Over 1500 cleft surgeries performed under its ‘Smile Please initiative’
- Pan-India initiative giving access to quality comprehensive cleft care free of cost for the rural population
- Over 1500 cleft surgeries across 11 states have been performed till date
- A 40 member medical expert team across from 7 states volunteered for the mission
The Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF), through their flagship CSR program, ‘Smile Please’ in association with Mission Smile has conducted over 1500 cleft surgeries for children across 11 states across the nation. The purpose was to conduct ‘Comprehensive Cleft Care Surgery Missions’ across India, providing free surgical interventions and care for the children afflicted with congenital lip and palate cleft disorders. The Mission has tranformed the lives of more than 1500 children and as on date reached cities like- Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Pondicherry, Nagercoil, Kottayam, Gulbarga, Goa, Baroda and Jaipur .
Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF) believe strongly in genuine partnerships and engage in such programme that can bring in positive changes in the quality of life of people. Conceptualised with an aim to provide all-inclusive care to the patients, the Mission also brought to foreground the gaps in nutrition for kids, in many regions, especially the unexplored rural regions. With commitment to make the program successful, Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF) envisioned the cleft nutrition component addressing the needs of malnourished cleft patients which have been identified during the Mission. MPF also address the issue of financial affordability of basic food products and has taken the lead in distributing kits with cereals, pulses, ghee, dry fruits, jaggery, salt etc. on monthly basis.
Mr. Thomas Muthoot, Director, Muthoot Pappachan Group, says, “Over 45,000 babies are born with Cleft and palate deformities in India every year, yet it’s a cause that’s not mainstream. Kids in rural areas are the worst affected due to lack of infrastructure and awareness causing serious health hazards. Majority of times, these parents are not able to get proper treatment due to inadequate funds. This is where we feel, we have a huge role to play, in not only making healthcare more accessbile but eliminating the social taboo around it. We believe as a responsible corporate, our focus is on being able to bring about change at a grassroots level and the initiative behind cleft surgeries is directed towards that.”
Since 2002, Mission Smile has medically screened more than 40,000 cleft patients and has performed more than 27,000 safe and life-changing surgeries to children and adults suffering from cleft afflicted deformities in India. The first Mission of ‘’Smile Please” initiative was conducted at Muthoot Life Brigade Hospital, Kottayam during 11th to 18th October 2014 in which 52 patients were given free cleft surgeries. A 40-member medical expert team across from 7 states volunteered for the Mission.
About Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF) : Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF) believe strongly in genuine partnerships and engage in such programme that can bring in positive changes in the quality of life of people. Muthoot Pappachan Foundation is not just a funding agency in any of its CSR initiatives, but an active partner in the field who takes responsibility of facilitating the process, utilizing resources from all the business verticals of MPG. MPF believe in value, that’s in collaborative efforts many of the Firms wish to leverage it to create a collective and sustained impact.
Armed with a commitment to society, the Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF), a Public Charitable Trust – the CSR arm of Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG) was formed which has touched thousands of lives through its diverse programs. It tackles issues affecting the communities in which its businesses operate. The primary aim is to build a portfolio of CSR activities that are in line with our core strengths as a business and our various business units. Such CSR initiatives of MPG revolve around the theme ‘HEEL’, covering ‘Health, Education, Environment and Livelihood’.
The Foundation is a crucial part of the MPG’s corporate sustainability mandate, and provides a mechanism from which to engage both internal and external stakeholders, whilst implementing a variety of different programs at the grassroots level. This engagement is integral to everything we do and our programs ensure a meaningful ‘hands on’ engagement for the employees of the MPG.
The aim is to generate:
- Social returns together with financial returns, while imbibing the organization’s ethos and value systems
- Sustainability for the organization by ‘Engaging with the Community.
About Muthoot Pappachan Group
Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), has been providing solutions, services and expertise to millions of customers across the country in various domains like financial services, automotive, realty, hospitality, IT and alternate energy. Over the years, Muthoot Pappachan Group has grown to become a significant entity in the Indian business landscape. Muthoot Pappachan Group in fact is one of the largest employees in the country, across industries, providing employment to over 20,000 people and endeavouring to give them a family-like work environment. The group’s customer-centric approach and innovation in terms of new products that cater to changing customer needs, have helped in gaining the loyalty of innumerable customers, as well as attracting new ones.
