Twenty-nine-year-old Rohan (name changed) from Nawapara in Chattisgarh reached the Central Railway Station in Thiruvananthapuram just before the first COVID-19-induced lockdown was clamped down. He had boarded a train to Kerala after hearing from a friend about the work opportunities available here. But, without knowing the language and unable to make himself understood, he soon ended up in the custody of the police, who suspected him to be having mental health issues too. Soon, he ended up in the Government Mental Health Centre at Oolampara, from where in October he was taken to the Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat’s Prathyasha care home in Venjaramoodu for rehabilitating those who have partially or fully recovered from mental illnesses.
The care home, set up in 2010, has been providing shelter for 22 people, who are at various stages of recovering from mental health issues, including a handful who have recovered fully. Over the past few months, the district panchayat and the care home authorities have been trying to track down the relatives of six of them, including Rohan, who are from other States. With that endeavour becoming somewhat successful, the care home and project officials will be taking them back to their homes next week.
Longest stay
Of them, the longest stay here has been for 50-year old Salim (name changed) from Nalanda district in Bihar. He had reached Kerala in 2012, and had some mental health issues back then. According to the caretakers here, he has recovered fully and participates in all the activities here. Two others who will be taken back to their homes are from Uttar Pradesh, one from Jharkhand and one from Bihar.
“The aim of the home is to help them become as self-sufficient as they can. In the initial years, it was run with the help of an NGO. A couple of years ago, the district panchayat took direct control of it and introduced activities including farming and cattle rearing. This also attracted the local population to the home, fostering more interaction with the care home inmates. People like actor Suraj Venjaramoodu who stays near here visits often to purchase the farm produce and interact with them, Before the pandemic outbreak, we used to take them once a month to some tourist location or a movie,” says Sabari Sivan, the caretaker.
Psycho-social training
They are also provided with psycho-social training. Even after the inmates leave the home, the social workers attached to the care home does follow-up, and monitor their progress.
“We have identified the relatives of six of them from the other States. In cases where the relatives are reluctant to accept them back, we will help to move them into similar centres in their home States, as a more familiar setting would do them good. The care home has a capacity to accommodate 50 people. Moving more people from the mental hospital to here would reduce the strain on the hospital and also help those who have partially or fully recovered, but have nowhere to go, to come back to normal life. We have a monitoring committee headed by the district judge for the care home. In addition to the district panchayat’s budget allocation, the Social Justice Department too provides financial aid and a lot of support,” says B. Radhakrishnan Nair, Welfare Standing Committee Chairman of the district panchayat.
