Surprise inspection at shelter homes run by women welfare dept

LUCKNOW : President of the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Women, Vimla Batham, on Wednesday conducted a surprise inspection of three shelter homes run by the women welfare department in Lucknow.

The move comes in the wake of a recent incident in which 14 girls were rescued by a team of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) from a shelter home in Gomti Nagar that was being run in violation of provisions of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015.

The girls, said CWC members, were living in pitiable conditions.

On the same day, district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma also met CWC members and other officials, directing them to make shelter home owners and managers aware of the provisions of the JJ Act, 2015.

The first shelter home to be inspected was ‘Rajkiya Mahila Sharanalaya’ on Prag Narayan Road. “Cleanliness was found to be up to the mark. Out of the total 90 inmates, six were found to be mentally unstable. We have directed the management to give short term courses to inmates to help them earn their livelihood.

DM KAUSHAL RAJ SHARMA MET CWC MEMBERS AND OTHER OFFICIALS, DIRECTING THEM TO MAKE SHELTER HOME OWNERS AND MANAGERS AWARE OF PROVISIONS OF THE JJ ACT, 2015

Four inmates are already enrolled for higher education,” said Batham. The official also inspected the ‘Asha Jyoti Kendra’, where she objected to the presence of an elderly woman on the premises. An enquiry was ordered into the matter.

The state capital has 23 shelter homes out of which 13 are run by the women welfare department, four by the handicap welfare department, four by the ‘Rajkiya Baal Greh’ and two by non-government organisations.

Earlier, 14 minor girls, aged 7 to 14 years, were found to be living in dingy rooms with swollen walls and stinking toilets, and practically no open space at ‘Manisha Mandir’ shelter home in Gomti Nagar. All the girls were shifted to two different shelter homes.