolescents and teenagers whose current devices have become obsolete.
However, the catch is that all these 25 beneficiaries underwent their cochlear implant surgeries before February 2012, when the government project ‘Sruthitharangam’ began, which provided cochlear implants to underprivileged children. For children who had the surgery after 2012, assistance is not available.
The official reasoning is that those who had their surgeries before 2012 did so with their own funds and, therefore, require immediate assistance. However, even officials at the Kerala State Social Security Mission (KSSM) acknowledge the flaws in such differentiation. Ideally, no hearing-impaired child should have to wait indefinitely to get their device upgraded.
Furthermore, there are around 360 children who underwent surgery after 2012, but their devices have also become outdated. Major implant companies involved in ‘Sruthitharangam’ have discontinued production of the models used for the scheme, rendering these children’s devices vulnerable. If any part of their external device malfunctions, they could immediately lose their hearing, and there’s no option to purchase these parts or get them serviced.
Tragically, according to figures from the Cochlear Implantees Association and Charitable Society (CIACS), 37 children with implants have already gone deaf due to malfunctions in their external device components.
One such victim is Anseel, aged 15, who has been deaf for three years because he couldn’t afford an upgrade. The cost of upgrading ranges from Rs 3.5 to Rs 7.5 lakh, making it an insurmountable burden for families with an annual income of less than Rs two lakh, which includes most of the children who received cochlear implants under ‘Sruthitharangam’.
Keeping these children isolated from the world of hearing leads to regression and loss of the speech abilities they had developed through therapy. Anseel, for instance, who used to communicate like any other normal kid, now faces severe speech difficulties after years of silence.
In 2018, the LDF government introduced a fund-sharing model for the upgrade, where each local body was asked to allocate Rs 50,000 annually for each hearing-impaired child within their jurisdiction. This money was pooled together by the Kerala Social Security Mission, and funds were distributed based on priority. However, this model faced challenges, with some local bodies feeling their funds were not being utilized efficiently, resulting in the discontinuation of fund allocation for hearing-impaired children.
To address the issue, the president of CIACS suggests that a government order mandating local bodies to allocate annual funds for hearing-impaired kids could be a viable solution.
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