The Hindu : National : Orphanages in Kerala get away with unfair practices

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Orphanages in Kerala get away with unfair practices

N.J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State government is yet to initiate action on an expert committee's recommendations for streamlining the functioning of orphanages and amending the Orphanages Control Act, 1960 for monitoring their functioning.

The eight-member committee, which reviewed the functioning of orphanages, has reported that there are 1,200 authorised and 200 unauthorised orphanages in the State. Most of the unauthorised institutions, of which every district has a share, do not maintain documents containing the details of the children with them.

The number of children in the orphanages comes to 45,000 together, but only 3,000 of them are fully orphaned. Even children with both parents living have been given admission, exploiting the ambiguity in the rules defining an orphan or a destitute. However, the number of occupants in unauthorised institutions is coming down every year, even by more than half in some cases.

Most institutions are less than child-friendly and go scot-free even without offering job-oriented courses for the children. Institutions getting government grant are expected to function in a secular manner, but many of them try to make children follow one religion or the other and use them for promoting religious interests. In some orphanages, 20 or more children are locked up in one room each, which is usually dingy and without the basic facilities.

The committee has recommended a thorough amendment to the Act, with rules specifying provisions for monitoring the daily functioning, admission, rehabilitation and basic facilities in private orphanages. ‘Jagratha samithis' (watchdog committees) comprising representatives of civic bodies should have a crucial role in their functioning. The monitoring mechanism should ensure the secular functioning of institutions getting government grant.

The committee comprised M. Prakasan and K.S. Saleekha, MLAs; P. Muralidharan, C.S. Abdul Jabbar and K.V. Gopikuttan, Chief Judicial Magistrates of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Kozhikode, respectively; T. Narayanan, treasurer, Child Welfare Council; P.K. Sainaba, member, Women's Commission; and K. Rajan, Superintendent, Kozhikode Juvenile Home (Boys).

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