Officials from the district administration, the Welfare Department and Government Wenlock Hospital are in talks on how to deal with 29 destitute persons who have made Wenlock Hospital their home for decades.
One avenue has been to move them to Pachanady Destitutes Home, which can accommodate 150 persons and has 132 now. However, officials there say they can only take those who are able-bodied, be able to walk and have no communicable diseases.
RehabilitationG. Santhosh Kumar, District Welfare Officer, who visited Wenlock Hospital, says he has asked Wenlock Hospital authorities to provide a detailed history of the persons. He says the plan is to rehabilitate them and send them home, if possible. If not, they continue to stay at the home.
The conditions in the home are different from that in Wenlock Hospital. It has halls, no separate beds as in Wenlock and instant medical attention will not be possible. He says, “Doctors make regular visits.”
Konaje AshramaAnother option is accommodating them in the Konaje Abhaya Ashrama. (Its first branch in Kodialbail is full.) Gertrude Veigas, Department of Women and Child Welfare, which runs the two branches of Abhaya Ashrama, says the latter has 83 persons and can take 17 more.
She says she is now occupied with election duty and will return to the issue after polls.
Further actionA.B. Ibrahim, Deputy Commissioner, Dakshina Kannada, says further action depends on a “concrete decision” on which of them are able to walk especially since some of them are able-bodied and a few draw pension, too. “They don’t need medical treatment, no drugs. They need care, timely attention and food,” he says. Ratna K., Senior Staff Nurse, says since December last year, of the 33 destitute persons living in Wenlock Hospital, four have died (in February and March). Of the remaining 29, 26 are males (of whom 12 are in the trauma ward).
‘No takers’H.R. Rajeshwari, District Surgeon and Medical Superintendent, Government Wenlock Hospital, says, “Ultimately, the burden remains the same. Our destitute remain with us.” A. Ravitha, Nursing Superintendent, Wenlock Hospital, says, “The problem is they have no takers.”
