Sruthitharangam Cochlear Implantation Scheme

What is the Sruthitharangam scheme?

Sruthitharangam is a Kerala state government health scheme that pays for cochlear implantation for children with profound hearing loss. According to the State Health Agency, Sruthitharangam offers cashless assistance for cochlear implantation surgery, post-surgical rehabilitation therapies, annual maintenance of cochlear implant spares and accessories, and speech processor upgrades.

Sruthitharangam. The name is Malayalam for a wave of sound: was launched in 2012 under the Social Justice Department, delivered through the Kerala Social Security Mission. In 2023-24 the implementation responsibility was transferred to the Health and Family Welfare Department through the State Health Agency, the same agency that runs the Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi. Readers who find older pages describing Sruthitharangam as a Social Justice Department scheme are not looking at wrong information, only at the arrangement before that transfer.

The reason the scheme exists is cost. A cochlear implant with surgery, rehabilitation and years of device maintenance runs into several lakh rupees. The State Health Agency states the aim plainly: to protect vulnerable and marginalised families across the state from catastrophic expenditure.

What Sruthitharangam provides

• Cochlear implantation surgery, cashless at an empanelled hospital.
• Auditory verbal habilitation therapy after surgery, without which an implant delivers little benefit to a child.
• Speech processor upgrade, available up to 25 years of age.
• Maintenance of spares and accessories, with financial assistance of Rs 50,000 per beneficiary per financial year up to 25 years of age, provided in coordination with the concerned Local Self-Government Institution.

Who is eligible for Sruthitharangam?

Your child can be considered if:

• The child is a resident of Kerala.
• The child has profound hearing loss, established by audiological evaluation at an empanelled hospital.
• The family is not an income tax payee family.
• The family is not dependent on a central or state government employee.
• The child meets the age criteria below, or receives a technical committee exception.

Age criteria set by the State Health Agency

• Surgery, preferably within 3 years of the beneficiary's age. Special approval from the technical committee may extend eligibility up to 5 years. Cases of post-lingual profound hearing loss up to 12 years of age, and profound hearing loss caused by post-meningitis injury, are also considered subject to the technical committee's recommendation.
• Processor upgrade; eligible up to 25 years of age.
• Maintenance, eligible up to 25 years of age.

Your child cannot apply: or is not eligible: if:

• The family pays income tax.
• The family is a dependent of a central or state government employee.
• The child is not a resident of Kerala.
• The child is outside the age windows and the technical committee has not granted an exception on technical grounds.
• The hearing loss is not profound on audiological assessment, or the audiology team finds the child is not a suitable implant candidate.

The age rule is the one that costs families the most. Cochlear implantation works best when the auditory pathway is stimulated early, which is why the scheme prefers surgery before age 3. A parent who suspects hearing loss in an infant should get an audiological evaluation immediately rather than waiting to see whether speech develops.

What documents are required for Sruthitharangam?

Because the application is filed by the hospital rather than by the family independently, the hospital's Sruthitharangam coordinator will tell you exactly which of these the technical committee expects for your child's category.

How to apply for Sruthitharangam

1. Take the child to an empanelled hospital under Sruthitharangam. The State Health Agency lists the empanelled institutions on its Sruthitharangam page.
2. Get a complete audiological evaluation done at the hospital, including the tests the ENT and audiology unit needs to confirm profound hearing loss and implant candidacy.
3. Submit the Sruthitharangam application at the hospital, free of cost. The State Health Agency states that eligible candidates can submit applications free of cost through these hospitals.
4. Provide the supporting documents — birth certificate, residence proof, income declaration and Aadhaar: to the hospital's scheme coordinator.
5. Wait for the technical committee to review the case. The committee is made up of experts from the relevant field, and it also decides age exceptions.
6. On approval, the hospital carries out the implantation surgery on a cashless basis under the scheme.
7. Attend the auditory verbal habilitation therapy sessions after surgery. NISH Thiruvananthapuram is listed for auditory verbal therapy.
8. For later years, claim the annual maintenance assistance and processor upgrade through the hospital and your Local Self-Government Institution.

Which hospitals are empanelled under Sruthitharangam?

The State Health Agency lists these institutions:

• Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
• Government Medical College, Kottayam
• Government Medical College, Kozhikode
• Ascent Hospital, Perinthalmanna, Malappuram
• Dr Manoj's ENT Hospital, Kozhikode
• Dr Noushad's ENT Hospital, Ernakulam
• Medical Trust Hospital, Ernakulam
• KIMS Health, Thiruvananthapuram
• Baby Memorial Hospital Ltd, Kozhikode
• Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Ernakulam
• National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH), Thiruvananthapuram, for auditory verbal therapy

Empanelment lists change. Confirm on the State Health Agency Sruthitharangam page before travelling to a hospital, particularly for a private hospital in a district far from your own.

How does the approval process work?

Sruthitharangam does not use a self-service online form. The route runs through the hospital, and the decision sits with a technical committee consisting of experts from the relevant field. The committee reviews the audiological evidence, the child's age and the family's eligibility, and approves or declines the assistance. Assistance for approved applications is then provided through the same hospital.

This design has two consequences for families. First, the quality of the audiological workup matters more than the paperwork. An incomplete evaluation is the most common reason a case is deferred. Second, the hospital, not the family, is the point of follow-up. Ask for the name and phone number of the hospital's Sruthitharangam coordinator on your first visit.

Why Sruthitharangam applications are refused or deferred

• Age beyond the window without a technical committee exception. The single most common ground.
• Hearing loss not assessed as profound, or the child assessed as an unsuitable implant candidate.
• Income tax payee family, or a family dependent on a central or state government employee.
• Non-resident of Kerala.
• Incomplete audiological evaluation, so the technical committee defers rather than rejects.
• Missing income or residence documentation at the hospital.

A deferral for an incomplete workup is recoverable: complete the tests and the case returns to the committee. An age-based refusal usually is not, which is why early screening matters so much.

Where do I get help with Sruthitharangam?

• State Health Agency, Kerala: phone 0471-4063121 or 1056.
• Email: statehealthagencykerala@gmail.com
• Sruthitharangam page on sha.kerala.gov.in for the current empanelled hospital list and government orders.
• The empanelled hospital's scheme coordinator for anything to do with your own application.
• Local Self-Government Institution of your panchayat or municipality for the annual maintenance assistance component.

Sruthitharangam applications are free at every stage. No hospital or agent may charge a fee for submitting the application or for getting a case placed before the technical committee.