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City’s Muscular Dystrophy School without a School Bus. |
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 When it comes to transport facilities for the wheel chair bound students the busy Chennai city has been indifferent. The country’s first school for the children affected with muscular dystrophy started in Chennai five months ago. In this school only eight out of 42 students who enrolled on the inaugural day are able to come to school now. V Sangeetha who comes from Chindadripet everyday has been shelling out Rs 200 for auto fare. Diwakar’s mother who is the wife of a construction worker is not discouraged to take her son who is muscular dystrophy afflicted to the special school from her house in Thousand Lights. The government has to help people like us who cannot spend money every day to take my son to the school. The idea for the school came from Chennai Corporation and Muscular Dystrophy Association India (MDAI), a voluntary organization.
Presently students from Washermenpet, West Mambalam, Besant Nagar, Ayanavaram, Palavakkam, Velachery, Ashok Nagar and Saidapet come to study in this school. Another four students from Madipakkam, Tambaram, Kannigapuram in Vysarpadi and MGR Nagar are interested to join if school bus facility is offered to them. These special children should be given free transport facility by the school which they can rely upon, says Radha from Velachery. Some other parents of these affected children have sent their children to other schools as they think that their children will be treated indifferently if they are sent with normal children in the van.
If I send my son to a regular school also they will be insulted by the other children laments, swapna a mother of wheel chair son. But the facilities in the school are fine. The anti-skid tile flooring, stainless steel hand railings along the corridors and the restrooms with specially designed hand wash area are also good. The students can move in their wheelchairs on their own and go to the wash basins which are placed at such level which is comfortable to them to wash their hands. Along with this if a Physiotherapy session is also arranged for the physical education of the students it will be very helpful say the parents of these children. The Mayor of Chennai corporation, M.Subramaniam said that a bus costing Rs 16 lakh is being built with voluntary support and will be available soon. It will help many needy children in the city the mayor said. The city has one-tenth of the 30,000 muscular dystrophy-afflicted children in the state.
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