The Bombay High Court has set up a committee of representatives of NGOs to visit two children's homes in the city to ascertain whether cleanliness is maintained and proper hygienic food is served to the inmates
The Bombay High Court has set up a committee of representatives of NGOs to visit two children's homes in the city to ascertain whether cleanliness is maintained and proper hygienic food is served to the inmates.
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Dr K P Asha Mukundan, Director of 'Resource Cell for Juvenile Justice' at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, would head the committee, while other members would be nominated by 'Audience of One Foundation,' 'Project Ashiyana' and 'Ojus Medical Institution', all NGOs.
The panel will visit the Umerkhadi Observation Home and the Dongri Children's Home in the city regularly and see whether cleanliness is maintained and proper food is served to the inmates, said a division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and P D Naik last week on a suo motu (on its own) PIL based on media reports about these institutions.
"The committee shall make at least one or two visits every month without notice," the judges said. Advocate Rajiv Patil, acting as amicus curaea (friend of the court), informed during the hearing that an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at suburban Mankhurd where these children are given training is now virtually closed.
Government pleader Anurag Gokhale submitted a report by the Chief Officer of Children's Aid Society which says that since December 2015, short-term courses has restarted at the ITI.
However, the report also says that some buildings at the ITI are not in a good shape and require repairs and it also needs additional staff. The HC directed the government to take necessary steps for restoration of all the courses at the ITI at Mankhurd within six weeks.
Next hearing would be on July 1 when the committee headed by Dr Mukundan would submit a detailed inspection report.
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