'Skill upgrade of the disabled is important'

Poonam Natarajan, chairperson, National Trust, tells Rayana Pandey what disability in a different paradigm would mean.

What is the mandate of the National Trust?

The National Trust is a statutory body set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under The National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999.

Our most important function is to set up safety nets and support systems for the disabled people.

The Act looks at disability in an altogether different paradigm, not merely setting up a residential home. The trust looks at building capacity and skill development of the disabled.

How does the National Trust work?

The National Trust works through a network of registered NGOs, parents' associations and various groups working for the disabled. We have over 800 registered members.

We also have one local committee each in every district with a collector to appoint legal guardians for disabled people. We appoint one NGO in each state as our local partner, and conduct various programmes with its help.

There are around 280 districts which still need to be tapped by NGOs. We are planning to do some thing about it.

What is the driving force for your programmes?

We believe that leaving the disabled behind is no solution. In fact, they need to be involved at every step. Skill development is very important.

How have disabled people responded to your initiatives?

A student of ours with cerebral palsy is now an executive officer with ABN-Amro bank. There are people who are now writing books or are disability activists. I think this explains it all.

There are certain jobs meant for people with certain disabilities. In cerebral palsy and autism people have high intellectual capacity and hence they can pursue certain activities. This is to be understood.