Shelter home for orphaned children housing EVMs

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 2

A shelter home (bal grah) for orphaned children at Roshanabad is being used as a warehouse to store EVMs by the district authorities of Haridwar, while the shelter home in nearby Dehradun is a facing problem of congestion and cramped conditions for the inmates.

Grappling with the problem of congestion and lack of adequate space at the shelter home (Shishu Sadan) in Dehradun and keen to relocate some of the inmates to alternative government owned shelter homes, the Department of Social Welfare was shocked to discover that the shelter home that was built to provide care and shelter to children in 1 - 10 age group was housing EVMs.

“The shishu sadan and the nearby probation home for juvenile children and balika sadan located in the same campus in Dehradun are cramped with children. There are around 300-400 kids living in the campus. There is overcrowding and lack of space. Due to this reason, we began looking for alternative space and discovered that the bal grah built in Roshanabad is being used for storing EVMS by the district authorities,” said Dr Ram Bilas Yadav, Additional Secretary, Department of Social Welfare, who recently inspected the living conditions at the shelter and probation home.

Further, Yadav has now asked the District Social Welfare Officer to hold talks with the district administration so that the shelter home could be vacated.

Significantly, the child welfare committee had also urged the Department of Social Welfare to follow the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Act) 2015 under which it is mandatory that the children housed in shelter homes are not cramped and are provided open spaces for their general well-being.

“We can follow all the guidelines, if adequate space is provided. It would be appropriate, we have to look for alternative space for at least children who are in conflict with law in a different campus,” said Yadav.