All 23 councillors of Baidyabati municipality in Hooghly district have donated their one-month salary for the treatment of one-year-old Aasmika Das, who has been suffering from rare spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and needs to be administered a vaccine worth ₹16 crore.

The municipality has 23 councillors — 19 from the Trinamool Congress, two from the Congress and one each from the CPM and the Forward Bloc.

A team of 17 councillors, including three from the Opposition, visited Aasmika’s house in Daspara, near Ranaghat in Nadia district, on Friday and handed over to the family ₹2.51 lakh, which is the aggregate monthly remuneration of all the 23 councillors, including the chairperson and the vice-chairperson.

The councillors also donated an additional ₹3.5 lakh that they had collected from businessmen in the area.

“During our board meeting last month, we decided that we would donate our one month’s salary for Aasmika’s treatment. As part of the decision, we met the family on Valentine’s Day to send our token of love to the baby suffering from a rare disease,” said Pintu Mahato, the chairman of Baidyabati municipality.

A chairman of a municipality receives ₹20,000 a month as remuneration, while a vice-chairman and a councillor are paid ₹15,000 and ₹10,000, respectively.

“We know our contribution is not large, but our gesture sends a clear message to all councillors and office-bearers of 128 municipalities and seven corporations in the state that if they contribute one month’s earnings, we can save the life of this little one,” Mahato said.

A source said a few municipalities had already expressed their desire to help the baby.

Aasmika, the daughter of a young web designer, is diagnosed with the SMA, which progressively weakens muscles and put her life in jeopardy. SMA is caused by a mutation in the SMN1 gene, responsible for producing a protein crucial for the survival of motor neurons.

Specialised doctors in three cities who examined the girl prescribed an intravenous injection — onasemnogene abeparvovec, sold under the brand name Zolgensma — as the only possible lifeline for her. It costs ₹16 crore.

The little girl has until June this year to receive the vaccine.

Suvongkar Das, Aasmika’s father, said they had accumulated around ₹7.5 crore so far through crowdfunding and donations from different organisations and individuals. However, the parents received no response from the offices of the chief minister or the prime minister when they applied for help.

“We are far from meeting the amount required to buy the medicine. It would be better if the state and central governments could provide a substantial amount to help us meet the target,” said the father, who has lost his job after running from pillar to post to collect funds for his daughter’s treatment.