By PRABEER SIKDAR
DEHRADUN, 19 Apr 2009:
If all things go according to plan, there will be no more begging for Nepal’s Paro, 50, a formerly leprosy affected person and inmate of the Tyagi Road based Shiv Kusht Ashram. The same is the case for 70-year-old Khadak Singh and other 14 inmates as they have got a new mentor – Sarat Kumar Dutta.
Dutta (now 60 plus), a former leprosy affected person, had fled home at the age of 16 years after facing discrimination in his native Haripur, Birbhum District (West Bengal), to land up in Delhi. He now is the President of the National Forum’s North Zone, an organisation that works for the leprosy affected in India, which has collaboration with Japan’s Nippon Foundation.
“Under the Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (SILF), a sister organisation of Nippon Foundation, five leprosy shelters have been identified in Uttarakhand. They would get about Rs 3 lakhs, each, (based on its inmates’ strength) to start their own enterprises,” Dutta told Garhwal Post.
Of the 22 Leprosy Shelter homes in Uttarakhand, the five lucky ones are: Chandrashekhar Kusht Ashram (Haridwar), Swami Vivekananda Kusht Ashram (Haridwar) and three Doon based shelter homes - Rotary Kusht Ashram, Shiv Kusht Ashram and Shanti Kusht Ashram.“The inmates would be trained in incense stick making, candle-making and paper cutting,” he added, pointing out that the sanctioned money also included the cost of training, machinery and procurement of raw materials.
According to Dutta, for Uttarakhand state, the responsibility of training and marketing of the produce has been delegated to an NGO called DISHA. “The money has been sanctioned under the Livelihood Group Project initiated by SILF, this year,” he said, stating that some more Shelter Homes would be identified, later, ‘depending upon the success of the present ones’.
Dutta also disclosed that in the 10 North Indian states, there were about 250 Leprosy Shelters.
Present income source
At Shiv Kusht Ashram, where there are presently 16 inmates (10 women and 6 men), the main source of livelihood is begging. “We go for begging only three days a week. The rest of the time we remain free,” said Paro, who feels that after getting trained in candle making, she too, would have chance to live a dignified life.
Interestingly, most of the leprosy affected (all cured now), cook their own meals independently, but go for group begging (all pool their daily earnings) six times in a month. “Whatever money is collected in these six days, goes towards payment of our common needs like electricity bills, travel charges and other common expenses,” said Ghanshayam Vishwakarma, 65, President of the Shiv Kusht Ashram.
According to Vishwakarma, though many Samaritans visited their colony, nothing had materialised at the ground level. “Like politicians, they just make empty promises,” he alleged.Elaborating about the programme, Dutta said the National Forum had recently conducted a workshop under the leadership of National Forum National President Dr PK Gopal (also leprosy affected). “Held in Lucknow, it was on Integration and Empowerment of People Affected by Leprosy,” he said.
“This empowerment programme, if it is successful, would help the leprosy affected to stand on their own feet,” opined Dutta, whose tri-monthly magazine titled ‘For the Affected, by the Affected’ was recently launched by President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan.However, the inmates of Shiv Kusht Ashram, need to solve another problem before they can get possession of the sanctioned money, as under the SILF rules, a joint account is needed to be opened. “We don’t have an account yet,” said Vishwakarma.
State compensation
“From May, 2009, the Sheila Dikshit government has assured an increase in the compensation from Rs 1000 to Rs 1800 to all leprosy affected people (including cured ones),” disclosed Dutta. As against this, the Uttarakhand government reportedly doles out Rs 400 per month to each leprosy affected person.
“The National Forum has held talks with the Uttarakhand State Health Department to raise the compensation up to Rs 1000,” he said.According to one of the inmates of Shiv Kusht Ashram, even the meager Rs 400 per month given to them by the government often comes as late as six months. “We get all the compensation amounts at one go,” said another inmate.
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