Deoria shelter home horror: Inspection by DMs quite an eye-opener
Cases of missing inmates, exploitation, lax security, improper record of the inmates, substandard food, physical torture and forced menial work were found to be rampant in shelter homes in different districts of Uttar Pradesh. This came to light during inspection conducted by district administration officers of some districts, said a women and child welfare department officer privy to the reports sent to the department.
Cases of missing inmates, exploitation, lax security, improper record of the inmates, substandard food, physical torture and forced menial work were found to be rampant in shelter homes in different districts of the state. This came to light during inspection conducted by district administration officers of some districts, said a women and child welfare department officer privy to the reports sent to the department.
In Lucknow, Hardoi, Mathura, Sultanpur and Faizabad districts, several inmates were found missing from the shelter homes during the surprise raids conducted by the district administration. The management of the shelter homes failed to give satisfactory answer about the missing girls.
In Hardoi, the management of one such facility, Swadhar Grih, told the officers that the 19 women missing from the shelter home were on a pilgrimage. The shelter home in Sultanpur district said the missing girls had gone to their relatives. In a Lucknow shelter home officials were told that they had informed the police about the missing girls.
After the sex racket at Deoria shelter home came to light, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on Monday directed the district magistrates of all the 75 districts to inspect all the shelter homes in their respective districts and submit a report within 12 hours.
Women and child welfare minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said on Tuesday the inspection was continuing in all the districts and the DMs would submit their report to the state government, following which action would be taken against their management.
Large irregularities in the operation of majority of the shelter homes were detected on Monday and Tuesday when district administration teams knocked on their doors in different districts , said the WCW department officer.
It was found that in other district too the NGOs were running illegal shelter homes in connivance with the police and local administration. During inspection at Nari Niketan in Mathura, district magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra found inmates staying in pathetic condition-- much more than the capacity of the shelter home. He ordered for the shifting of the inmates to NOIDA and Varanasi.
An officer of the Women and Child Welfare Department said the inmates of many shelter homes in Siddharthnagar, Auraiya, Bhadohi, Badaun and Moradabad districts complained of sub-standard food and exploitation by the management .
It may be recalled that the police in Deoria continued to send children to the shelter home run by tainted Maa Vidhvasani Mahila and Balika Sanraksham Grih even after the Women and Child Welfare department cancelled the recognition of the NGO and stopped financial aid as well. The district administration ignored the notices sent by the department directing to shift the children to another accommodation. Joshi has gone on record that the illegal shelter home in Deoria was run in connivance with the district administration.