Seva Bharati, a non-government organisation working for special children and visually impaired in the city, will start running the two day care centres for endosulfan victims from April 1. The NGO takes them over from the Sri Kshetra Dharmastala Rural Development Project that ran the centres since their inception in 2011.
After the then Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje took up the cause of endosulfan victims, the then Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa decided to set up two endosulfan care centres in Kokkada in Belthangady taluk and Koila in Puttur taluk. A corpus fund of ₹ 1.25 crore was given by the government to the SKDRDP to run the two centres in 2011.
With no guidelines in place, the SKDRDP operated the two centres and provided physiotherapy support, food and transport facility for 60 children (30 children in each centre). Operations ran into rough weather in March last year when SKDRDP sought more funds even as the district administration questioned some of the expenses incurred by the former. Following discussion, the SKDRDP agreed to run the centres till March this year.
Meanwhile, the District Health Department in consultation with dietician came out with diet chart prescribing food that the children were to be provided. Guidelines were framed on how these centres should be managed. A local committee headed by the gram panchayat president was also set up to oversee the working of the two centres. All these requirements were mentioned in the tender document. Seva Bharati Trust’s tender was approved and it was asked to run the two centres from April 1.
U.V. Shenoy, a doctor and trustee of Seva Bharati, spoke.
