E-Paper
Lockdown makes life difficult for 122 destitute children at Balgran in Jammu
Donations have dried up and stocks are depleting rapidly; while Balgran’s annual expenditure is ₹65 lakh, the government only provides it with ₹4 lakh
Balgran, a home for destitute children, is finding it difficult to make both ends meet amid the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
With donations in cash and kind drying up and stocks rapidly depleting, the home, which is located in Jammu’s Channi Rama area, eyes the future uncertainly.
Set up in 1975, Balgran had received a national award for child welfare in 1999. Today, it houses 122 children.
Balgran president AK Khajuria says, “We have 122 children, of which 37 are girls. Most of them have been orphaned due to terrorism, natural calamities and other factors, while some have a single parent. They belong to the most disadvantaged sections of society.”
“Being a charitable home, we largely run on local donations in cash and kind but due to lockdown people are not able to reach us. Therefore, our donations have reduced drastically and our stocks are depleting rapidly,” said Khajuria.
The home provides free boarding, lodging, food and education to children aged 5 to 22 years till they become independent.
“We have written to the social welfare department requesting them to help us in these trying times. The director of the social welfare department had visited us on Tuesday and brought two quintals of flour but we need cereals, pulses, edible oils, vegetables and other items to sustain ourselves during this lockdown. We use 25kg of flour everyday,” he said.
While Balgran’s annual expenditure is ₹65 lakh, the government only provides it with ₹4 lakh per annum, an amount which was recently revised from ₹1.50- ₹2 lakh per year.
“We provide these children with food, clothes, uniforms, books, medicines and conduct routine health check-ups. We also have to pay around ₹1.6 lakh per month to around 15 employees,” he said.
The school has around 12 teachers while a few others work voluntarily.
Balgran’s school ‘Bal Bharti’ teaches students till Class 10. They are then sent to government institutions for further education.
“Balgran, also has ward mothers, who remain with the young students all the time to provide them with emotional support. The younger students need help to eat, change, bathe and get ready for school. The ward mothers ensure that the children get motherly care,” said Khajuria.
Our first priority is to adopt orphaned children, who have nobody to look after them.
