BUDS INSTITUTIONS 2020-2021

In May 2004, Kudumbashree recognized that the needs of the most marginalized of the poor were not being addressed and realized that differently abled children especially intellectually disabled children in situations of poverty, while being the most vulnerable, were not being reached by any of the variety of poverty programs. In fact, these children often live in isolation and alienation, neglected by the community due to social stigmas and by their families due to already scarce resources. Their families are ill-equipped to deal with their special needs; resulting in children who are who do not receive proper medical attention and who do not reach their full developmental potential. In this situation Kudumbashree in convergence with Local Self Government Institutions established the BUDS Special Schools for Intellectually Disabled Children. The first school was started in Venganoor Panchayat of Trivandrum District. This method of education and rehabilitation of intellectually disabled quickly spread all over Kerala. In 2013 BUDS Rehabilitation Centers for Intellectually disabled persons above the age of 18 established by Kudumbashree. These centers were mainly given preference for the vocational and livelihood training and rehabilitation of the persons with intellectual disability. At present 289 BUDS institutions are working under the supervision Kudumbashree and in the ownership of Local Self Government Institutions. There are 9002 intellectually disabled persons are educated, rehabilitated and under vocational training in these institutions. Well qualified Teachers in special education with Rehabilitation Council of India(RCI) registration are serving these institutions. The disabilities catered are Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Multiple Disability. In the process of socializing these children, different types of activities are conducted. To develop the artistic skills of the person with disability, art festival namely BUDS Fest is being conducted in Institution Level, District Level and State Level. The livelihood activities such as paper bag making, paper pen making, detergent making, File making, book making, MGNREGS works etc. are carrying out in these institution by the people above 18 years. To make the children familiar with the agriculture a program called Sanjeevani-Agri- Therapy also started recently. The parents of the beneficiaries are not well trained in any skilled labour and many of them spend time with their child in the BUDS Institution. Hence Kudumbashree came up with the livelihood programs for those parents especially mothers. Umbrella making units, printing press, tailoring units, paper bag making units were also established within the premises of BUDS Institutions for such parents. With the view of universalizing the education and rehabilitation of the intellectually disabled persons in Kerala, the Government declared the establishment of more such institutions in the LSGIs under the supervision of Kudumbashree.