February 23, 2017
The Fourth Advisory Committee Meeting for the Home for People with Mental Illness, Ramnad district, was held at Thassam Beevi Arts and Science College, Keelakarai,on February 23, 2017. Themeeting was organized by M. S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation (MSCT&RF), and supported by Thassam Beevi Arts and Science College.
The meeting sought to strengthenthe Quality of Life of homeless or wandering persons with mental disability by through local resources mobilisedby the Advisory Committee members.
The committee members included a psychiatrist, pediatrician, general physicians,college principal,professors, NGO consultants,businessmen, religious heads and philanthropists. Eighteen membersparticipated.
MSCTRF, thewell-known Madurai based mental health service provider, runs homes forhomeless persons with mental illness in Ramnad, Madurai and Dindugul,supported by the Government of Tamil Nadu, from 2010. The meeting explored strategies to improve the quality of services through local community participation and resource mobilization.
Dr.C.Ramasubramanian,Founder, MSCT&RF; accompanied by the MSCT&RF team consisting of K.S. P. J.Babu, Director Programmes; Dr. Nandini Murali, Consultant; M.Ramu, Team Leader;Priya, Social Worker; Madasamy, Manager; Bhuvana, Social Worker; andUsha, Computer Assistant; also participated.
K.S. P.J. Babu, Director Programmes, presented an overview of the activities of the trust.
Dr. C. Ramasubramanian (Dr. CRS)inaugurated the students’ counseling centre established by the Department of Psychology, Thassam Beevi Arts and Science College,and offered felicitations.
Dr. Periyar Lenin, Consultant Psychiatrist, DMHP (District Mental Health Programme), presented an overview of the Dava-Duva Programme and placed on record that currentlythe programme has reached out to 4158 people. He, however, stressed that the status of the homes for people with mental illness in Ramnad is currently confrontedwith several problems.
Dr. Alaudeen, Principal, Sathakpolytechnic, Keelakarai, promised to invite Dr. Chinnadurai Abdulla, District Governor,Rotary Club,to arrange for sponsors for the meal scheme and also took the initiative to offer skill training support.
Dr. Subramanian, MG Hospital, Ramnad,spoke about the need to create a corpusfund to meet recurring expenses; while Dr. CRSwanted to create awareness programme for psychologystudents,Rotary members and the Erwadi Dargah committee members
Amjad Hussain, Erwadi Dargah Committee member, came up with the idea of a Toll free number to mobilizeresources and Syed Farukan Ali andSyed Rukkunudin, ErwadiDargah committee members,promised to extend their help in every possible way.
S. Dhanya, Head, Dept. of Psychology, Thassam Beevi Arts and Science College, wanted to explore the possibility of using the income generated through counseling services to support the needs of persons with mental illness in the home.
Dr. Sumaya Dawood, Principal, ThassamBeevi Arts and Science College,promised to provide human resource support throughthe students from the college.
Dr.Mohamamed Kyadeen, Chairman, Pioneer Hospital, Ramnad, appreciated the services of Dr. CRS and promised all cooperation to expand the services at the scale and scope offered by NIMHANS.
Sanku Asari and former advisory committee members expressed their concerns after shifting residents from Paramakudi to Erwadi, and promised to extend unstinted and sustained support to improve the quality of life of persons with mental illness.
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