Institutions

New Delhi: Queen Mary's Technical Institute - Fighting to save the Spirit

Life in the armed forces is full of struggle and sacrifices as the defense personnel are constantly living life on the edge. Death and disability are one of the hardships they have to endure. As the proxy war continues unabated in J&K as do counter insurgency operations in the eastern sector, a large number of servicemen have either lost their lives or have become disabled due to militant attacks.

For a soldier, disability is indeed traumatic and life for him and his family is never the same again. Financial compensation alone is not enough to heal the physiological scars of disability. Regeneration of faith is required to restore the dignity of life. This can be achieved only through imbibing new skills in keeping with the disability. Keeping this aspect in mind and to fulfill this social obligation, the Queen Mary's Technical Institute (QMTI) has taken up the task to restore the confidence of disabled army men and help them rediscover themselves.

At present, 100 disabled soldiers who are doing various vocational courses reside here. It has strongly been felt that as far as possible, the family of a disabled soldier be encouraged to stay with him to provide moral and physical support. Keeping this in mind, the institute also offers family quarters.

The (QMTI) is the only institute in India, which is wholly dedicated to the training of disabled servicemen and ex-servicemen in befitting vocational traders and their subsequent resettlement. For its exceptional contribution in the field of training and placement of the handicapped, it was given the prestigious FICCI award in 1993 and the National Award in 1997 as the best institution for the disabled in the country.

It was founded in 1917 at Bombay by Lady Marie Wiilingdon, wife of the then governor of the erstwhile Bombay Province, during the closing stages of World War I, to provide vocational training to disabled soldiers so that they could rejuvenate themselves and start a new life.

After moving to Poona in 1923, the institute acquired the buildings, which used to billet a Royal Artillery Regiment. Lady Willingdon named the institute after Queen Mary, wife of King George and made her the first patron.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Edwina Mountbatten, Field Marshal Cariappa and other chief of staffs have also visited the institute. The President of India is the patron-in-chief and the governor of Maharashtra is its patrons. Spread over 17.36 acres of land, since inception, the institute has been instrumental in rehabilitating over 8,000 disabled soldiers.

The institute conducts courses recognized by the National Council of Vocational Training. Of late it has started running IT course which are quite popular with the disabled servicemen. Keeping with the times, the content of the courses offered have changed.

The vocations offered in 1923 included knitting, farming, dyeing and printing, carpentry and tailoring. Today the courses offered include those of fitter, motor mechanic, electrician, welder (gas/ electric), computer, diesel mechanic, cutting and tailoring fashion designing, information technology, computer hardware and CADCAM.

The institute has helped many soldiers to get on with their lives. SS Khan has lost his leg in an accident as a dispatch rider for the grenadiers' regiment. "I completed my tailoring course and decided to pursue fashion technology to augment my tailoring skills," he says.

Sitting next to him is Dharmendra Kumar of 1 Rashtriya Rifles who was injured by a grenade in a militant operation in J&K. After he retires, he aspires to work from home as a fashion designer. For Yogesh of 7 Madras, it was frostbite in Srinagar that led to his disability. "Fashion designing has lots of scope for me once I go back to my hometown Bangalore", he says.

Sandeep lost both his legs in a train accident, and is learning embroidery to support his family. Surendera Kesar Rai of 1/11 Gurkha Rifles is learning to make blankets to support his family in Nepal. A mine blast is Sri Lanka left him handicapped in body but not in spite, twenty-year-old Kumar D from Hassan. Karnataka injured himself during his physical training as a recruit; when he came to QMTI he was unable to move his fingers.

Today he is confidently learning MS Office on the computer. Sitting in a wheelchair, his eyes glued to the computer, is Suresh Kumar Karki who is perfecting the steps to save a file. When he goes home to Nepal, it is this training that will help him earn a livelihood. The institute's weaving section manufactures bed linens, face cloths, glass cloths, curtain and floor swabs which are sold on its premises.

Source: Hope for the further. Sahara Time, Weekly, New Delhi, 15 July 2006.