MADURAI: The seven-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and moderate intellectual disability, who was sheltered at the reception unit of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for four months, was shifted to a shelter home in Madurai on Monday. The district administration took the initiative after TNIE carried a news report in its edition dated February 24.
The boy, who was reportedly abandoned by his family, was rescued from the roadside at Urapanoor village in Thirumangalam on October 21 last year. He was later handed over to CWC by Thirumangalam police and was sheltered at the Reception Unit (RU) of CWC at Muthupatti since then, owing to lack of adequate infrastructure in the district to care for such children.
At the unit, the boy was given the training to do his daily chores and also underwent speech therapy, said sources.
Following the intervention of State Commissioner for Welfare of the Differently-Abled Johny Tom Varghese and Collector TG Vinay, arrangements were made to shift the boy from the unit.
Accordingly, the boy was shifted to a home in the city on Monday morning by the CWC.
Commenting on the issue, Collector TG Vinay said that the district administration has taken note of repeated incidents of children suffering from cerebral palsy and with intellectual disabilities being abandoned, and the challenges faced in locating a home to provide shelter and care to such children.
"Steps have been initiated by the Department of Differently-Abled Welfare Development to establish a home (on a rented building) with the help of an NGO in Madurai. In a couple of months, the plan would take a concrete shape after zeroing in on the location," he said.
Meanwhile, the six-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities who were sheltered at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) for two months due to lack of facilities for specialised care in the district was sent to a home in Chennai on February 25, two days after TNIE published a report on the plight of the girl.