Industrial therapy: IMH launches soap made by inmates

It has also been proposed to give vocational training to the patients in soap making in collaboration with ‘The Candles’, an NGO, and Crisil Foundation as a part of its CSR Initiative — Change the Scene.

“Crisil Foundation will provide all the ingredients to make bathing soaps, while The Candles will train patients in making them. They will also train patients in packing soaps and manage marketing. The products will also be marketed and exhibited by the NGO and IMH at various exhibitions,” said Dr Poorna Chandrika, director, Institute of Mental Health.

The soaps are being sold at a cost of Rs 60. The packed bathing soaps will carry the wordings ‘a product made by residents of Mental Health Institute’ as a step to remove the stigma in the society about the patients.

The Industrial Therapy Centre (ITC) at the Institute runs a canteen, bakery, cover making unit, candle making unit, soft toy unit and now the soap making unit. The inmates who have improved health condition after treatments are employed in the units.

Industrial therapy is aimed at restoring and rehabilitating patients and to help them develop emotional, social and intellectual skills necessary to live, learn and work in the community with the least amount of professional support.