Ninety per cent of the mentally retarded children brought to the Health Mela, organised by the Government Medical College and Hospital Sector 32 today, suffered from total physical neglect. In the absence of proper facilities for such children and lack of awareness about them, a majority of such children have become liability for parents, feel the doctors.

The biggest problem being faced by parents of mentally retarded children, especially those who are financially weak, is educating them, since schools refuse to admit such children. And with such children on their hands, perhaps for their entire life, parents tend to become insecure, often helpless.

``In conditions where social stigma involving such cases is high and parents are frustrated with the kids' actions, on which even the kids don't have any control, the physical assault on these helpless children becomes common,'' says Dr. B. S. Chavan, Head of Psychiatry Department, GMCH Sector 32. Although the parents are guilty about it later, they express their helplessness, he adds.

Barkhu Ram, an employee with the Punjab government and father of Vinod Kumar says, ``My son is violent by nature and often picks up fights in the neighbourhood. There is no help offered from any quarter. People only poke fun and we are helpless.''

Most of the parents are worried about the future of such children. Says Attar Singh, a carpenter in Army Hospital, whose two kids are mentally retarded along with his wife, ``In these tough times when competition is so stiff and securing the future of even normal healthy children is not easy, it is a matter of great worry about what these kids will do - especially the girl.''

But help is forthcoming as Joginder Sood whose son Manish is mentally retarded says, ``It's all a matter of destiny. But ever since the Institute of Mentally Retarded Children has been taken over by the GMCH, a lot of our problems have been eased.''

Today's camp was attended by children from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. Eight departments of GMCH Sector 32, including doctors from Orthopaedics, ENT, Psychiatry and Ophthalmology, attended the camp.