Four-year-old Kaushik brushes his teeth, wears clothes, eats food, takes bath, goes to toilet, keeps his toys intact after playing, crosses the road all by himself and does several other day-to-day activities which even grown ups at times fail to do in a proper way.

Kaushik is only one among the 16,234 children (out of 21,437) below the age of 6 years in Puttur taluk of Dakshina Kannada district who have been included in Portage — an international package successfully integrated into Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) projects prepared to train anganwadi workers of ICDS (integrated education development scheme) and primary school teachers.

Of course, Puttur is not the only taluk where Portage has been implemented. The package has been implemented all over Karnataka and in other states and nations across the world. But the success rate in Puttur is far ahead of all other places in South Asia.

The package is called Udisha Portage in Karnataka (Udisha means ‘rising sun’ in Sanskrit). However, in other places, it is called as Portage itself.

What strikes most in Puttur is the fact that out of the 16,234 children, 226 of the disabled (13 visually challenged; 32 hearing impaired; 70 with learning disabilities; 48 with moving disabilities and 63 children suffering from other disabilities) have shown phenomenal improvement in overcoming their disabilities, thanks to the pains taken by anganwadi teachers, officials and children’s parents in implementing Portage.

Take for example five-year-old Mymuna who is suffering from multiple disabilities. “We identified her disability three years ago. It was a rude shock to us as she could not move even an inch on her own. Even the doctors said they were helpless. However, the continuous efforts of anganwadi teacher have yielded results and now my daughter goes around the house dragging herself,” informs Thousina, Mymuna’s mother.

Similar is the case with four-and-a-half-year-old Jaison Prem who can neither speak nor walk. “Though his disability was identified as early as when he was three months old, we were helpless as the doctors too had no hope. However, my son showed remarkable improvement after he was admitted to anganwadi two years ago. Now he can hold and stand,” says Celine proudly.

“Mymuna and Jaison are just two of the 226 children who have shown remarkable improvement. There are many more,” says Ms Saraswathi, the Assistant Child Development and Project Officer (ACDPO) for Puttur taluk and Master Trainer for Portage.

The Portage package, meant for children below the age of six, has been classified into six categories that include ‘Curriculum-based criterion referenced checklist’ besides ‘Teacher cards’ (anganwadi), ‘Child cards’ and criterion referenced progress report that can be used in rural and urban impoverished areas by illiterate parents. “The idea is to make the child independent by three years and completely independent by 5,” she adds.

Ms Indumathi Rao, former member of National Commission for Persons with Disabilities in India and presently the Regional Advisor for CBR Network (South Asia), said that early identification and intervention with children with disabilities is intrinsically important not only for the optimal use of the residual potential but also to assist families in playing a meaningful role in the course of fundamental development.

“Most of the families in rural/tribal areas and urban impoverished slums in South Asia have no access to early intervention services,” she said.

Ms Rao also opines that Puttur can be a role model in the nine countries in South Asia where the programme is being implemented.

“The implementation of Portage in Puttur is not only on par with international standards, but also has a holistic approach which is difficult to find in other places. The integrity of the workers and officials in the region is of a very high standard.”

If the package (Portage) can be a huge success and a ray of hope for the children in Puttur taluk because of the commitment of the people involved, it can also be a ray of hope for millions of children in the country, provided the people concerned take interest. Where there is a will, there is a way and Puttur has shown the way.