VEGETABLE AND SEED PRODUCTION BY INMATES OF LEPROSY SANATORIUM
| Inmates, Leprosy Sanatorium, Thamarakkulam, Alappuzha |
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Leprosy may have numbed their limbs, but not their spirit. Inmates of the biggest leprosy sanatorium and rehabilitation centre in Asia at Thamarakkulam, Alappuzha are on a mission to produce seeds and vegetables in their compound.
The sanatorium with its 700 inmates is housed in the 300 acre of land which doubles as a convenient research station for the experiments in agriculture. These activities are coordinated by the cooperative society of inmates. The cultivation is aimed at production of both vegetables and seeds. In addition to the usual vegetables, they grow medicinal plants, pineapple, ginger, cashew etc.
In less than a year, the society has been able to produce seeds worth Rs.1.75 lakhs. The seeds are marketed in special covers after proper quality checks. The production process here can be compared to similar ones in Government institutions and Agricultural University. It is as if in the perfection of their fruit of labour, the inmates are transcending the deformities of their limbs.
The Minister for Agriculture visited the sanatorium 4 times to review the scheme, which has been implemented specially for the inmates.
A silent catalyst and guide for these efforts is Agriculture Officer K.I.Ani.
Courtesy: Muraleedharan Thazhakkara, Karshakan, February 1999
Contributed by: Administrator
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