Common vocational training project for the handicapped (CVTPH)

CVTPH is a special project imparting vocational training to leprosy patients as well as other categories of the handicapped under the same roof, in order to combat the leprosy stigma which is the major obstacle in all leprosy work and to aid rehabilitation by making the trainees economically self-sufficient. The project, which offers training in the industrial sector to leprosy patients, orthopaedically handicapped individuals and able-bodied but socio-economically disadvantaged individuals, began in a small way in 1977, but has grown considerably since then, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the concept. There have been several problems--chief among which are the leprosy stigma and the reluctance of the trainees themselves to move out from a sheltered environment into the world outside--but these are slowly being overcome by the formation of co-operative societies controlled by the handicapped. This project is hoped to serve as a model for similar vocational training programs.