Awaiting a hand of help?

Siliguri, April 7: The Darjeeling district social welfare department has asked its block-level officials to identify mentally-challenged persons in order to provide them with legal guardians as envisaged by the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999.

“Through this exercise, we will make an updated list of persons with the four disabilities outlined in the act and the nature of the deformities will be mentioned in detail,” said Anindya Choudhury, Darjeeling district social welfare officer. “Once the persons with the specified disabilities are identified, we will work towards giving them legal guardians and other benefits offered in the act.”

Choudhury asked the officials to coordinate with panchayats and municipal bodies for carrying out the task.

With the basic aim “to enable persons with disability to live as independently and as completely as possible within the community to which they belong”, the act stipulates that local-level committees formed in every district should appoint legal guardians for them.

“Once an individual attains the age of 18, parents are no longer the legal guardians and he/she is allowed to take his/her own decisions,” said Captain J. Sengupta, the chairman of North Bengal Council for the Disabled (NBCD). “While people with all other kinds of disability can take care of themselves, those who are mentally-challenged have to depend on others. According to the act, a guardian — an individual or a registered organisation — is appointed by the local-level committees to enable the mentally-disabled persons to exercise the rights of a normal person. The parents, too, will have to apply to the committee, if they want to be the legal guardians, ” he added.

Sengupta said the NBCD was appointed as the state nodal partner of the National Trust, a body formed under the National Trust Act, to coordinate with the government and non-government agencies for the welfare of mentally-disabled persons.

“The NBCD chairman said the act would be a big relief for parents with children who have unsound mind. “Once the legal guardians are appointed, parents need not bother what will happen to the children after their death.”

Although the local-level committee for the district was formed about four years ago, not many legal guardians have been appointed so far. While there are about 200-300 persons with disabilities, only 20 legal guardians are in place.

Choudhury said the National Trust had given them the nod to form another committee to exclusively look after the Siliguri sub-division.