As members of Param Prasad Charitable Society we happened to visit MDC Home, Satara in 1999. The sight of the children there really shocked all of us. This motivated us to do something for them. We thought over it and along with sisters from Sisters of the Destitute (SD) we thought of giving some honorary service to these children with permission from the government. We continued it for one year and we found it was of much use to the children as we were helpless. It was a fully granted unit under the department of Women and Child in the Government of Maharashtra. So we stopped giving service to the centre.
The superintendent of MDC Home, Satara Mr. Vaidhante had approached us and requested us to send a proposal to the government to take over its management from the government. So we attempted for it. Initially there was some reluctance but the then Commissioner of the department, Shri. D.N. Vaidya, visited our society office which we had agreed to hand over for the children, immediately agreed to the proposal at the very sight of the set up and compound. The very same day the agreement was signed and children were brought to our home on 31st August 2000.
It was a very hard work to handle those children. All were amoebic and I must say the work of our psychiatrist, Dr. Devkiran Pillai, really did wonders for these children through his dedicated service. He used to visit our children every day and the health of our children improved very much. We also employed special educators and instructors to the home and the life of our children made fast improvement. The visit of then Governor, Dr. P.C. Alexander to the home on 26th April 2001 was the result of the changes they made in short period.
We started the work for a new home for these children and Asha Bhavan was ready for occupation by 9th July 2003. Children got more space and were very happy in the new set up. They improved their health and developed their talents. We also started to organize district level sports for the children and children from all the schools in the district take part in it. Asha Bhavan Special School and Asha Bhavan Vocational Training Centre caught the attention of the people. Asha College of Special Education stated training in the field of special education. We started the training programmes of DVR (Diploma in Vocational Rehabilitation) and B Ed (MR). In addition to it we also organized workshops and seminars for the children, parents, trainees, etc.
