Mentally ill inmates find shelter under SRM Block

Chennai, Aug 27 (UNI) The 50-odd inmates of a deranged home at Suburban Guduvancherry could now find solace under a concrete structure, thanks to the gesture from the SRM University, a leading private educational institution here.

The new ''SRM Block,'' constructed at a cost of Rs 12 lakh to house the inmates, was inaugurated last evening by Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Minister Geetha Jeevan in the presence of SRM University Chancellor T R Pachamuthu and Kalaimamani award winner and VGP Group of Companies Chairman V G Santhosham, who unveiled a plaque.

Mr Pachamuthu said nothing gives more satisfaction than serving the deranged.

It was a spontaneous gesture from the SRM Group after the Home, run by the Tamil Nadu government registered India Forum for the Mentally Handicapped (INFORMH), approached Mr Pachamuthu.

Ms Jeevan listed out the various welfare schemes launched by the ruling DMK headed by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for the physically and mentally challenged people and said 20,000 such people have so far been benefitted under the Rs 500 monthly assistance programme.

She also assured all support from the government for the mentally challenged community and the institutions run by NGOs for their welfare and lauded the SRM group for its noble gesture.

Mr C Johnson Paulraj, the founder of the INFORMH Public Charitable Trust, which runs the mentally retarded home, said the home had been carrying out mentally retraded development programmes for the mentally handicapped children in the State.

With assistance from philanthropists, the home had been providing three meals a day for its inmates, apart from giving clothes, shelter, speech therapy and value-based vocational training to them, he informed.

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