A recommendation will be made to the government to open a BUDS school that provides education, skill training, and rehabilitation to mentally and intellectually disabled children in Anchuthengu panchayat, Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson P. Satheedevi has said.
She was speaking after making house visits to understand the problems of women in Anchuthengu as part of a coastal camp organised by the commission on Wednesday.
There were no special facilities in the panchayat to take care of the mentally challenged. Such a mechanism was imperative in Anchuthengu. It was not practical to rehabilitate the coastal people elsewhere. Recommendations to address the problems of the coastal people would be submitted to the government, she said.
The commission visited houses of bedridden members of families of fishers, the mentally challenged, and those confined to bed owing to lifestyle diseases. In one such family, all three children were mentally challenged. The commission visit was to understand their problems first hand and whether they were receiving the benefits of welfare projects, including health insurance, implemented by the government, Ms. Satheedevi said.
The commission also visited the anganwadi located in the church compound there and reviewed its functioning.
Commission members V.R. Mahilamani and Elizabeth Mammen Mathai, and Anchuthengu grama panchayat president V. Lyju were also present.
A meeting was also held to review the various interventions made by government departments to address the problems of the coastal people.
