Category: Blog

Neha ran an entrepreneurial venture in her small town in Northern Uttar Pradesh, about 200kms away from Naini. After completing a Beauty Technician Course, Neha took a leap of faith and opened a small beauty parlour in 2012. She took a seed loan from a bank and invested a lot of energy into making her venture a success. The business of beauty suited her well. Suddenly she realised, an often ignored white patch had developed into Leprosy and the tell-tale signs were difficult to hide or ignore anymore. Soon her hands started to claw, making it difficult to even hold a pen. She was unable to continue work and was referred by the local Government hospital for surgery.

About 15 kms from Cuddalore lays the Pennadam village where the migratory community of Narikuravar have settled. This community is famous for a uniquecraft of bead making. During marriage ceremonies the special black (small) bead are worn to mark the event. Discussions with the community revealed that forming all the bead workers into a producers’ cooperative/associations/company would benefit the entire community as well as provide adequate incometo the artisans who are “differently abled”. The formation of the same was aimed to produce high quality natural wooden beads as the end product. The participants were trained on newer skills and techniques involved in bead work using different beads, colours, and designs and now the artisans are able to produce 13 varieties of necklaces and beaded jewelleries. The project has made sincere efforts to create links between the bead worker community with South India Scheduled Tribes Welfare Association and the market place.

Tamil Nadu government had established ‘State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd’ (SIPCOT) way back in 1971 to promote industrial growth in the state. SIPCOT has so far developed industrial complexes in 12 districts, Cuddalore being one among them.

Twenty-year-old Ramawati’s father Jiyutlal is a person affected by leprosy. They lived in Rampur village in Khushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh. They could hardly eat one meal a day from the money her father got working as a farm labourer.

On August 20, Mr Jagat Prakash Nadda, Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, announced at a function in Chennai that the government has decided to launch Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP), an exclusive vaccine for leprosy, developed in India, on a pilot basis in five districts of Bihar and Gujarat within a few weeks. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of Indian Council of Medical Research, said MIP has the potential to bring down new cases of leprosy by 60% in three years.