Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Their products await market

Photo: K. Ananthan.

Enjoying the work:Persons with mental retardation making envelopes at SAARATHY-PAMMAC's employment training centre at Kanuvai in the city. —

COIMBATORE: In a non-descript building, near the Kanuvai bus stand, a group of men and women are busy working.

In small batches of two or three they are engaged in producing paper and arecanut leaf plates and envelopes. Supervising, or rather guiding them are their parents.

The work has given the persons with intellectual disability a sense of self esteem, says Samarasa Pandian, vice president, Saarathy Pammac. It is an organisation of parents of children with the disability. “They have become more open, are able to bond well with others and enjoy the work they are engaged in.”

There are eight of them, aged between 18 and 40, who work regularly. Their parents also join them.

In all there are around 15 persons.

They produce paper plates with 12, and six inch diameter, arecanut plates with 12, 10, eight and six inch diameter and envelopes of different sizes. They have the capacity to produce 10,000 paper plates a week, 6,000 envelopes a day and 500 arecanut plates a day, he says.

Saarathy Pammac started the production unit with assistance from a few donors for machines in March this year. Since then they have been having a decent run. The going thus far has been good but not as much as we expected, says Usha Visveswaran, president of the organisation. “It's hard to find buyers,” she says.

At present they have an arrangement with a few wholesale dealers in the city. For every 100 paper plates they sell, they get around Rs. 3 and make similar profits with the other items as well. But then there are too many ifs and buts to the profit like the availability of areca nut leaf, adds Mr. Pandian.

For the challenged people, the organisation pays Rs. 300 a month as stipend and for their caretaker or parent Rs. 500. To the parents, the facility is a good opportunity to keep their challenged wards engaged. B. Kala, mother of B. Vishnu Vardhan, says her 17-year-old son had very little to do after he left school and before he joined the production unit.

“He was idle, watching TV and doing nothing. It had an impact on his morale. Now he is better off,” she says.

Mr. Pandian can be reached at 94437-25925.

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