New website to help disabled people find a match

It was a fervent, five–page letter from a young man in Sivaganga district saying that none of his 88 family members was willing to help him find a bride as he was disabled person that got G Chidambaranathan thinking. The president of the Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation Charitable Trust (TNHFCT) says they'd received a number of similar appeals from well–educated, working professionals, both male and female, who were disabled people and could not find spouses and so came up with the idea of a swayamvaram and a matrimonial website for the community.

To be held on October 10 at YMCA grounds in Nandanam from 10 am to 4 pm, the swayamvaram will be a chance for disabled people to meet and spend time together. "About 80% of the disabled people in Tamil Nadu are unmarried, and of them 60% are women," says P Simmachandran, TNHFCT secretary. "Another issue is that people marry disabled women and then abandon them after a few months. We're hoping lots of people from the community will come forward and register for the swayamvaram," he says. Registration is free; they've received 60 applications so far and are hoping to attract at least 2,000 people.

"We recently had a job fair which was a success. We've been helping people with education and employment, so the next step is trying to help them settle into family life," says Simmachandran.

The fair's being organised in association with Advent Designs, the company that has designed the trust's website (www.tnhfctrust.in) and is in the process of starting up a matrimonial section for the disabled on it. "This is one of the ways to get the disabled integrated into the mainstream," says A Muthukumar, managing director, Advent Designs. The swayamvaram will also be webcast live on www.anytimemarry.com.

They're hoping the swayamvaram will popularise the trust's matrimonial section and prompt disabled people from across the state and even the country to sign up. "Society seems to think the disabled don't need the companionship of marriage," says Chidambaranathan. "We get so many letters from educated people who earn good salaries who say their own families are unwilling to consider them eligible matches."

They're also planning to select 100 couples and conduct free marriages in January next year. "These could be couples who meet through our swayamvaram or those who have fallen in love somewhere else but do not have the means to hold a wedding," says Simmachandran. And if their swayamvaram is a success, they'll take the model to cities across the state.

Reference : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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