Sneha Sparsha

What is Sneha Sparsha?

Sneha Sparsha, which means "touch of love", is the Government of Assam's specialised treatment scheme for seriously ill children below 12 years of age. The Health & Family Welfare Department of the Government of Assam launched it in 2013 with an initial fund of Rs 5 crore for 2013-14, and it is administered through the National Health Mission, Assam. Readers will also see the name written as Snehasparsh, which is how the National Health Mission page titles it.

Sneha Sparsha exists because the conditions it covers: transplants, cochlear implants, paediatric cancers: cost far more than any ordinary health assistance scheme will meet. According to the Health & Family Welfare Department, the scheme sanctions up to Rs 16,00,000 for a liver transplant for a child from a BPL family, up to Rs 10,00,000 for a bone marrow transplant, and Rs 5,35,000 for a cochlear implant for a BPL child. These ceilings are several times the Rs 3,00,000 available under Assam Arogya Nidhi, the state's general medical assistance scheme.

Families with an annual income of less than Rs 2,50,000 are eligible, with priority given to BPL families. Treatment is arranged at medical college hospitals within Assam, or by referral to designated hospitals outside the state where the procedure is not available locally.

What does Sneha Sparsha pay for?

The scheme's published list of conditions covered is wider than the ceiling table suggests, and includes:

• Bone marrow transplant for leukaemia and thalassemia
• Cochlear implant for profound hearing loss
• Liver transplant and kidney transplant
• Artificial limbs, including motorised limbs
• Blood cancer requiring chemotherapy
• Specialised eye surgery
• Solid tumours
• Neurological anomalies such as hydrocephalus and spina bifida
• Thalassemia in non-transplant cases

The distinction between BPL and APL rates matters a great deal at the top of the table: for a liver transplant it is a difference of Rs 6,00,000. Families holding a BPL card should make sure it is on the file from the outset rather than producing it later.

Does Sneha Sparsha cover congenital heart surgery?

Children of permanent residents of Assam who suffer from congenital heart disease and have been recommended for heart surgery have the full cost of that surgery borne by the Government of Assam. According to the Health & Family Welfare Department, the support extends beyond the operation itself and includes:

• Airfare for the child and one accompanying adult, both ways, to the designated referral hospital.
• Accommodation for the guardian caring for the child, in the hospital or in its vicinity, for the duration of hospitalisation.
• Surgery at designated referral hospitals, with Narayana Hrudayalaya facilities at Guwahati, Kolkata and Bengaluru named among them.

The travel and accommodation cover is unusual and is worth knowing about, because the incidental cost of sending a family from a district in Assam to Bengaluru for weeks is often what actually prevents a child's surgery.

Who is eligible for Sneha Sparsha?

A family can apply if:

• The child is below 12 years of age.
• The child is born to permanent residents of Assam.
• The family's annual income is less than Rs 2,50,000, certified by a competent authority.
• The child's condition falls within the specialised categories the scheme lists.
• The diagnosis and treatment plan come from a government medical college hospital in Assam.

A family cannot apply, or is not eligible, if:

• The child is 12 years or older. In that case the family should apply under Assam Arogya Nidhi, which has no age limit and provides up to Rs 3,00,000.
• The annual family income is Rs 2,50,000 or more.
• The parents are not permanent residents of Assam.
• The condition is outside the listed categories: routine paediatric illness and ordinary hospitalisation are not what Sneha Sparsha funds.
• The family goes directly to a private hospital outside the referral route without a government medical college referral.

The income certificate must be issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Sub-Divisional Officer, Circle Officer, Block Development Officer or another authority notified by the government. A letter from a gaon panchayat or a local representative is not a substitute.

What documents are required for Sneha Sparsha?

How to apply for Sneha Sparsha

1. Take the child to a government medical college hospital in Assam for diagnosis. Sneha Sparsha cases begin with a medical opinion from the public system, not with a form.
2. Obtain the written diagnosis and treatment plan from the treating department, stating the procedure recommended, transplant, cochlear implant, chemotherapy, corrective surgery or the fitting of an artificial limb.
3. Get an income certificate showing annual family income below Rs 2,50,000 from the Deputy Commissioner, Sub-Divisional Officer, Circle Officer, Block Development Officer or another notified authority. Attach the BPL or ration card if the family holds one, since BPL rates are higher.
4. Collect the child's age proof and the parents' residence proof, and put them together with the medical papers into a single file.
5. Submit the file through the treating hospital to the National Health Mission, Assam, so that the case is placed for sanction and, where necessary, for referral to a designated hospital outside the state.
6. Follow the referral instructions if the child is being sent out of Assam. For congenital heart surgery this includes travel arrangements for the child and one accompanying adult and accommodation for the guardian.
7. Keep every hospital document issued during treatment, since these support the final settlement of the sanctioned amount.

How to check the status of a Sneha Sparsha case

1. Follow up first with the treating department at the government medical college hospital, which forwarded the case, rather than starting at the district level.
2. Ask whether the file has been forwarded to the National Health Mission, Assam and whether a sanction reference has been issued.
3. Confirm whether the case has been placed for referral to a designated hospital where the procedure is not performed in Assam.
4. Where any part of the assistance is to be paid to the family, verify that the bank account details on the file are correct and the account is active.

Why Sneha Sparsha cases get held up

• Child's age not properly proved. A birth certificate or immunisation card is needed; a school record alone often will not settle whether the child is under 12.
• Income certificate from the wrong authority, which is the single most common defect in Assam health scheme files.
• BPL card not produced, so a BPL family is processed at the lower APL rate: Rs 10,00,000 instead of Rs 16,00,000 for a liver transplant, for example.
• No government medical college referral, where the family went straight to a private hospital.
• Incomplete diagnosis papers, so the medical merits cannot be assessed.
• Residence proof missing for the parents, since the scheme runs on the child being born to permanent residents of Assam.

Sneha Sparsha compared with Assam's other health schemes

Assam's Health & Family Welfare Department runs several assistance routes and families often apply to the wrong one first:

• Sneha Sparsha, children below 12, family income under Rs 2,50,000, specialised procedures, ceilings up to Rs 16,00,000.
• Assam Arogya Nidhi: all ages, family income under Rs 5,00,000, up to Rs 3,00,000 for life-threatening illness, submitted to the Mission Director, NHM Assam, Christian Basti, Guwahati 781005.
• Free operations for children with congenital heart disease — full cost of surgery plus airfare and guardian accommodation.
• PMJAY and the state health assurance scheme, the first line of cover, which Assam Arogya Nidhi is meant to top up once exhausted.

A household with a seriously ill child under 12 should test Sneha Sparsha first, because its ceilings dwarf everything else on this list.

Key dates and timelines

Sneha Sparsha is open all year and the Health & Family Welfare Department has not announced a fixed last date for applications. Because most covered conditions are time-critical, paediatric cancers, transplants and congenital heart defects where the surgical window matters. A family should begin the process at the government medical college hospital as soon as the diagnosis is made, and should start the income certificate application in parallel rather than waiting for the medical papers to be complete.

Grievance redressal and contact

• Health & Family Welfare Department, Assam, hfw.assam.gov.in, which hosts the Sneha Sparsha scheme page
• National Health Mission, Assam; nhm.assam.gov.in, which administers the scheme; the NHM office is at Saikia Commercial Complex, Christian Basti, Guwahati 781005
• Treating government medical college hospital. The first point of contact for a case that has stalled

Sneha Sparsha costs nothing to apply for. No hospital agent, tout or middleman is authorised to charge a family for filing the case or for securing a referral, and any such demand should be reported in writing to the National Health Mission, Assam.