NGO Participation

About Us

A few words about Paripurnata

Brief History
In 1991, a group of philanthropic people in Kolkata, spearheaded by Dr. Joyce Siromoni, established Paripurnata,
the first Halfway Home in Eastern India for mentally ill women, who have been incarcerated in the jails and mental
hospitals for long periods.
Soon after, a Judicial Commission, constituted by the Supreme Court of India, in response to a Public Interest
Litigation on the conditions of the mentally ill persons, visited Paripurnata in 1992 and examined its process of
rehabilitation. The commission, in its report titled ‘Unlock the Padlock – Mental Health Care in West Bengal,
January 1993’, recommended that, “the process and the method followed by Paripurnata should be
replicated in every district of the State
A Halfway Home is the mid-point in a person’s journey from her place of confinement to her natural home. Here, in
a family like ambience, individuals are guided to pick up the lost pieces of their lives, with the objective of
reintegrating them with their families and the wider society, so that they once again can lead a productive and
meaningful life.
Motivation
The mentally ill women from the poor and lower-middle class sections of our society, because of their afflictions,
mostly have neglected, despised and often tortured existence as unwanted beings in the society.
The need to bring about a change in their woeful existence to a socially productive life, motivates this project.
Intervention
The change may be achieved by intervention through psychosocial rehabilitation process. The process comprises
medico therapy and socio-cultural therapies, structured to assist the beneficiaries to pick up the lost pieces of their
lives and to strive to live as socially responsible human beings with dignity.
Our Beneficiaries :
Paripurnata’s beneficiaries are the mentally ill women from the marginalized sections of our society. They are
mostly between the age group of late teens to mid-sixties and may belong to any part of our country.
They are inducted, mainly from government mental hospitals eg. Calcutta Pavlov Mental Hospital, where they are
initially admitted on judicial orders.
Paripurnata has been authorized to induct mentally ill women from the Calcutta Pavlov Hospital (CPH) for the
purpose of undergoing the residential psychosocial rehabilitation programme, by an ORDER of the Director of
Health Services, Govt. of West Bengal.
Screening :The initial screening of the candidates is carried out by the Psychologist of Paripurnata, with the active
co-operation of the caregivers of the CPH, i.e. the attending psychiatrist, the psychologist, the nurses and other staff
members. After providing a brief account of the activities of Paripurnata, our Psychologist holds a few sessions of
dialogues with the prospective patients. Also their verbal willingness to move to Paripurnata is obtained.
The authorities of CPH are given a list of the probable candidates and are requested to send them to Paripurnata for
a planned stay of 2-3 hours’ duration on a mutually suitable date.

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Induction :
On the appointed day, the candidates are brought to Paripurnata to see for themselves the ambiance and the facilities
at the halfway home. They also meet the care givers, other staff members and even their co-inmates from the CPH.
Finally they meet the Screening and Monitoring Committee, consisting of a psychiatrist, programmeco-ordinator,
psychologist, psychiatric social worker and representatives of the managing committee, who collectively assess the
state of each candidate, taking into account her age and physical condition. The selected candidates are then brought
to Paripurnata, initially on two months’ leave of absence. After this period they are officially discharged from the
CPH and admitted to Paripurnata for the psycho social rehabilitation process as residents. On occasions, some
patients are sent back to the CPH at this stage, due to chronic physical debilities, not noticed earlier or some other
compelling reasons, as deemed by theScreening and Monitoring Committee.
Paripurnata does not work in a specific demographic area. Our beneficiaries happen to belong not only to West
Bengal but to interior Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Agartala, Chattisgarh, Andra
Pradesh. Gujrat etc. and also from Bangladesh and Nepal.
Residential psychosocial rehabilitation programme :
At Paripurnata they go through a time bound programme, comprising of pharmaco therapy & conselling,
occupational therapy, non-formal education and socio cultural therapy.
Paripurnata has 30 beds, where treatment, along with the associated facilities like accommodation, food clothes,
toiletries etc. are provided totally free of cost.
The project is executed in Paripurnata’s own three-stored building on a lend-leased land from Govt. of West Bengal.
The building has a 30 bed accommodation, along with all the stipulated facilities.
Psycho-social Therapies :
Pharmacotherapy & Psychological Therapy :Regular Medical Check-ups and treatment are carried out. Group and
individual counselling sessions and psychological exercises are held, keeping in mind the specific ailments and
needs of the individuals.
Occupational Therapy :This has been planned to aid the patients to achieve greater motor co-ordination and also
towards learning crafts which may equip them with the necessary skills to achieve economic sufficiency. Currently
apart from domestic skills, vocational skills like sewing, weaving, food processing are undertaken.
Cognitive Therapy :Activities like elementary counting and calculations, use of basic linguistic and communication
skills —- structured to bring up the nascent intellectual faculties, which are the pre-requisites for our day to day
social interactions.
Social & Cultural Therapy :Designed to awaken the dormant human capacities of imagination and creativity and
also to help to release constructive emotional feelings through music, art, dancing medication, yoga etc.
To develop the social interaction skills, activities like games, outings, picnics, public performances etc. are
organized. Visits by families from the local communities and friends of Paripurnata are encouraged.
Activities parallel to the rehabilitation process :
 Tracing and contacting the families of the beneficiaries
 Visits by the staff members to the homes of the beneficiaries
 Awareness programmes in the neighbourhood of the beneficiaries
 Family counselling
 Interactive meetings with the families of the beneficiaries

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Post rehabilitation activities :
 Follow up of ex-residents for three years
 Ex-residents’ meet
 Group meetings of the families of ex-residents
Other activities related to mental health issues
 Community Awareness Programmes, Rallies, Seminars and Workshops.
 Structured exposure to psychosocial rehabilitation programmeto the graduate and postgraduate nursing
students.
 Exposure to students of Social Work and Psychology.
 Internship for graduate and post graduate students of Counselling and Psychology.
Paripurnata is also involved in community mental health issues like, awareness programmes, seminars for senior
citizens & students, exposure sessions for nursing students and runs a weekly psychiatric OPD.
Achievements
During our existence, spanning 33 years we have been able to rehabilitated 489 beneficiaries (as on 31 st March
2025). Our success rate is almost 93%.
Honours& Awards.
 The Paul Harrison Award, by the CMC, Vellore for pioneering psychosocial rehabilitation in India, to
Dr. Joyce Siromoni, founder secretary, in 2004.
 Lifetime Achievement Award by World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (Indian Chapter)
for path breaking venture in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation in India, conferred upon Dr. Siromoni,
in 2005.
 Real Heroes Award by CNN-IBNfor efforts to make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged
people, to Dr. Siromoni, in 2010.
 Accredited under ‘Desirable Norms’ of Credibility Alliance for good governance, since 2010.
 The State Award 2016, as the Best Organization by the Dept. of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of
Social Welfare, GoWBfor Outstanding Performance in Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability, to
Paripurnata, in 2016.
 NGO Leadership Award 2019 for its pioneering role for the cause of the mentally ill,byGlobal CSR
Excellence & Leadership Awards Committee in 2019.
 Excellence Award 2020 in recognition of promotion of ART MAKING ACTIVITIESInJanuary 2020, at the
Annual National Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS) 2020.
 JKCementAntarThekeShundorSamman 2022 Awardedin recognition of Exceptional acts of Kindness &
Humanity on 30 th September 2022.
 Give Foundation Certificate of ExcellenceGold Certified 2023on achieving the Gold Seal of trust after
undergoing the extensive due diligence process conducted by Give.
 The State Award 2024, as the Best Organization by the Dept. of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of
Social Welfare, GoWB for Outstanding Performance in Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability, to
Paripurnata, in 2024.