Have you ever tried raising Rs 16 crore for someone whose life depended on it? The hurdles are highest if that someone is an innocent baby, less than a year old, who has a rare genetic disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. It worsens with every passing day, and the child struggles to do things we take for granted - swallowing food and water, and breathing. Sign our petition

The good news is that there is a medicine called Zolgensma for it. But here’s where it gets complicated. 1) Zolgensma is not made in India and has to be imported 2) It costs Rs 16 crore (yes, you read that right) plus taxes 3) It needs to be given before the child turns one. 16 crore rupees in less than one year! That’s impossible for any parent, unless they are billionaires, right? The fact is that the majority are not billionaires. Imagine the agony of parents, who know that their child is fighting a losing battle against SMA and a cure is available, but they cannot afford to get it for their child.

That’s why crowdfunding (the act of taking monetary donations from the general public) has been their only hope so far. There are at least 2000 such children with SMA in India. To save each one takes a separate crowdfunding campaign! In a country of over a billion people, this should be easy but it takes time to reach donors. And parents are already stretched due to the constant attention their child needs.

If money is not raised in time children who have Type-1 SMA are at risk of permanent complications and almost none of them survive to blow out the candles on their 2nd birthday cake.

We are four young people who have been part of one such crowdfunding campaign to help save baby Khyati who is in Bengaluru. After a year-long campaign we have been able to raise only Rs 10 crore, with the help of 60,000 donors. You may pat us on the back for raising this amount of money but we still have a long way to go before we can save her. Finding the next 40,000 donors feels like a very uphill task. There’s so much pressure and exhaustion. Even if we succeed it doesn’t end there. It actually gets more difficult to raise funds for the next child. The problem is finding new donors. If we can fix this problem, we will have a better chance of saving more babies.

Our petition is asking 3 great unicorns in India - Swiggy, Zomato and PayTm, whose excellent services are used by millions of consumers every day - to play the role of a lifesaver for kids suffering from SMA. All that we want them to do is introduce an option for their users to donate a small amount of Rs. 10 to 50 while placing their orders on these apps. If they agree, together we will be able to save many babies in time.

Sign our petition asking  Mr. Deepinder Goyal, Founder - Zomato, Mr Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm, and Mr Sriharsha Majety Founder - Swiggy to act on our request and help kids with SMA. Adding this feature to their payments page will be a small task for their team, but the impact it will make will be HUGE.

All 3 brands are path-breakers in their respective fields of business and have received lots of love and support from us, the Indian people. So I am sure that if this solution is presented to their visionary founders then they will gladly agree to repay their debt to society and agree to our request.

Sign to show your support. Your support can help us persuade these 3 leaders to act to #SaveKidsWithSMA