I : Access to ID Cards and state monthly
maintenance allowance
Shantha kumari (53) with 60% Locomotive
disability by birth runs a small petty
shop in Thirunilai village, Ellapuram
block. Mother of three daughters, two of
them married and settled, Shantha kumarI
lives with her youngest daughter who
completed higher secondary
schooling.Sudden demise of her husband,
the bread winner of the family, due to
illness putthe family in a critical
situation and Shantha faced great
difficulty in bringing up the children
with her disability.
When CRUSADE started the formation of
PwD support in the village, Shantha
joined the group along with 13 others
with various disabilities. As she did
not have the disability ID card, she was
guided by CRUSADE to attend the monthly
camp held at the Taluk hospital at
Ponneri toaccess the ID card and to
registerfor the state monthly allowance,
butthere with no response from the state
officials.
CRUSADE motivated and helped her to make
an appeal directly to the Chief
Minister’s cell in December 2024 and as
a result Shanthakumari started receiving
allowance from January 2025.
Shanthi kumari says “ I lost the hope of
receving the state government support
and sometimeshesitated to attend the
group meeting but I was always motivated
by CRUSADE staff.With this allowance
which Iam receiving Iam able to do a
small saving in the group and run my
family .Thanks to CRUSADE for our better
living”.
II : Prosthetic limb
Mr.Varadhan, 58 years, Murichambedu
village in Minjur block proudly walks to
the special group meeting conducted in
his village. I always had a hope that,
there will be a day when I can walk by
myself and that day was mine. Full of
anxiety I was sleepless the night before
I got my prosthetic leg fixed on 25.2.25
the day my dream came true. I was happy with a beautiful family and
my milk business in my village. It was
during the Covid pandemic my right leg
(below knee) was to be amputated due to
the complication of Diabetes which made
life completely darker.
Love and care of
my family makes me live but a feel of
burden and useless to them made me
guilt. I have no words to express my
difficulty in meeting my daily basic
needs.
Not able to continue my business which
required lot of movement I enrolled in
MGNREGA but I depended on someone to
carry me in a vehicle which didn’t work
every day. I managed to work on days
when someone supported me otherwise I
was at home.
I enrolled in the “Vetri (Success)
special group a year back. The special
group meet is a place of hope where we
share our emotions and aspirations. I
had no idea how and where to get my
prosthetic fixed and feared if it could
suit my physique. The approach of
CRUSADE staff and Volunteer gave me
confidence and facilitated to the camp
conducted in Chennai by the Mahaveer
Jain Trust and to my luck the process of
fixing was done in a day which usually
takes a week or more and the limb is so
light weight and is easy to walk. I was
also provided a walker for use till I am
fully confident enough to walk without
any support. Varadhan takes a long deep
breath for being able to meet his daily
needs which he feels any human should do
without anyone’s support till he/she is
alive.
III : Economic Activity
Sujatha with Hearing impairment,is a
member of Vasanthamspecial group,
Vannipakkam village, Minur. Irrespective
of her age she is role model to others
at 58 years.
She is involved herself in agricultural
work with her husband, but she now has
her own small chick farm. “I have no
worries as both my sons settled in
Chennai and myself and my husband spend
time in our agricultural land. Sujatha
had a dream of having a small chick
farm. She reared few chicks in her house
but a farm was her ultimate aim.
Sujatha accessed the disability ID card
and monthly maintenance allowance with
the support of CRUSADE and enrolled
herself in the group. Never expected the
financial assistance to achieve her
dream as hearing impairment is a hurdle
to start a business.
When an opportunity for an economic
activity knocked my group through the
Village Poverty Reduction Committee
(VPRC, a Government scheme), CRUSADE
staff channelized it to me. A huge
amount of Rs.25, 000 was provided which
made my farm bigger with a variety of
birds (country breed and kadaknath) of
chick breeds. I sell eggs at a good
price occasionally I sell a hens earning
quiet a good amount of money. Only being
a member of the PWD support group
enabled me to venture into this business
and my dream became a reality.
Dillibabu (32) of Athivakkam village, Ellapuram block is the the animator of the special group formed by CRUSADE in 2023 enrolling 15 PwDs.
Dillibabu narrates his story “I suffer 80 % low vision. I have my Disability ID card and receive Rs.1500 monthly maintenance from the state government. I can only recognize a person within a very limited range of distance because of vision error. However I can identify people from their voices even at distance. My wife and my daughter make my world
“I did my Diploma in Mechanical engineering but I was either paid very less at work or given a short time jobs because of my disability. During my childhood days I always loved to rear chicks and the passion remained a dream till I joined the group.
“Though I remained motivated there was no source for financial investment to start the farm. Seeing my interest and confidence CRUSADE rendered its support but suggested to have my own contribution so that the farm is sustainable and successful. I managed for land to set up the farm and bought 500 chicks. I was unable to proceed further and stuck in the middle but the timely financial support of CRUSADE of Rs.30000 helped me get further needs for the farm like feeds etc. Now I have 30 roaster, 140 egg laying hens and 140 chicks. I get 90 eggs per day and each egg gets Rs.15 in the market. I could make an income Rs.1200 per day.Occasionally I also I sell a chick for Rs.25. “CRUSADE has lead a new way for my life and making me a proud human being”.
IV : Occupational Therapy and
Speech Therapy
Two years back Sandhya settled with her
only son Brunos Alwas 8 year’s oldmale
child born with multiple disabilities,
in Voyalur village, Minjur block. Brunos
showed delay in his developmental
milestones - delayed walking and delayed
speech. Added to this his visual
disability making him completely
visionless at night.
Sandhya’s husband deserted the family
after the birth of Bruno being born with
disabilities. With the hope of support
from her mother sandhya shifted from the
city to her village. Brunos needs care
all the time which prevented Sandhya
from seeking a job. Brunos receives
monthly maintenance allowance of Rs.2000
from the state government,a major
financial support for the mother.
Enrolled in the panchayat primary
school, Brunos attends the class
andteachers try their best to support
him as they are less equipped to handle
a special child.
A ray of hope emerged when the child was
taken to thephysiotherapy session
conducted in the village by CRUSADE
where he was suggested Occupational
therapy along with physiotherapy. The
unexpected visit of theoccupational
therapist from CRUSADE suggested various
modifications in his environment both at
home and at school brought more hope to
Sandhya.
The next move by CRUSADE gave her more
confidence with consultation with a
special educator in CRUSADE’S training
centre where Brunos was thoroughly
assessed and enrolled for weekly special
education session. Sandhya can now bring
her son for further therapies to the
training centre as it is easily
accessible to her. Sandhya says” No
mother can leave a child even if born
with disabilities and I would never do
that in my life and try my every
possible way to make his living better
with support of CRUSADE”.
V : Primary Care giver
Krishnaveni (56) of Dharmapuram Kandigai,
Ellapuram block, having 60% Intellectual
disability is taken care of by her
younger sister Mahalakshmi.“When our
parents passed away I shifted from my
in-laws place to my native village to
take care of Krishnaveni as I have no
children. Krishnaveni accesseddisability
ID card with the support of CRUSADEand
receives state monthly maintenance
allowance of Rs.2000.
Though the
financial need to run the family
increases every year, the source of
income remains the same, I couldn’t
leave Krishnaveni alone at home and
travel for any work. So I rely on work
within the village” says Mahalakshmi.
Maha adds “When CRUSADE formed special
group for persons with disability in
2022 I enrolled her in theBavaniAmman
Special group with seven PwDs. I hoped
the group will benefit from each
otherthrough the organization. When the
group decided to request financial
assistance from CRUSADE for various
activities I was worried how I could ask
the group to support Krishnaveni for IG
activity because of the nature of her
disability. But CRUSADE considered me
for the activity as a”Primary care
giver”. Under this support I was given
Rs.10000 which helped mebuy two goats.
Now I am in a better position to take
care of Krishnaveni with an Income
generation activity for ourbetter
living”.
