Bangalore’s hellhole
Counting their hours: Inmates of DRC / Photo: Bhanu Prakash Chandra
*CONTROVERSY
Death of inmates brings the Destitute Rehabilitation Centre under the
scanner
*
*By Ramu Patil*
The Destitute Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore is an antithesis of the
hi-tech city. Walk into the premises, and you find scores of emaciated,
unwashed men and women, staring into empty space. Many of them are mentally
challenged, and are oblivious to the presence of outsiders and the flies
hovering over their bodies.
A nauseating stench of human excrement and urine hangs in the air. The
officials and staff are forced to wear surgical masks to keep away the
stench and infection.
Karnataka State Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice S.R. Nayak, who
visited DRC following the death of 27 inmates in mid-August, was shocked at
the filth and sub-human conditions. “The place is full of filth. It is the
most barbaric and inhuman living condition that I have ever seen in my life.
It is atrocious and like a hell on earth,” he said. “People were treated
like half-dead and the place was so dirty that no one could stand there for
five minutes. Once a person goes there all that he or she can do is count
their days. It is not a rehabilitation centre but a place where one just
waits to die.”
A government-appointed committee, led by National Rural Health Mission
director S. Selvakumar, is investigating the cause of the deaths. Many
people feel the unhygienic living conditions and lack of nutritious food and
medical aid were the cause. The committee is also probing the exact number
of deaths as the rehabilitation centre has failed to maintain proper records
of the inmates.
Many of the inmates are not destitute or beggars. Venkatesh, 35, a native of
Vijayawada, left his job in a hotel and took a train to Bangalore in search
of a better job. Minutes after alighting at Bangalore, he was apprehended by
DRC personnel who were rounding up beggars, the mentally ill and anyone who
appeared dishevelled, as part of a special drive to clear the city of
beggars. He spent 15 harrowing days in the hellhole.
The number of inmates increased from 900 to 2,600 following the special
drive. The vans, which were used to pick up the destitute, were similar to
the ones used to catch stray dogs. Following media reports of the death of
inmates, people flocked to DRC in the hope of finding their missing
relatives. Ramanjaneya, 24, who was in DRC for 10 months, was reunited with
his mother who came there in search of her mentally challenged son.
DRC, which is run by the Central Relief Committee, a government-appointed
board, gets funds from the beggary cess collected by the Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike. “Funds are not at all a problem. This year we got 240
crore,” said M. Ramaiah, the new secretary of the CRC.
How that money was spent is anybody's guess, as the inmates were not given
even soap and toothpaste. “The rice served inside was unfit for human
consumption. It was spread on a dirty floor and covered with dirty clothes,
while flies hovered all over the place. The inmates had not taken a shower
for many months,” said Nayak.
The human rights commission has ordered an investigation into all aspects
including corruption and mismanagement of DRC. “We are also looking into a
complaint by People's Union for Civil Liberties of alleged sexual harassment
inside the rehabilitation centre,” said Nayak.
Govind Karjol, minister for minor irrigation and planning, admitted the rot
in the system. “When I visited the place, I was shocked to see inmates in
such an appalling condition. There were lice-like parasitic insects on their
bodies. Many of them were suffering from mental illness, skin diseases and
other problems. They were not even kept in separate dormitories,” said the
minister who was given the additional charge of social welfare when minister
D. Sudhakar, who handled the portfolio, was shunted out following the
controversy. “Our officials picked up mentally challenged people and even
those looking like beggars and locked them up inside the centre. That is a
mistake and we admit it.”
“The situation has improved by 100 per cent and we have taken all
precautionary measures,” said Ramaiah. Despite persistent requests, he
refused to divulge the exact number of deaths. The deaths shook the state
government out of its slumber. It sacked the CRC chairman and suspended some
officers, and looked into lapses on the part of the doctor who runs the
health centre at DRC. The government has not yet got the exact number of
deaths.
Three doctors and ten nurses have been deputed for the health centre, which
is run by Karuna Trust, an NGO. The government has also directed Victoria
and Bowring Hospitals to set apart 60 beds for patients from DRC. The staff
strength at DRC, too, is being doubled to 72. The government may send
non-Kannadiga inmates to destitute centres in their own states.
But human rights organisations and the opposition parties say the government
is shutting the stable after the horse has bolted. “Whoever is responsible
for such a state of affairs at DRC has to be punished. You cannot just lock
up people inside and make them wait for their death,” said Prakash Kariappa,
coordinator, fact-finding committee of the South India Cell For Human Rights
Education and Monitoring.
Senior Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa, however, suspects a larger conspiracy
behind the deaths. “The state government recently anno-unced that of the 300
acres on which DRC was located, 270 acres were being taken over for
commercial use. Days after that announcement, we witnessed the horrible
developments and we are not sure whether it is just a coincidence,” he said.
The Congress has demanded a judicial probe.
While the officials are busy cleaning up the mess, Venkatesh, who has lost
all hopes of a better life, now begs on the streets of Bangalore. So much
for dreaming of a better life.
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