Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Legal guardians for mentally disabled

By Ramya Kannan

Chennai May 1. Commencing its full-fledged activities in Chennai, the Local Level Committee formed under the National Trust Act, has received at least 30 applications for appointment of guardians for persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities.

The National Trust Act, a statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment set up under the National Trust for the welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities (Act 44 of 1999) delegates responsibilities of implementing its provisions of the Act at the district level to local level committees (LLC).

The LLC of every district comprising three members, the district Collector, an NGO and a person with disabilities, is the official agency that will receive applications for nominating legal guardians for mentally disabled persons above the age of 18 and monitor the progress of the guardians thus appointed. The applications are being processed by the committee, members say.

The Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu (SPASTN), which is the NGO component of the LLC in Chennai, has also organised training programmes for the district level and block level caregivers. Since its tasks comprise campaigning for effective positive attitudinal change and advocating the rights of persons with the four disabilities, an awareness campaign was also conducted for the parents and guardians of persons with disabilities earlier this year, as a preliminary step. Following up on this awareness camp, a special screening camp will be conducted on the SPASTN campus, Taramani, to find the status and prevalence of autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.

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