13 children to benefit from free cochlear implant project Dhwani

Nagpur: Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI), regional institute-IV, Nagpur, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Nagpur, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch Project Dhwani, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to provide free cochlear implant surgery and rehabilitation to hearing-impaired children. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Dr Prashant P Joshi, executive director, AIIMS Nagpur, and Nripendra Nath, director (T/RD&T), CMPDI RI-IV, in the presence of senior officials from both institutions. The dignitaries present included Rajesh Ralhan, regional director, CMPDI RI-IV; Dr Manish Shrigiriwar, nodal officer - AB-PMJAY & MJPJAY, AIIMS Nagpur; Shantanu Shrivastava, head of department (HR), CMPDI RI-IV; Sunil Jadala, manager (HR), CMPDI RI-IV; Siddhartha Verma, deputy manager (HR), CMPDI RI-IV; Dr Nilesh Nagdeve, medical superintendent, AIIMS Nagpur; Dr Vijay Bidkar, professor & head, department of ENT; Dr Nitin Marathe, joint medical superintendent & nodal officer - CSR; Himanshu R Saxena, deputy manager (finance executive), CMPDI RI-IV; and Gaurav Sharma, manager (geology), CMPDI RI-IV.Dr Joshi commended the initiative for serving underprivileged children. He emphasised that the project will support pre-lingual children up to 7 years from BPL and EWS families who are ineligible for schemes like MJPJAY or AB-PMJAY.CMPDI will fully sponsor the treatment, covering implant cost, surgery, and consumables. The total project cost is Rs65.5 lakh, benefiting 13 children, with Rs5 lakh being allotted per child. The project will be implemented in phases: 3 beneficiaries in FY 2025-26 and 10 beneficiaries in FY 2026-27. The beneficiaries will be selected by a joint committee of CMPDI RI-IV and AIIMS Nagpur to ensure transparency and medical eligibility.