ORPHANAGES STRUGGLE WITH CASH CRUNCH
OSMANABAD: Apale Ghar, a boarding school on a hillock opposite Naldurg Fort in Osmanabad district, currently houses 120 children. The institute, established after an earthquake devastated Latur and Osmanabad 25 years ago, has raised 250 children. Most of these children are now employed in various cities while some of them are even working in foreign countries. However, despite saving many children orphaned by the earthquake, the institution is struggling for funds.
The financial crunch has forced its 86-year-old founder, Pannalal Surana, to collect donations. “We have aimed to create a corpus of Rs1 crore. We have collected Rs60 lakh so far,” says Surana.
The survival of such institutes and orphanages, a large number of which came into being after the earthquake, has run into similar troubles due to debts.
According to sources, the irregular and partial release of the government grants, besides stringent norms, have resulted in the dues. For example, Apale Ghar’s dues have mounted up to Rs25.12 lakh, owing to the government not giving them the full grants since 2009.
“Lots of help and funds were pumped in immediately after the earthquake. When we started working in Killari village in Latur, which was the epicentre, we noticed a lot of children sitting along the roads looking lost. We learnt they had lost their parents and had nowhere to go. The immediate need was to begin schools and arrange shelters for them,” said Sangeeta Shetty, principal, Apale Ghar.
“Some of the children, as small as 2 to 3 years old, would wake up screaming . The teachers would comfort the kids and sleep next to them . The children would hold on to our clothes until they fell asleep,” said Shetty. Many of these children are now employed as teachers, some are in the police force, some have got government jobs and others have established their businesses. Birudeo Kokre, who is a banker in Pune, is from the first batch at Apale Ghar. “I could succeed in life just because of this institute.”
Similarly, SOS Children’s Village in Latur rebuilt the lives of 98 children. It has 12 homes, each headed by a ‘mother’ with 8-9 children who lost their parents. “There were two sisters named Sita and Rekha who had lost their parents in the earthquake. They would wake up crying. I used to sit with them through the whole night until they fell asleep. They are now settled and they come and meet me sometimes,” said Shobha Khillare, who had been a ‘mother’ to six orphans.