Prior nod is mandatory

An order issued by the Telangana Woman and Child Welfare Department makes it mandatory for each Child Care Institution to take prior permission for running such homes, but the organisers are reticent about this. Simply put, they are unable to comply with various conditions like the minimum area for the home, standards of hygiene etc. Limitations are also put on the number of children that can be taken in.

The GO (MS 30) has listed other conditions too to be complied with by the home organisers. The homes should inform of every admission that it makes to the district child welfare committee, which will then assess the child’s background and confirm if he or she is eligible to be put up in an orphanage. The norms also have it that the homes should accommodate at least 10 children rescued during operation SMILE, and free of cost. Homes should not admit children below six years of age; and girls and boys should be accommodated in separate rooms.

“Most of the homes that are sealed had 40 or more kids, with less than 10 of them being orphans. As per the Juvenile Justice Act, the CWCs encourage kids having single parents to live with the parent, and not at care homes. If this is implemented, it will affect their strength. The more the children, the more the funds inflow,” a child rights expert said.

Based on the strength, there are local donors who regularly help these homes during festivals or birthdays. Officials say such homes do not come forward to apply for licences via online, as they are not able to meet the requirements prescribed by the government. “Moreover, if they are licensed, they should submit annual accounts and they cannot have any links with foreign visitors who willingly donate money for such causes,” they said.

“There is a lack of sufficient number of care homes run by the government. While unlicensed homes are sealed, the suffers are the child inmates, as they will alternatively not be accommodated in government-run care homes,” an official pointed out.