Prajna Counselling Centre celebrates 25 years of empowering women, children

Speaking after inaugurating silver jubilee celebrations of Prajna Counselling Centre here on Tuesday, he said “all of us should take a pledge to support the destitutes and orphans in the city. There is a need to inculcate culture in our children.”

Besides taking care of orphan kids and destitutes the Prajna Counselling Centre has formed Self Help Groups for women, to bring them to the mainstream of the society.

Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Right Chairperson Nina Nayak said the condition of children in the country is pathetic. About 47 children die every 15 minutes in the country.

About 170 million children do not have a joyful learning. Many children are not getting the rights which they were entitled for. She said though the government has chalked out several programmes for the welfare of the children, it has failed to reach the last child in the society.

He called upon the participants to visit anganwadi or the government school in the neighbourhood to find out whether the children are given all the rights which they are entitled for or not.

She said the Commission gets maximum number of complaints on denial of rights for children, corporal punishment, child abuse from Dakshina Kannada, as the literacy rate is high in the district. The civil society members have a role to see to it that there is no discrimination against the children and justice prevails in the society.

MLA U T Khader said a country can not become powerful, unless the last person in the society is empowered.

Sharing the experience with Prajna Centre, Bhavani, a resident of Fit Persons' institute run by the Centre said “I had lost my mother and was living some relatives. Later, my uncle and father brought me to a family in Mangalore to work as a domestic help.

Having being unable to bear the torture, I left the house and landed with the Child Welfare Committee. The CWC handed me to Prajna Counselling Centre. I completed my tenth standard and now I want to become an electronic engineer.”

'Rajatha Prajna' a souvenir was released on the occasion. The children of Prajna Centre presented cultural programmes.

Milagres Degree College Principal Fr Francis Xavier Gomes, The Aubrey D'Souza Charitable Foundation President Aubrey D'Souza, Director Prof Hilda Rayappan, Trustees Celine Pereira, Phyllis D'Costa and other dignitaries were present at the programme.