Automated laundry in Kolkata run by people with mental illness

Kolkata : An automated laundry service launched in a mental health hospital here seeks to give the inmates an opportunity to work and earn a daily wage, organisers say.

Called ‘Dhobi Ghar’, the spacious automated laundry has been set up in state-run Calcutta Pavlov Hospital here and was inaugurated on Saturday by West Bengal’s Minister for Social Welfare Shashi Panja.


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“The idea is to challenge the very notion that people with mental illness can’t become workers. The work they are doing in the laundry proves they have value-based role in life,” said Ratnaboli Ray, founder of Anjali, a mental health rights organisation.

The laundry project was set up by Anjali in collaboration with state government’s health and family welfare department. It has Sparsh Foundation as a technical partner and is enabled by The Hans Foundation.

“It is for empowerment and livelihood and hygiene, You won’t find this anywhere in India,” said minister Panja.

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