CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated ‘Vizhuthugal’, a one-stop centre to provide health-related rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities (PwD) at Kannagi Nagar in Sholinganallur on Monday. The building, which previously housed a de-addiction centre, was refurbished at a cost of Rs 3.08 crore by the Department of Welfare of Differently-Abled Persons under the TN RIGHTS Project.
The facility will cater to the residents of Chennai corporation’s Perungudi and Sholinganallur zones. It will offer six specialised rehabilitation services under one roof, including special education, vision assessment, hearing and speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychological counselling. A DIPR release noted that the government plans to open 273 such one-stop centres across the state.
“There are seven to eight Community-based Rehabilitation Workers (CRWs) at the centre, who will visit each ward and collect details of PwD through an initial assessment. Further, a consultation will be held either at the centre or at their homes using the mobile unit facility. So far, 78 PwD have been identified in Kannagi Nagar and Ezhil Nagar,” said Dr R Sujatha, Chief Operating Officer, TN RIGHTS.
On the other hand, the decision to convert the de-addiction centre, which previously functioned in the building, into a one-stop centre for PwD has not gone down well with the residents. They highlighted the need for a de-addiction centre to also function in the area.
Ravi Kumar (name changed), who was employed at the de-addiction centre, said that an institution of this nature is essential in Kannagi Nagar, where alcoholism and substance abuse are widely prevalent. “In the last year, the centre received around 40 patients and around 25 of them recovered. Though the rest have relapsed, a recovery rate of over 50% is significant,” he said.
A revenue department official said they had not shut down the de-addiction centre, but are in the process of integrating it to the one-stop centre. “The outpatient services will be provided at the disability centre and the inpatient services will be offered at the nearby UPHC, the facilities for which will be upgraded and inaugurated next month,” he said.
However, an official associated with the TN RIGHTS project contradicted this and said that de-addiction services will not be provided in the newly-opened centre and it would function exclusively for PwD.
Meanwhile, Kannagi Nagar Ward Councillor K Ashwini Karuna said the shutters were downed on the de-addiction centre since the staff were finding it difficult to handle the patients. She added the new integrated centre would be more beneficial to the people.
(With inputs from Jaikanth S and Jokeshwaran S)