The Hindu : Destitute children now have a home

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 12, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Destitute children now have a home

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, FEB. 11. The four-year-old Akhila (name changed) will never know who her mother is. But if the Government allows it, she can find an adopted home.

If she is not lucky enough to get foster parents, this tiny-tot — abandoned by her unwed mother soon after she was born — will grow up in a succession of State homes.

Till now children like Akhila used to live on the streets or were cared for by non-governmental organisations. But now, they have a new home, "Shishu Mandir", the State's first Government-run home for children below six, opened near the Bangalore Dairy Circle here, on Wednesday.

Akhila and a dozen other little children did not have a very good morning that day though. The Minister for Women and Child Development, Motamma, and the Minister for Bangalore Development, Ramalinga Reddy, were supposed to inaugurate the Rs. 34-lakh building and although the children waited for three hours neither turned up.

Shishu Mandir is located behind the Kidwai Institute of Oncology and is a new addition to a compound that contains the State homes for men, women, and juveniles, the mentally-ill and destitute - all of which come under the Department for Women and Child Development

The Shishu Mandir can look after 50 boys and girls. Children on the streets or those who need care and protection are the ones brought to the home, said the Joint Director of the department, Nusrath Fatima. A Child Welfare Committee processes each case.

Dietary plan: According to Ms. Fatima, the department is bringing out a new dietary plan for Shishu Mandir. At present, children in other homes get milk, rice, and vegetables, which are found to be insufficient. The Welfare Officer, Madhava Murthy, said the department had sent the plan to the Government and hoped to get the approval shortly. They wanted to get Shishu Mandir approved as an adoption agency so that these children could be sent to their adopted homes, he said. For details about the home, call 26569344.

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