Officials to conduct raids on Child Care Institutions from Wednesday
Death of three children at a CCI in Anakapalli district on Sunday brings to light deplorable conditions at care homes across the State
The death of three children at a childcare home in the Anakapalli district on August 19 has brought to light the deplorable conditions prevailing at the childcare institutions in the State. The CCIs across the State will be inspected by officials going forward, it is learnt.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, Women Development and Child Welfare Director M. Venugopal Reddy said that about 300 CCIs run by NGOs and 97 government CCIs were operating in A.P.
“Following the directions of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, a drive has been launched to check the illegal homes, and safety and facilities at child care homes,” the Director said.
WD&CW Project Director (PD) G. Uma Devi said that inspections would be conducted in CCIs from August 21 (Wednesday) to inspect the facilities. “The committees headed by the Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs), DCPO, District Probation Officer, Protection Officers, Legal-cum-Probation Officers will inspect all the CCIs in NTR District and a report will be submitted to the Collector,” she added.
More than 10,000 children are put up at about 400 Child Care Institutions (CCIs) in the State. Licenses issued to some CCIs, also known as child care homes, had lapsed two years ago and fresh licenses were not granted so far.
Children from broken families, runaways, orphans, semi-orphans, victims of trafficking and abuse and missing children categorised as Child in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) were provided shelter in the CCIs.
However, the child rights activists said that there were no inspections and monitoring of the child care homes for the last two years. Despite several representations, the government has not issued orders for renewal of the licenses or for issuing fresh permissions.
As per G.O. No. 8, all the CCIs should be registered under Section 41 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
“Though the managements of the child care homes were violating norms and were providing shelter to the persons aged above 18 years and non-CNCP children there was no monitoring from the officers,” said a Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member.
Andhra Pradesh High Court asks government to submit report on conditions in Child Care Institutions
Staff of the District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) of Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) department and Juvenile Welfare Department officials shall inspect the CCIs every three months, enquire about the facilities and submit a report to the district Collectors concern, Mr. Venugopal Reddy said.
Many children housed in the CCIs were subjected to harassment and sexual exploitation. There was no safety for the children and the inmates were suffering from poor hygienic conditions and lack of food, an NGO representative preferring anonymity said.
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