The Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children (MNC) was presented the National Award of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment by the President of India on 3rd December 2004, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The award was presented in public recognition of its outstanding performance in the field of welfare of persons with disabilities. Air Vice Marshal V Krishnaswamy (Retd.) received the award on behalf of the Centre.
Regional Seminar, Dhaka
Jaya Krishnaswamy, Programme Coordinator, Madhuram Narayanan Centre and Prof P Jeyachandran, Director, Vijay Human Services and Advisor to the Centre, attended the Second Regional Seminar on Childhood Disability in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 3-6 December 2004. They presented papers on early intervention and related topics and chaired concurrent sessions.
International Conference
The Madhuram Narayanan Centre held a two day International Conference on Early Intervention in Mental Retardation on December 10 and 11, 2004, at Chennai. The conference was preceded by two days of four half-day workshops conducted for professionals and the parents. Over 200 delegates and 90 professionals participated.
15th Anniversary
“A Day in Our Lives”, a theatre workshop designed by Koothu-p- Pattarai Trust and performed by 120 parents, children and teachers was the highlight of the 15th Anniversary of the Madhuram Narayanan Centre celebrated at Bala Mandir German Hall on 12 December 2004. Dr George S Baroff, former Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, USA, an internationally renowned authority on Mental Retardation, was the Chief Guest. K S Narayanan, Chairman Emeritus, the Sanmar Group, presided over the function.
Excerpts from an interview with Air Vice Marshal V Krishnaswamy (Retd.) and Jaya Krishnaswamy (both seen in picture below) of the Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children Matrix: It must have given you great satisfaction to receive the National Award from the President.
Air Vice Marshal V Krishnaswamy (Retd.) (VK): Yes, indeed. It was recognition of work done quietly, with no expectation of reward.
We never did canvas for any award.
How long have you been associated with the Madhuram Narayanan Centre (MNC) and how did it all begin?
Jaya Krishnaswamy (JK): From the beginning. In fact, my husband, who specialized in electronics engineering, joined Indchem R & D Labs of the Sanmar Group, after his retirement from the Air Force, and a five-year stint in the private sector. Indchem, led by N Kumar, was keen on developing computer software in the field of education. As a teacher of many years’ experience, I felt that we should do something in the field of disability. The result was Upanayan, the software program that trains parents and teachers in early intervention education of children with mental retardation of varying degrees. And the Madhuram Narayanan Centre was founded in 1989 as a model training centre to test out the p r o g r a m m e developed to train children with mental retardation in the age group 0 to 6. It was Prof. Jeyachandran of Vijay Human Services who mooted the idea of Sanmar starting MNC, and the group readily agreed.
VK: It was the Sanmar culture that drew me to Indchem, leading to the establishment of MNC. Kumar had been ever so gentle in suggesting that I give Sanmar the option of first refusal before I took on any other postretirement assignment.
How have you managed to raise the funds necessary to finance the centre which has grown from small beginnings to its present strength?
The funding has rarely been a major problem. There are enough benefactors available for a good cause, once we demonstrate our commitment and effectiveness. In the early years, Sanmar used to foot the entire bill, and the group continues to bridge any gap in resources on a sustained basis, contributing a few lakhs of rupees every year. But more than financial assistance, it is the group’s genuine interest in our work that has fuelled our growth and progress. If Kumar has been a constant source of support, young Sukanya Sankar of the Sanmar family has taken a deep interest in our work. She gets personally involved in many of our activities, especially in projecting our achievements and the scope of our services to the larger public. Sanmar has made a unique contribution to the training of mentally retarded children.
How is the Sanmar contribution unique, when so many corporates are involved in charities of various kinds?
VK: Before Sanmar decided to support MNC, nothing much had been done in India by way of early intervention initiatives in mental retardation. Even now, MNC remains the only serious effort to extend early intervention services, despite whatever claims may be made to the contrary.
Where does MNC stand today after completing 15 years of service and where do you intend to go?
JK: What started as a testing centre has grown into a force to reckon with in these 15 years.
I had no experience in the field, when we started, though I had a B.Ed qualification. Over the years, I have equipped myself by attending as many workshops, seminars and conferences as possible. We have a committed workforce led by our dedicated Principal Vimala Kannan.
Today, we have succeeded in empowering parents of our special children in the training, care and management of their children. We have succeeded in disseminating the Early Intervention Programme in various parts of the country with training programmes for special educators, volunteers and parents. We are proud that our parents, even those who are illiterate, have become expert trainers. We have trained 100 master trainers in special education through our workshops and 340 special educators at MNC. Well over 2000 children have been provided services at the Centre, and over 10,000 children through home-based programmes and consultancy services.
VK: We now function in rented premises owned by the Bala Mandir Primary School, who have been extremely kind to us. Our dream is to have our own campus with a well ventilated three-storeyed building with each floor dedicated to a particular activity, and designed for optimum performance. We dream of setting up a chain of intervention centres in the country, connected by a computer network. As a first step, we have established such centres in Tamil Nadu.
JK: Prevention of disabilities is now the area towards which MNC is gearing its movement. Nearly 70% of disabilities are preventable. If prevention becomes a reality, then the resources available for rehabilitation can be utilised more optimally for the other 30%, especially those born with disabilities.
Chief Guest Dr George S Baroff, former Professor
of Psychology, University of North Carolina, USA,
handing over a prize at the 15th Anniversary
Celebrations.
Parents of MNC children.
The children put up a spell binding show at the
15th Anniversary of MNC.