Over 50,000 children are housed in over 1,200 orphanages run by religious bodies and NGOs
John Veitch with children at Hope Community Village. (Picture used only for representional purpose)
ALAPPUZHA: The children in the private orphanages in the state are afforded the least protection and care. This was evident from the way eight inmates, including three girls, of an orphanage named ‘Hope Community Village’ at Kanjikuzhi here escaped on Tuesday, though they were caught later. The inmates below the age of 17 had planned a pleasure trip to Chennai. They jumped over the compound wall of the orphanage spread over two acres, but none noticed their act.
There are over 50,000 children in over 1,200 orphanages run by religious bodies and NGOs in the state and their plight has not improved though the state Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has initiated several steps for their welfare. In 2010, a government committee headed by Mr M. Prakashan Master had suggested bringing all private orphanages under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 as they were functioning without transparency.
The committee had listed a series of irregularities in the orphanages. “Some put their inmates through hard labour, some rent out the children to schools to fill the numbers during inspection, some send the girls for domestic work and others keep the inmates forever,” it said. But the government has not taken any action. Mr Santhi Raj, administrator of the ‘Hope Community Village’ founded by Mr J. W. F. Veitch, a Britisher, in 1995, said it had not been receiving any government aid to take care of the 60 inmates.
“At least Rs 10-lakh grant is still pending with the social justice department. We keep our accounts transparent and up- to-date. The organisation is being run with the funds received from England. So how can the government have a say over us?” he asked.
Advocate J. Sandhya, member of the Child Rights Commission, said that Parliament had in 2006 mandated that all orphanages and children’s home should be registered under the JJ Act.
“But Kerala has not complied with it. Instead, it issued an order in 2010 exempting the orphanages from registering under the Act,” she points out. Many allege that these homes hold on to their children to maximise the fund flow from charitable individuals, organisations and dubious sources.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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