Eight differently abled persons have become proud owners of houses at Sakkimangalam in the district when they received their keys from Collector U. Sagayam, who handed them in the presence of members of Rotary Club of Madurai Central on Thursday.
The State government had given away free ‘pattas' to 53 beneficiaries in 2009 after which the Rotarians constructed the houses by raising funds through their members. For this purpose, the “Rotary Club of Madurai Central Foundation” was formed and registered under the Societies Registration Act. In the first phase, it constructed eight houses and now six units were built — all at a cost of Rs. 25 lakh. Mr. Sagayam appreciated the services of Rotarians. He said more people should join such philanthropic projects. By uplifting persons with disabilities, the society would also benefit, he said. The government or officials alone could not implement all schemes, he said and assured to extend all assistance to service organisations.
The district administration was one of the very first in the State to offer free coaching classes to differently abled persons and prepare them for competitive examinations. “Many youths, armed with petitions, wanted jobs, which I can't give.” When some of the petitioners at the weekly grievance meetings agreed to undergo training, provided they were given free coaching, it came as a wakeup call to the district administration. “We swung into action and identified faculty members who volunteered to disseminate knowledge to the students without any remuneration,” he said.
The district administration was also keen to ensure that all public premises were user-friendly to differently abled persons. “We are in the process of taking stock of buildings which required altering so that they will facilitate differently abled persons to use them with ease,” he said.
Major donors — Essa Yusuf Tayub, T. Valliappan and Shanthi, Kalyana Sundaram, D. Udaya Kumar, I. Paulraj, among others — were felicitated by the Collector. Rotarians Y. Kumanan, Ramesh Daga, Musthafa, Setumadava, V.S.M.R.J. Sattish, Ramanathan, Shanmugasundaram, Prof. Raja Govindasamy and a large number of people from in and around Sakkimangalam participated. Earlier, Club president Peer Mohamed welcomed the gathering.
