Helping Hand Foundation (HHF), an NGO working in the charitable healthcare sector, has facilitated 50 heart surgeries of children of daily wage earners by leveraging zakaat funds.
Zakaat is a form of charity that is calculated at 2.5% of one’s annual savings. Under certain conditions, it is applicable to jewellery as well.
In a statement to the media, the HHF stated, “Notable among the medical aid provided was that 50 children between 0-10 years of age, born in marginalised families were provided full financial assistance for complex heart surgeries worth ₹1.5 crore. There is little choice for marginalised people to go to private hospitals, and the government facilities for this particular purpose are inadequate. It takes a lot of money for these surgeries — a minimum of ₹3 lakh. So, we do crowdfunding, raise money by means of zakaat and sponsor it. About half the patients were suffering from ventricular septal defect,” said Mujtaba Askari from the HHF.
