Providing access to children with disabilities in Purulia District, West Bengal

The issue: Baghmundi is a small town in Purulia District in West Bengal. There are seven villages in three different Blocks (Panchayat) and the population of these villages is about 42000 (forty-two thousand). There are twenty-five families where at least one member is disabled but there is not a single special school or rehabilitation centre for them.

About us: Shuktara is a charitable trust that works with people with disabilities who do not have a family to care for them. This work has been going on for over 20 years in Kolkata, West Bengal. At Shuktara in Kolkata we have been very blessed with facilities like the schools our young people attend, the doctors that we have access to and most importantly the support of friends and a group of staff, headed by Pappu, who work 24/7 365 days a year.

As we saw during the lockdown and after the two cyclones there are others who do not have similar access to the same facilities that are available to us in the city. We are now taking our learning and efforts to other parts of the state, so that more children with disabilities may benefit from our experience.

Action: Our very first priority is to provide basic support to the boys and girls who have cerebral palsy for their minimum mobility i.e. Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) and Hearing Aid for deaf children. For their basic education, we are going to organize a Community class at least twice a week in the village.

Pappu (N K Mishra, Chairman of Shuktara - see image below) has visited these villages many times to assess the possibility of support that Shuktara can provide.

In the meantime, the Shuktara team has done the technical measurements. Many people who have cerebral palsy can benefit from personalized shoes (AFO), and we are working on a support chair for Tanzim Khatoon who has very severe Cerebral Palsy. With the support of this chair, she can sit and able to eat by herself, and this will also improve her mobility.

Impact: The most important aspect of our efforts in this region is access to aid for the children with disabilities, which will further aid them in their daily life. This work will impact 25 families spread across 7 villages.

Along with this, the community will be more aware of disability and its different forms. People will get special education that they never had earlier. Team Shuktara has experience working with people with disabilities for more than twenty years. With this experience, we can bring a lot more positive changes and hope in society which is very important.