One of the initiatives of the Association which made a great impact at the National level was the initiative taken by KPAMRC at the World Congress organized by the ILSMH in 1994 in New Delhi. There were representatives from various parts of the country attending the Congress and on the initiative of KPAMRC they discussed the formation of a National Federation of Parents Associations. This idea was accepted in its totality and the President of KPAMRC was elected to head an adhoc committee with a mandate to work out the modalities and the constitution to form a National Federation called PARIVAAR. This committee held a few meetings and finalized the constitution with a provision to have two levels of membership, the first one full fledged members eligibility being only parents associations working in the field of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities, the other was affiliate membership to associations of professionals and NGOs working in these four disability areas. The Association was registered in the year 1996 and during the last 10 years it has grown from strength to strength.
The Federation which had initially only 22 parents’ associations as its members at the time of formation, today has nearly 150 members. It has become a strong force at the national level being in the forefront of advocacy for persons with mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. It has also made an impact at the International level and is a member of Inclusion International. The Federation and Inclusion International have signed an MoU to mobilize and strengthen parents movement in India. This activity is going on for the last six years and the movement has spread even to rural areas in North-East and North West. Parivaar is actively involved in providing different skills to its members to manage and implement various rehabilitation programmes meant for their young adults effectively. As a part of this, Parivaar has organized workshops to impart managerial skills and skills on effective communication. Workshops have also been conducted to build leadership quality among its members. Parivaar is constantly interacting with Government of India and other national, international bodies working for the disability sector to develop an effective network.
The Honorary Secretary of KPAMRC is heading the organization as President of Parivaar and overseeing these activities.
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