Members of Niswarth make incense sticks. Picture by Subhash Chandra Bose

Jaigaon, April 1: The manager of Bagracote Tea Estate yesterday donated Rs 4.4 lakh to the organisation founded by his deceased wife to carry on the mission of providing help to physically challenged people.

“My marriage with Neelam was in 1979. She had always taken a keen interest in helping the physically challenged children of garden workers and provided them with wheel-chairs. She even supported them financially to pursue education,” said Harsh Kumar.

Neelam suffered a heart attack in 2005 and was admitted to a private nursing home in Calcutta. “Lying on the hospital bed, our mother formed an organisation, Niswarth, where 49 disabled persons could work to earn their livelihood,” said Karan, with sister Tanvi standing next to him, after yesterday’s brief ceremony.

With help from Kumar, Neelam oversaw Niswarth’s works from the hospital bed and the organisation was registered in March 2007. Although Neelam had returned to the garden in January 2006, she had to be admitted to the hospital in Calcutta several times with further complications. She breathed her last on February 29 this year.

“We are all happy that Niswarth can now stand on its own. Both Tanvi and I send in donations to the organisation’s account with the Central Bank of India’s Oodlabari branch,” said Karan. While Karan is an employee of a financial company in the United Kingdom, Tanvi is in the US working for the same.

Niswarth has 24 physically challenged members and they make incense sticks which are sold to the neighbouring tea gardens under a brand name. Two persons, Mihir Roy and Kinkar Pandit, both garden workers, manage the organisation.

“We sell packets with prices starting from Re 1 to Rs 5 and every month, we do a business of Rs 20,000. The monthly income of each member is more than Rs 200,” said Pandit.

Prior to the donation of Rs 4.4 lakh, the organisation had only Rs 10,000 in the bank, said Pandit. “With the money, we will construct our own building and start producing masala (spices) also.”