Gini (name changed), a class XII student in the district, exhibited symptoms such as stomach ache, headache, and vomiting during important school days such as a test or exam day. She had been showing these symptoms from a young age, and no amount of scans and medications had helped. Doctors could not find any physical cause for her symptoms and suggested it was psychological. The endless hospital visits were also taking a toll on her parents.
When Gini was referred to the district resource centre under the Our Responsibility to Children (ORC) project of the Women and Child Development (WCD) department, it was found that she was borderline intelligent. Fear of not doing well in school made her anxious, physically unwell, and ultimately she would end up skipping school. To address her condition, psychotherapy was provided to her at the district resource centre. Today, Gini has left regular school behind and shifted to a vocational course that she liked.
Like Gini, many children are referred to district resource centres that act as a hub for addressing all referral cases related to children. The referrals could be from the psychosocial counsellors in schools, child welfare committees, juvenile justice boards, Kaval and Kaval Plus projects of the WCD department, or parenting clinics.
