Mangaluru: Philanthropists Shankar Rao and Meenakshi S Rao inaugurated ‘Saanidhya Shashwath’, the city’s first permanent home for differently-abled male adults, in Shaktinagar on Wednesday, October 2.

This home was constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crores and it is spread over an area of 11,000 sq ft. It is the third initiative of the Shree Ganesha Seva Trust for exceptional persons. The Trust had previously launched Saanidhya Residential School in 2003 and training for the mentally challenged and a skill training centre for victims of endosulfan poisoning in Ujire in 2018.

Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath, addressing the gathering, said that more blessings are earned not by praying, but by serving the differently-abled children. Meanwhile, he assured to mount pressure on the state government to address the problems faced by special schools like Saanidhya. He also promised to reduce the Rs 22 lakh debt burden on the institution and sanctioned an amount of Rs 5 lakh from his MLA local area development fund.

Kamath then thanked Saanidhya for building a permanent home for differently-abled adult males.

Saanidhya Administrator Dr Vasanth Kumar Shetty traced the journey of the institution starting with the Saanidhya school and urged the government to increase the salaries of educators serving in special schools across the state.

Persons who were involved in the construction of Sanidhya Shashwath Prashanth, Umanath, A G Sharma, Santosh Shetty and Satyanarayan Rao were felicitated on the occasion. The parent of Harish (first student to enrol in Saanidhya) Ram Bhat and first teacher Suma D’silva were also felicitated.

KIOCL Limited Chairman and Managing Director M V Subbarao, former vice president of Tulu Koota, Qatar Abdulla Monu Moidin, Department for the empowerment of differently-abled and senior citizens director K Leelavathi, Dubai-based Philanthropist Michael D’souza and others were present.