Destitute Women in Kerala: Psychological resources and psycho ...

activities. The very fact that the vast majority of inmates had expressed their dissatisfaction
regarding this particular aspect is significant.
Vocational training centres must be started together with every Mahila Mandir in order to
impart training to the inmates in various vocations. Such training centres could offer training
to women living in families outside also. The inmates would thus get opportunity to mingle
with other women and join the mainstream culture. This in turn would help in changing the
public opinion about women in institutions for destitutes.
Training based on the skills, potentials, and qualifications would give the inmates access to a
number of jobs like nursing assistants, housekeepers, social workers, primary schoolteachers
and helpers.
The inmates of the Mahila Mandirs, after sufficient awareness training, should be allowed
to seek jobs outside the institutions so as to live dignified lives and make decent earnings.
The inmates, while expressing satisfaction on the duration of the rest-time enjoyed by them,
complained about the lack of rehabilitative measures and lamented their wasted lives at the
institutions. This is indicative of their willingness to grow as individuals and to lead meaningful
and socially constructive lives. It is highly essential that the officials realise the need on the
part of the inmates to do work and earn income. The destitute women need to be rehabilitated
not only materially, but socially and spiritually as well. They should be made to realise that
the most important consideration is not what they can get out of life, but what they can
contribute to it. The lives of these destitute women could be fulfilling only if they earn their
living through socially constructive ways.
The study revealed that out of the 120 institutionalised destitutes in the sample, 75 were
Hindus, 28 Christians, and 17 Muslims. There are large numbers of inmates in homes for the
destitute run by non-governmental organisations of Christian and Muslim communities.
Compared to the large number of orphanages run by these two communities, the number of
homes run by the Hindu community is negligible.
Poverty is the major reason for girls landing up in Mahila Mandirs. Some of the girls are
forced to live in the Mahila Mandirs because their parents do not own a house. Supportive
services and sponsorship services are to be provided for the needy families in order to enable
them to take care of their girls in their homes. Equally important is the economic emancipation
of single women, sick women, and single-parent mothers. Job reservation for divorced
women and unwed mothers and programmes for enabling the entry of these women into the
job market are some of the measures which would have a long-term effect and could mend
the power balance between men and women at the general societal level.
There are several women who are epileptic, mentally retarded, and mentally disordered staying
at the various Mahila Mandirs of the State. These women were those who were not taken
back home by relatives after their discharge from hospitals. The hospital authorities sent
them to the Mahila Mandirs. The mentally-ill patients suffer without proper medical checkup
and medication. Support services need to be organised to provide some relief to these
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