Kudumbasree Buds schools were launched way back in 2004 with the aim of mainstreaming children with special needs. In 2015, Kudumbasree opened Buds rehabilitation centres (BRCs) for taking care of persons with special needs once they attained the age of 18.
As part of the training provided to young persons with special needs, focussing on their personal and social development. the Kudumbasree District Mission plans to launch Jaiva Mukulam, an agrotherapy project, in the three Buds schools and 28 BRCs in the district.
Under the project, the special needs children and youths will be encouraged to take up cultivation on land available with the Buds schools or BRCs or that identified with the support of local self-government institutions concerned.
Balasabha too
Nearly 1,000 students in the district are expected to benefit from the project.
The Kudumbasree District Mission also plans to rope in its Balasabha (children’s collective) members and kindle the love for farming in them. The project named Haritha Balyam will see the Balasabha members in each ward take up farming on land identified near spaces already farmed by joint liability groups of Kudumbasree.