Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust to celebrates its diamond jubilee

Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust in Chennai provides care, education, and support to children in need for 75 years.

“Manjuma had only one thought, the child has to be looked after carefully. She was thinking with her heart,” said Maya Gaitonde, Honorary General Secretary and Trustee of Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust (BMKT). One of its founders, S. Manjubhashini, remains an icon for those who pass through the institution, which was built brick by brick with the support of former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj and Ramnath Goenka, way back in 1949. It has been training young children for 75 years now.

As part of the BMKT Diamond Jubilee celebrations on March 10 at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, a film will be screened on Bala Mandir’s activities and a book on Bala Mandir’s history will also be released. After 75 years, BMKT has now started reaching out to children virtually through their latest venture, Kinship Care.

With one of their main priorities being childcare and education, Bala Mandir has extended its services to children in various adverse situations. In the city, BMKT runs the Bala Mandir Home, primary and secondary school, daycare, research centre, the Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children, and hostel for the children with an ample play area. The trust also went on to establish a girls home in Nagercoil. A core activity of the Trust is the Bala Mandir Home, which focuses on early childhood care that was started in 1949 with two foundling children. Since its inception, it had the unique policy of admitting only children below the age of six, with a focus on providing not only shelter but also care and opportunities for development.

Taking their knowledge of early childhood development to villages, Bala Mandir has begun a programme to help children in anganwadis. “The project in Gummidipoondi is being carried out in 21 villages, and we have also reached out to children who live with their parents,” said P. Natarajan, honorary treasurer and trustee.

In 2021, Bala Mandir established Kinship Care in an effort to help children who lost a parent during the pandemic. The programme offers counselling to parents who lost their partners to COVID-19. The social workers keep track of the parents’ well being through video calls and also offer learning support for the children.

“The Delta wave of COVID-19 affected a lot of families. We found that in most cases, the mother was alive and need support and counselling to move forward,” Mr. Natarajan said. The programme now supports over 800 children and is being implemented in nine districts around Chennai. It is also being expanded to five districts around Coimbatore.

Y. Arulraj, a social worker, who has been with Bala Mandir for 12 years, said: “I visit them once a month, and the satisfaction I get from watching them succeed is immense.”