Chhatrapur: Following the Beltikiri shelter home scandal which exposed sexual harassment of girl inmates, Child Welfare Committee, District Child Protection Unit and Chhatrapur police conducted joint raids Sunday and stumbled upon four illegal shelter homes for children at Saebjenapalli village of Chikalkhandi panchayat under this sub division in Ganjam district.
During the raids, the team had gone to Good News India Dream Center to check allegations that children have been illegally held there in the guise of a hostel.
In total, 134 inmates (80 girls and 54 boys) are staying at the Dream Center. While the inmates have been enrolled in nearby schools, the center has always been known as a hostel in the locality.
During the raid, the team came to know that the inmates had been forced to live under poor sanitary and extremely low living conditions. The meals they get only have soya chunks and no other vegetables, whether it is lunch or dinner, sources said.
Later, the local residents informed the joint team about three other similar shelter homes where children were kept illegally in the guise of hostels. Subsequently raids were conducted on those homes and documents were verified.
Upon quizzing the staff and inmates, the inspection and raids revealed that the shelter homes have been running illegally in the guise of hostels with ‘foreign aid.’ They are devoid of any validation and registration under specified norms.
Investigations reveal that these children — 214, of whom 113 are girls — have been brought from Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Sundargarh and Kandhamal promising better education and living conditions to their parents.
As per the Juvenile Justice Act, children can only be kept at registered shelter homes.
According to District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Subodh Sarangi, “Good News India Dream Center earlier ran as a Child Care Center with registration until 2016. Thereafter they have been flouting rules and regulations keeping the children under the hostel banner. A detailed report will be submitted to the collector and the parents of the children will be intimated,” he added.
Earlier, 24 such centers were closed down on the same ground and similar action would be taken against any such center, an official said.
The inspection team comprised members of CWC, CH Jyoti, Shyamkant Jena and Harihara Padhi; DCPO Subodh Sarangi; Ranjit Kumar Behera and Prabhat Kumar Padhi from Child Line; and Chhatrapur police station second officer Bhagyalaxmi Swain.
Locals expressed surprise over how the administration did not have any clue about these centers located hardly one km from the district headquarters.
PNN
