Building Collective Strength: Carers in Tamil Nadu Prepare to Form a Block-Level Carers Federation
This year, with the support of Carers Worldwide, unpaid family carers from across Thiruvarangulam Block in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, are working towards forming their first Block-Level Carers Federation.
This milestone is part of the advocacy element of our Carers Worldwide Model, which supports unpaid family carers to move from isolation towards collective action, enabling them to advocate for their rights and secure better recognition from local government systems.
Across South Asia, unpaid carers receive little to no formal support. Access to essential services such as healthcare, pensions, social protection, and identity documentation remains inconsistent and difficult to navigate. Carers Federations offer a powerful platform to change this. By organising at group, block, and district levels, carers can speak with a collective voice, strengthen their local networks, and advocate for the support they urgently need and deserve.
A Day of Learning, Reflection, and Leadership
Earlier in the year representatives from all of the Carers Groups in the area came together for an important leadership and planning session.
The training was hosted at the office of one of our local charity partners in Tamil Nadu, WORD. The day opened with a warm welcome from Mr. Doss, WORD’s Director, followed by an engaging self-introduction activity that quickly broke the ice and helped the carers present connect with one another.
The session was facilitated by Mr. Susai from Vasantham Federation, another of our partner organisations with extensive experience in building strong carers’ networks. He highlighted a key message: caregiving may begin as an individual responsibility, but meaningful change happens when carers come together.
He spoke about the importance of goal setting, staying focused, building self-confidence, and crucially, taking pride in the often-invisible identity of being a carer to someone living with mental illness.
Identifying Shared Challenges and Strengths
Participants were divided into three groups to reflect on their experiences and identify both the challenges they face as unpaid carers and the achievements they have made. This exercise revealed several recurring issues:
- Irregular availability of medicines in government hospitals for those they care for
- Delays in disability pensions
- Social stigma surrounding mental illness
- Struggles to earn an income
- Lack of unity and networking opportunities across villages
- Limited recognition from government and society
- Carers’ own health concerns, often neglected due to caregiving responsibilities
These shared challenges reaffirmed the need for a strong Carers Federation, one capable of advocating for reliable public services, dignity, and support.
Understanding the Power of a Federation
Through visual demonstrations and a participatory game, Mr. Susai illustrated how each individual carer represents a crucial thread. Alone, a thread can easily break. Woven together, as they are in Carers Groups and Block-Level Federations, they create a strong, resilient network capable of navigating systems, influencing policy, and supporting one another.
Planning the Thiruvarangulam Block Carers Federation
The latter half of the session focused on the concrete steps needed to formally establish the federation. Carers discussed:
- A proposed federation name
- Roles and responsibilities of the federation
- Plans for collective advocacy, social support, and livelihood improvement
- Meeting schedules, with agreement to meet every three months
- Ensuring representation of both women and men
- A democratic election process for choosing leaders
- Finalising 33 members who will form the initial federation body
Looking Ahead: Advocacy Priorities
The group also outlined a clear set of advocacy goals for the months ahead, including:
- Developing a manifesto calling for pension support for carers and an increase in the disability pension for persons with mental illness to INR 5,000
- Supporting carers to access state-level and national-level Disability ID Cards for their loved ones
- Preparing federation materials, including letterheads and identity cards
These plans reflect a growing sense of momentum and determination among carers, many of whom are taking on leadership roles for the first time.
Strengthening Voices, Creating Change
The formation of the Thiruvarangulam Block Carers Federation marks an exciting and important step. By organising carers at block level, we help ensure that their concerns are heard not just within their communities, but by the government institutions responsible for delivering essential services.
Unpaid family carers are experts by experience. They hold deep knowledge of the mental health needs within their communities and the gaps in support systems. With the right training, platforms, and networks, they can lead the way in advocating for change, ensuring that no carer is left to face their challenges alone.
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