DD India

From this year onwards, August 16 will be observed as ‘BUDS Day’, a day dedicated to intellectually challenged children, under the auspices of Kudumbashree. August 16, 2004 is the day when the Kerala’s first BUDS School was officially inaugurated in Venganoor Gram Panchayat of Thiruvananthapuram district
BUDS Day will be organised from this year onwards to popularise the activities of BUDS Institutions run by Kudumbashree in collaboration with Local Self-Government Institutions for intellectually challenged children.BUDS Day celebration also aims to integrate more children into BUDS Institutions run for the education and rehabilitation of intellectually challenged children and to provide psychological support to parents.
BUDS Schools are free and open special schools for mentally challenged children of poor families in the state of Kerala. BUDS Schools in the State, all owned and managed by the local government institutions under the support and guidance of Kudumbashree Mission and the community structure.
Kudumbashree is the poverty eradication and women empowerment programme implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala. The name Kudumbashree in Malayalam language means ‘prosperity of the family’.