Human rights panel asks govt to explain

The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the secretary of the state Social Welfare department over a report about two children missing from Asha Kiran,an observation home for the mentally challenged.

The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the secretary of the state Social Welfare department over a report about two children missing from Asha Kiran,an observation home for the mentally challenged.

On December 24 last year,the Social Welfare department put out advertisements in newspapers about two inmates missing from the home. The reports were about 16-year-old Raju,4.8 feet tall,who was admitted to the home on May 21 last year,and was found missing since September 16. The second case was of a seven-year-old boy,admitted to the home in December 2006. The boy who is merely 3.6 feet tall is also reported missing from the complex, the advertisement read.

The boys went missing despite the fact that the boundary walls around the complex are 10-feet high and have barbed wire over them. Security guards are posted at the gate round the clock.

The commission had taken cognizance of a complaint filed by R H Bansal,a human rights activist. Bansal in his complaint has claimed that the children could have become victims of organ harvesting or child trafficking rackets. The NHRC has asked the Social Welfare department to submit the report within four weeks of receiving the notice.

The Asha Kiran complex has been in news after more than 26 deaths were reported in two months at the home. This was followed by a series of visits by ministers,activists and intervention of the Institute of Human and Allied Science. The government is also looking for a private firm to take over Asha Kiran to maintain it under a public-private partnership model.

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