Poonam Natarajan at the programme in Siliguri on Monday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, June 9: A decade ago, mentally challenged children had very little opportunity to augment the quality of their lives, with scope limited to admission to special schools and vocational training centres.

But with the enactment of National Trust Act in 1999, these children, who comprise about two per cent of the country’s population, can now avail of various schemes that not only provide better education but insured and safe futures also. The only problem is that parents must be made aware of them.

In a bid to guide parents on how to avail of the schemes, an orientation programme was organised today at Prerna School for the Disabled by the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities in collaboration with the North Bengal Council for the Disabled.

About 120 parents and representatives of organisations helping such children in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, South Dinajpur and Malda attended the programme. On an average, there are about 300 children with such handicaps in each of these districts.

Poonam Natarajan, chairperson of the Trust and the founder of the Chennai-based Vidyasagar School for Special Children said the programme was organised to let parents know of the new schemes the Trust had for such children.

Natarajan said the Trust has schemes that deal with problems of challenged persons who do not have family support and promote measures for their care and protection in the event of death of their guardians.

The Trust is a statutory body under the ministry of social justice and empowerment, set up under the National Trust Act.