TISS To audit shelter homes across Delhi, says DCW

Following directions from Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the DCW has roped in an external expert agency to conduct the audit across 75 rehabilitation homes for women and girls less than 18 years in Delhi.

Days after eight women and a minor went missing from a shelter home in northeast Delhi, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday directed the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to conduct an independent audit of these places across the city.

File photo of DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal. Maliwal said there is a need to overhaul the shelter homes in the city. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Following the directions, the DCW has roped in an external expert agency to conduct the audit across 75 rehabilitation homes for women and girls less than 18 years in Delhi.

The commission has engaged Koshish, a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for the job, DCW said in a statement.

“Getting the audit done through an independent agency will help examine the present status and issues with shelter homes in order to present a clear picture to the government,” it said.

The decision was taken after a meeting of all stakeholders on Thursday. An agreement was signed between the commission and the agency. The team will document the practices and the lacunae in the operation of these homes.

“The team has already started visiting all shelter homes and will base the audit on various aspects, including infrastructure, facilities provided, attitude of staff and restoration efforts, among others,” the commission said.

Koshish was involved in exposing the series of sexual abuse cases in the shelter home at Bihar’s Muzaffarpur earlier this year.

DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal, said, “There is a need to overhaul the shelter homes in the city. A pilot social audit of shelter homes had been initiated by the commission in September and a report is being submitted to the government for the same.”