Mumbai, Nov 5 (The Indian Express): Following a third party audit of 963 children’s homes across the state, the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department has decided to derecognise 213 children’s homes for failing to meet basic infrastructure criteria, including proper sanitation, food and other requirements, as prescribed under the Juvenile Justice Act. Officials of the WCD department said as many as half of these homes are in Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded and Parbhani — all districts in the Marathwada region. Others are in Solapur, Satara, Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik.
“The survey started in July 2015 and the report was submitted in December 2015. The report had revealed that the 213 children’s care homes did not have the basic infrastructure as per norms. While the government was planning to issue showcause notices to all these care homes for cancelling the recognition, the survey report was challenged in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, which had initially directed authorities not to take any final decision on the issue,” said an official.
The bench noted that children’s homes should have all required infrastructure to take proper care of children, the official added. “The case was disposed of in May this year and the bench did not mention any objection in cancelling the recognition. As a lot of time has been wasted after the survey report came and these homes got an opportunity to present their side before the court, the department decided to cancel their recognition without issuing any notices now,” said the official.
Another official said that instructions have been issued to not admit any more children in these homes. “If at all they get any children, they should transfer them to other care homes. Besides, these homes will not be eligible for fresh registrations and they will not get the financial assistance this year,” said the official.
As per the survey of 963 children homes, the report had classified the homes under three categories based on their condition. The 476 children homes in A category have been allowed to run with financial assistance from the government while 273 homes in the B category have been given another chance to improve their infrastructure — the government will not release grants until they show signs of improvement.