The overlord and the lost children of Dongri

The irony: the burly Waghmode — a close confidant of CM Sushilkumar Shinde — is chairman of the Children’s Aid Society and he’s supposed to bring succour to those 500 boys (and more in six other homes), the lost children of India’s richest city.

In this megapolis of 14 million, the Dongri Observation Home is the first and only stop for all juvenile delinquents and children ‘‘in need of care and protection’’ (the state’s umbrella term for the rest). But with Waghmode’s needs as priority, slippers for Dongri’s barefoot children — on whom the state spends Rs 17 each daily — can wait another day.

Improving its 1:150 teacher-student ratio doesn’t even figure on the agenda. Its decrepit buildings are routinely ignored by the PWD. While Waghmode’s letterhead is printed on cerulean paper, the Child Welfare Committee that oversees children’s cases at Dongri complains of shortage of stationery.

So what are Waghmode’s qualifications? ‘‘There are no qualifications,’’ says Maharashtra’s Minister for Social Welfare blandly. ‘‘He was appointed by the Chief Minister, not my department.’’

When contacted, Shinde said he would ‘‘have to dig out his (Waghmode’s) file before answering any questions about this.’’ Call tomorrow, he said. When The Indian Express did, he said: ‘‘I will answer all questions on this issue after March 26. I am busy with the elections.’’

From the large, golden letters being put up by a carpenter on his door declaring ‘Minister of State Rank’ (he’s been pushing for it since his appointment last August) to the Sierra and the Sumo outside, Waghmode oozes wealth and influence.

The 200-yr-old Dongri complex was a jail till 1927. Its high yellow walls, heavily topped with shards of glass, testify that for most of the children who inhabit it — and often attempt escape — Dongri is little more than a primitive prison.

The staff is overworked, poorly trained — and often blase. An attendant for the girls’ unit is quick to present her qualifications: ‘‘10th Fail.’’

Waghmode was handpicked as chairman. The society is yet to have a governing council despite its constitution’s directive that the chairperson must be nominated out of the council’s members.