Date:12/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/12/stories/2008101252100400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Banyan opens day care centre

Staff Reporter

Chennai: The Banyan, a non-governmental organisation working with mentally ill and destitute women, as an extension of its outpatient services opened a day care centre at the State Resource cum Training Centre, K.K. Nagar, on Friday.

Through the centre, the NGO is confident of providing free medication to more people.

“A regular hospital cannot provide treatment and care on a day-to-day basis, that’s where the day care centre comes of help. It will mainly focus on the rehabilitation, thus making the people employable in the long run,” said K.Raman, Psychiatrist, The Banyan.

Opening the centre, Meenakshi RajaGopal, State Commissioner for the Disabled, called upon NGOs and like-minded groups to represent to the Commissionerate for the Disabled the need for extending benefits, offered to persons with mental retardation to those with mental illness too.

According to Dr.Raman, many persons with mental illness have been making this plea to the authorities for sometime now.

“Our plea to the government is that irrespective of the level of disability, both persons with mental illness and retardation be offered similar benefits and grants.”