Ten years ago, whenever M. Mekala, now 29, was not found at her home in Keezhakallanthiri, her parents used to rush to the nearest waterbody – a well or a canal.
She was suffering from epilepsy, coupled with behavioural problems.
Even a slight delay on their part would have seen their eldest daughter dead as she had the tendency to jump into a well or the nearby canal.
Now it is history, thanks to the Community Mental Health Project, implemented in Madurai East block by M. S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation, with funding from Andherihilfe Bonn, Germany.
She is also provided work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), a pioneering effort made in Madurai.
Mekala is one among the 1,117 beneficiaries from 220 villages in 39 village panchayats of Madurai East of the unique scheme, which delivered mental healthcare at their doorstep and helped in re-integrating them with society.
This was made possible through constant monitoring and effective family support.
The Madurai East model is now replicated in Madurai West and Natham block of Dindigul district and has won awards at the State and national levels.
“We designed a demand-driven model for the project, taking into consideration the requirements of the community. People in villages feel that causes for mental illness are extraneous and only the body is suffering. We had to create an awareness of mental disability among these people, who are from a different socio-economic background,” explains S. Koodalingam, Project Director.
The project was launched in 2000, with collection of data of mentally challenged people, including those with epilepsy and addiction problems, with the involvement of volunteers from Madurai colleges. Sensitisation programmes and home visits were organised to instil confidence that there is cure for mental illness. Mental health camps were held on the second Thursday of every month for 13 years at Kallanthiri, Othakadai, Varichiyur and Karuppayoorani to identify and treat people with mental disabilities. After 14 years, 75 beneficiaries continue to get free treatment and medicines in Madurai. Among the beneficiaries, 221 are dead now and 312 have migrated to other places.
Today, the results are tangible. Many of those covered by the project are able to lead a decent and dignified life and some have their own micro enterprises.
Kuttiappan of Othakadai, who was tethered to a peg in a cow shed, now works as a gardener and is taken care of by his mother. P. Murugan (48) of Jothiyapatti works as a watchman in a nearby property and is well looked after by families of his three brothers.
The beneficiaries and their families have joined together to form 13 self-help groups with 358 members. One of the groups runs Nambikkai Grocery Shop in Madurai since 2006.
The trust runs a laundry for the rehabilitated people at Kallanthiri. The government has allotted 13 Green Houses to people covered by the project and employment is provided under the MGNREGS to 68 mentally challenged people. The integration of people with mental illness has been made possible with community involvement, says S. Mohanram, Project Coordinator.
However, M. Maneka, community care worker, who has played a catalytic role in the successful implementation of the project, is worried about the future of mentally challenged people in the absence of caregivers, most of whom are their aged mothers. There are also complaints of denial of work under the MGNREGS for the mentally challenged people, citing “non-receipt” of government order granting employment for a normal person along with a mentally challenged person in a family.
The gains of the project are mainstreaming of mentally challenged people and public awareness that mental illness is curable.
