Chitwan, 16 February: The Dr. Ajay and Dr. Saru Foundation, run by a doctor couple here, has taken over the guardianship of 18 children from Devghat. The children are studying in 10 schools in four wards of Devghat rural municipality.
The foundation, established by Dr. Ajay Neupane and Dr. Saru Thapa, the owners of Sairam Dental Care, has taken on the guardianship of underprivileged children. The foundation has stated that it will provide assistance to these children in education, health and other necessary matters.
The foundation has started the process of adopting the children by distributing stationery, clothing, sports and health materials along with bags to them. Dr. Neupane, the director of the foundation, said that the adoption of the children was done with the intention of supporting them in higher education if they are able to study important subjects such as medicine and engineering.
The children selected in this way are between the ages of 5 and 12. These children are fatherless and motherless and are poor, said Bikash Dhakal, president of the former students’ forum of Kalika Basic School in Devghat.
This is the third program since the doctor couple announced the foundation in the last week of Shrawan. The couple has allocated Rs 1 million for the revolving fund and Rs 1 million for operating expenses to move forward with the work. Dr. Thapa said that the amount will be added gradually. Thapa said that guardianship was taken so that children from poor families who have lost their parents do not feel like they have no guardians.
The foundation is also running a free Seal Chitwan campaign (filling teeth with cement that have started to decay) to prevent children from having dental problems. Even before the foundation was established, they had been providing dental treatment through free camps in rural areas. The foundation was established with its own investment with the aim of working institutionally. Dr. Neupane is the head of the dental department at Bharatpur Hospital. Dr. Thapa has been running Sairam Dental Care from the private sector.
