Kendrapara: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) within four weeks from the Chief Secretary regarding illegal shelter homes in the state.
The move came on a petition filed by rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy. The inmates of Good News India Dream Centre at Beltikiri, a shelter home in Dhenkanal district, were subjected to sexual abuse, harassment and violation of child rights for years. The Dhenkanal police had no clue about the shelter home although it was operating without registration since 2015.
While the inmates were being subjected to sexual exploitation, the district administration had no inkling about the illegal shelter home which was violating the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, Tripathy contended.
The District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) had issued a closure notice to the shelter home in 2015 for not complying with the Juvenile Justice Act and had even repatriated the inmates to their respective districts.
But the shelter home continued its illegal operations right under the very nose of the administration. If the officials had carried out regular inspections the abuse would not have taken place, Tripathy said.
The shelter home was operating at Station Bazaar till April 2015. After it was closed down, Good News India Dream Centre purchased land in an interior area of Beltikiri and resumed operations as the DCPU did not bother to investigate further after issuing closure notice.
In Rayagada, the NGO was running a shelter home near Siriguda with 76 girls for nine years. Rayagada has at least 80 shelter homes or hostels and most of them are operating without complying with the JJ Act, RTE Act and other acts applicable to minors.
Women and Child Development Minister Prafulla Samal had said, “There are 22 shelter homes of Good News India illegally operating in the state. Collectors have been directed to close these centres and take action against their authorities. Stringent action will be taken against all illegal shelter homes in the state who violate the Justice Juvenile (JJ) Act. Measures have already been taken in this regard.”
The lives of the poor children have turned hellish and it not understood why the government failed to detect the illegal shelter homes/ashrams before the Dhenkanal incident, Tripathy said.
Women and child development minister Prafulla Samal said the institution was unregistered and was running illegally.
There are over 300 recognised childcare institutions in the state. Good News India Dream Centre has registered childcare shelter homes in Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Deogarh and Balasore districts. However, the authorities had refused permission to the organisation for running the institutes in 2015.
The main registration of the centre is believed to be in West Bengal. There are illegal conversions of the children from one religion to another and violation of child rights in the shelter homes, said the petitioner.
This is a classic case of violation of human rights by state authorities. The negligence of the departments of social justice and tribal affairs, home affairs and women and child development of Odisha are responsible for this, Tripathy alleged.
The petitioner requested the NHRC to constitute a team of officials headed by the DIG of NHRC, the joint registrar and assistant registrar (Law Division) for a thorough investigation of the matter or by a special rapporteur and direct the Odisha administration to find out the total number of unregistered shelter homes or any other similar institutions operating in the state, and to investigate whether the institutions were complying with the Societies Registration Act, Indian Trust Act, conversion laws, JJ Act, RTE Act and other Acts regarding children, and to take action against errant officials and rehabilitate the victims.
PNN
