MANGALURU: In the quiet villages of coastal Karnataka, where migration has hollowed out many homes, a gram panchayat has stepped into an unexpected role — caring for the elderly, bedridden and terminally ill left behind by absent families.
Vandse Gram Panchayat in Udupi district’s Kundapur taluk has set up Karnataka’s first community palliative care initiative led by a rural local body.
Started in September 2025, the project now serves more than 300 people across seven gram panchayats, offering free home-based medical and emotional care to some of the region’s most vulnerable residents.
The initiative recently earned Vandse GP the second prize in the ‘Healthy Panchayat’ category under the National Panchayat Awards 2025 announced by the Centre.
In this belt of coastal Karnataka, migration to Gulf countries, Mumbai and Bengaluru is a way of life. Elderly parents are often left alone in ancestral homes, with neighbours becoming their first responders during medical emergencies. Many spend their final years in isolation.
“When children are away, even simple things like changing dressings, physiotherapy or counselling become difficult,” said Uday Kumar Shetty, president of the Niramaya Society, which runs the programme. “The idea was to ensure people can live with dignity despite illness or old age,” he said.
The project took shape after Karnataka’s 2024-25 budget announced plans for rural palliative care centres. Vandse GP joined hands with six neighbouring panchayats — Chittoor, Idur Kunjnadi, Aloor, Haklady, Hemmady and Kerady — all of which had already collaborated for over a decade on solid waste management. Together, they formed the Niramaya Society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act.
Before launching the initiative, panchayat representatives travelled to Kerala, widely regarded as India’s pioneer in community palliative care. With guidance from Thiruvananthapuram-based Pallium India and successful Kerala panchayats, the team built a decentralised care network tailored for rural Karnataka.
Today, the programme supports 305 beneficiaries, including 217 senior citizens. Of them, 71 are bedridden. The care team — comprising nurses, physiotherapists, counsellors and trained doctors — travels door to door across seven panchayat limits in rented vehicles and a donated ambulance. Services range from pain management and physiotherapy to counselling and end-of-life support. Even a dead-body freezer is provided free of cost. The annual project budget stands at Rs 53.7 lakh. While the RDPR Department has contributed Rs 7 lakh, the rest comes from panchayat health cess funds, CSR support, temples and local donors.
In the next phase, the society plans to build a dedicated palliative care centre on 1.28 acres of panchayat land at an estimated cost of Rs 4.5 crore.