40% children’s homes in state face closure as govt withholds funding
There are around 80,000 children in the 703 planned children’s homes in the state.
3 min read
As per the JJ Act, the NGOs were asked to revamp their buildings, have one bathroom per 10 children, one toilet per seven children and follow many other such norms.
Almost 40 per cent of the children’s homes or balgruhas in the state are facing closure. Many are finding it hard to even feed the children, and staff working in these institutions are quitting in large numbers. The Women and Child Development Ministry has been blamed for this, and it has been accused of withholding funds.
The department, however, said that it is conducting a survey to find out how many ‘fake’ NGOs are functioning, and only after that will it release the funds.
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“There are around 80,000 children in the 703 planned children’s homes in the state. There are 297 unplanned ones and 33 government-run organisations too but they are not getting the required funds,” said Ravindra Kumar Jadhav, the working president of the Bal Vikas Sanstha Chalak Karmachari Sanghatna Maharashtra, an umbrella organisation of all the children’s homes in the state.
“The actual fund that is needed to sustain us comes to around Rs 120 crore a month. But the commissionerate of child welfare says that we have been earmarked a sum of only Rs 11 crore 29 lakh for this year. This is exploitation. On one hand the government talks of protecting the rights of the children and on the other hand they hand out peanuts for their well-being. If we don’t get funds soon, at least 40 per cent of the homes will close down,” said Jadhav.
The organisation’s members went on a hunger strike in May demanding proper implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act and payment of dues in Pune. Jadhav says that despite assurances that Pankaja Munde, Woman and Child Minister, would meet them, a meeting did not take place.
As per the JJ Act, the NGOs were asked to revamp their buildings, have one bathroom per 10 children, one toilet per seven children and follow many other such norms. “But while we were asked to do this revamp, when it came to paying the rent and staff, the government looked the other way,” said Shivaji Joshi, president of the organisation.
Rahul More, the deputy commissioner, Women and Child Development Ministry, said, “We have come to know that there are fake NGOs who are claiming to have orphanages and then taking funds. Information about this will reach us within a week. We will scrutinise this information and then disburse funds.”
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