Unregistered shelter homes causing concern to Odisha authorities

Gajapati (Odisha), Aug 1(ANI): Acting on reports about the growth of unregistered shelter homes for children with inadequate infrastructure, authorities from the Department of Social Welfare and other officials are taking remedial measures.

The collector of Odisha's Gajapati district, Rabindra Pratap Singh, told media here that various teams have been constituted for the verification process.

"The meeting had been convened and held by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). Two teams have come over here for verification. One senior officer from administration, one police officer, CWC member, a doctor and Department of Social Welfare staff are here. They will take action as per prescribed rules and regulations," Singh said.

A student, Prabhat, said his parents did not allow him to go to school, and therefore, he was forced to stay at an unsheltered home, called Unnati.

The owner-cum-warden of the shelter home, Jacob Bhuniya, admitted that he was yet to apply for registration for the premises. He said his shelter home was functioning purely on donations given by well-wishers.

"This year we have not got the shelter home registered. We are trying to apply for the registration. The Programme Officer from the Red Cross Society is providing necessary funds. They have provided Rs.20, 000 towards expenses and they have informed that they will visit again," Bhuniya said.

Reportedly, around 50 such shelter homes are operating within the district. It was also learnt from one of the children that her parents had shelled out around Rs.6500 rupees for admission in the shelter home and education.

Earlier on June 30, 18 children from the 'have-not' tribal families from Gajpati District were rescued from an orphanage in Tamil Nadu.

According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act, 1960, registration of shelter homes is compulsory.

There are various unregistered shelter homes for children running in other districts such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Puri, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh.

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in the district has been given the responsibility for identifying such unregistered shelter homes.

Several higher-ups in the government are still unaware about the total number of such shelter homes functioning in throughout the state. (ANI)