Children’s home sealed in Medavakkam

33 children were rescued from the home; officials had received complaints of children going missing

A children’s home run by New Hope and New Life Trust was sealed at Ranganathapuram in Medavakkam on Saturday following complaints of children going missing. The administrators of the facility were also accused of not adhering to basic rules of running a home.

The officials rescued 33 children, including 19 girls, from the home, based on a petition to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The children were transferred to a nearby government-approved home.

District social welfare officer G. Sarguna told The Hindu, that the trust members had been given prior notice to set right poor living conditions and given enough time to do that.

“Moreover, there were complaints of ‘missing children’ from the home, for which we sought a report from the founder of the trust. Despite being given enough time, he failed to produce the children before the Child Welfare Committee. Based on the reports of Child Welfare Committee and reports of violations filed by social welfare department, the district collector on Friday issued orders to close the home,” she said.

Child welfare committee member, Zahiruddin Mohamed said they would submit a compliance report to the district collector and file a police complaint of child abuse against the founder of the home. “Homes for children should be licensed as per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2006, but the founder did not possess any licence to provide care for children,” he said.

“It is sad to note that 33 children were left to live in cramped three rooms of 8 x 10 size, with asbestos sheet roofing. The lavatory and bathroom facilities were also not enough,” said a CWC member, who accompanied the fact-finding team.

A revenue department official said that there were a number of homes for children in the district, some of which were unregistered. Two of these were closed during the last one-and-a-half months for their failure to comply with the norms. He said that CWC or revenue officials, on receiving information of non-compliance with rules by homes, would initiate action against them. The administration is also working to establish a monitoring system to ensure that all homes comply with the norms. The collector has made it clear that not much time would be lost in the next course of action, and there would be a crackdown on homes that did not adhere to safety and other norms, the revenue official said.

Founder-trustee of the home, C. Wilson said that children, including orphans, those with single parents and those from economically backward families, had been provided shelter and education at the home.

He said that he had been running the home for the past one year, and the missing children had gone with their parents. “Had the officials given us some more time, we would have proved that we are not guilty,” he said.

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