Periodical social auditing of welfare schemes favoured

Commissioner for Disabilities V S Basavaraju said he will recommend the state government periodical social auditing of welfare schemes to ensure the effective rehabilitation of endosulfan victims in Dakshina Kannada district.

Basavaraju favoured the social auditing as he found the district administration’s concept of rehabilitation ‘poor’. “During my visits to endosulfan day care centres and homes of endosulfan victims, I found their lives are still miserable. The rehabilitation process is still focussed on health,” he rued.

“The departments have failed to look at the issue in totality. The parents were not taken into confidence and a lot more needs to be done,” he stressed.

Basavaraju said the caretakers and endosulfan victims should be encouraged to shun negative thoughts and aspire to lead a life like normal people.

“My three-page report on the rehabilitation of endosulfan victims to the government will emphasise on a holistic approach, fixing goals and tracking for effective implementation of the schemes. Wonders can happen if there are convergence and coordination among the Health, Education, Women and Child Welfare Departments,” he added.

When his attention was drawn to bed-ridden endosulfan victims being denied of water beds, he said a detailed plan would-be implemented block-wise, covering about 20 bedridden endosulfan victims. The workable model includes training parents in providing physiotherapy to their bed-ridden children, he said.

The commissioner said a proposal on increasing the honorarium for Village Rehabilitation Workers (VRW) and Multi-purpose Rehabilitation Workers (MRW) was submitted to the government. He also felt that studies from Mangalore University would have helped in implementing policies specific to the region.