*Mahima Sikand* *30 July 2011*
*MUMBAI*: The Bombay high court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government to respond to suggestions made by a co-ordination committee which had submitted a report that painted a dismal picture of the shelter homes for mentally challenged children by August 22. The report by a HC-appointed committee had pointed out around 60 % districts across the state did not have a single shelter home for such children. Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud at a special meeting with officials of various state departments and the committee members said there were "no homes for mentally challenged children in 20 out of 35 districts as voluntary bodies were not active there." Justice Chandrachud said, "Only 59% of these shelter homes are registered under the Juvenile Justice Act and a mere 22% homes had even updated medical reports of the children." The court, which is dealing with a case involving abuse of children in shelter homes in Panvel and Thane, had last year appointed a committee headed by Dr Asha Bajpai and comprising child psychiatrist Harish Shetty and other activists to look into the affairs of these shelters. Dr Shetty said the police had done a good job in the investigations by suspending two SPs involved in the matter but questioned why similar action was not taken against officials from the Department of Women and Child Development, who were involved in issuing licences to these defaulting shelters. The committee among other things recommended transfer of all the rescued children to the Mankhurd home, including the five girls and 11 boys rescued from Thane and the 19 girls rescued from Panvel in the past few months. A round the clock security was essential as these children were "very vulnerable and faced a high degree of threat," said Dr. Bajpai who emphasized that installation of CCTVs in the shelter and 24 hour police vigil under the Witness Protection Act was essential to safeguard the interests of these children. The committee also brought up the issue of secondary victimization of these 35 children in the past months in the court. Talking about how everyone from ministers, the media and NGOs had been visiting these children and asking them to recount their experiences of abuse, rather insensitively at times, the committee declared that such encounters were harrowing for the kids who had already gone through so much. In this regard, Dr. Bajpai asked the court to ensure that such victimization doesn't take place in the future, and the children are not subjected to constant scrutiny from all sorts of people. A 24-hour emergency hotline was the need of the hour in all MCD homes, the committee said. State counsel Vinay Sonpal called for a balanced view on the new policies to be framed for the shelter homes. "The rules should not be so stringent that nobody comes forward to run such institutions in the future, which are ultimately serving a great purpose," he said. To this Dr. Bajpai reacted by saying that system of NGOs running shelter homes for mentally challenged children with government grants has failed miserably throughout the state. She added that these NGOs were not putting in any of their own money and relying completely on government money, which wasn't enough for these children. "Mentally challenged children are the responsibility of the government and as such the state must step up and take 100% of the responsibility. We must do away with this system of NGOs running the show at the earliest," she declared. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-30/mumbai/29833032_1_shelter-homes-mankhurd-home-hc-appointed-committee -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
