Childcare institutions: India

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Government oversight is limited

Audit

Ambika Pandit, UP, Bihar among 9 states that refused audit of child shelters, August 9, 2018: The Times of India

The Government’s limited oversight of child shelters, as in 2018
From: Ambika Pandit, Step up registration of child shelters, Centre tells states, August 9, 2018: The Times of India

1,339 Homes Yet To Register, SC Deadline Ended On Dec 31 Last Yr

At a time when cases of sexual abuse from children homes in Muzaffarpur and Deoria have shocked the nation, it turns out that the agency appointed for pan-India mapping and audit of children’s homes as per the

directions of the Supreme Court has been denied access to childcare institutions in nine states, including Bihar and UP. This despite the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the ministry of women and child development writing to the states to comply with the SC’s orders.

The states where the audit agency is yet to access homes also include Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Kerala and West Bengal. Odisha, too, was on this list but the Centre’s intervention finally led to it agreeing to the audit exercise. The view emanating from these states is that they want to do their own audits.

According to data available with NCPCR, there are 5,850 registered childcare institutions as on date and 1,339 homes that are yet to register though the SC had set a deadline of December 31 last year.

71 childcare institutions in Bihar, 231 in UP: NCPCR data

There may be more such institutions which are not in the NCPCR list and hence the mapping exercise under the audit is critical. In Bihar, as per NCPCR data, there are 71 childcare institutions and 231 in UP.

The NCPCR has intimated the status of the audit to the SC in a recent hearing in the ongoing public interest litigation, officials said. So far, the Lucknow-based Academy of Management Studieshas carried out the audit and mapping of 3,000 institutions across states.

According to senior NCPCR officials, the audit agency assigned the task in March conveyed to them in May that 10 states were not giving them access to their CCIs. Before that some of these states had written to the child rights body on their own expressing reservations over allowing the audit agency into these homes. NCPCR wrote back to these states and then sought the intervention of the WCD ministry to step in to resolve the impasse.

The ministry’s brass is learned to have issued an advisory in July. Meanwhile, NCPCR put forth its status report before the SC.

While Odisha had agreed to the audit exercise, NCPCR or the WCD ministry are yet to hear from the nine states on allowing the audit exercise, officials said. The NCPCR, too, has not yet heard from the audit agency if they have received any response from these nine states.

B

Ambika Pandit, Step up registration of child shelters, Centre tells states, August 9, 2018: The Times of India

With over 1,300 child care institutionsstill out of the registration framework set out under the Juvenile Justice Act, the ministry of women and child development has stepped up action sending out letters to states asking them to verify all their homes and cancel those that fail to register. Telangana has so far cancelled 42 child care institutions and more reports are pouring into the WCD of the action taken.

Recognising that registering or cancelling homes was not enough, WCD minister Maneka Gandhihas decided to write to MPs and MLAs asking them to visit homes in their constituencies. In order to bolster monitoring mechanism the government has also asked state commissions to fill up vacancies in Child Welfare Committees which hold magisterial powers.

Parliament was informed last week that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has reported that it has registered 43 complaints regarding child abuse and neglect of children in Child Care Institutions (CCIs) during the last three years up to June this year. Out of the 43 complaints, 38 have been closed and the remaining five cases are still pending.

Gandhi also feels that there was need to consolidate the Child Care Institutions more systematically to prevent adding more and more homes and instead create more centralised facilities. She has asked the ministry to put in place a scheme in consultation with states where centralised facilities for children can be created in states and which are run only by state authorities.

Malpractices

Malpractices in some Childcare institutions of India, as in 2018
From: August 14, 2018: The Times of India

See graphic  :

Malpractices in some Childcare institutions of India, as in 2018