Comprehensive audit of U.P.’s 129 registered private shelter homes ordered
Director, women welfare, Sandeep Kaur has ordered all district magistrates for spot visits to ensure that these homes are running as per the laid down norms
The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a comprehensive audit of 129 private-run registered shelter homes for the old, orphans, widows, women, girls and differently abled functioning across the 75 districts of the state. These shelter homes are managed by different non-government organisations (NGOs).
Director, women welfare, Sandeep Kaur has ordered all district magistrates for spot visits to ensure that these homes are running as per the laid down norms and meeting all parameters laid down by the state government for their functioning, said a senior official of the women’s welfare department aware of the move.
During the exercise, details, including the names of the NGOs managing them, their names and addresses, date of registration and its validity, number of inmates mentioned in the attendance registers and those found actually residing in the homes, status of Aadhaar cards of the inmates and on whose orders have the inmates been lodged in the homes are to be collated and provided to the state government, the official added citing the missive dated December 16, 2023.
Other details like amenities present and the security arrangements at the homes including the status of CCTV cameras are also to be assessed during the physical verification exercise, says the missive, a copy of which is with HT.
The survey comes close on heels of an incident in Agra wherein a video clip of a woman superintendent of a government shelter home for children (Bal Grih) was seen physically assaulting a girl inmate with a slipper in September 2023. In June 2023, torture, sexual harassment and bribery were among the main allegations made by minors against four staff members at a shelter for girls in Saharanpur.
On June 20, an FIR was filed against the four staffers of the Rajsi Development and Research Sansthan, the NGO managing the juvenile home for the past 15 years, including its manager, superintendent, a housekeeping staff member and a cook.
The 129 homes of 33 districts that are to be audited include maximum 17 of Lucknow, 16 of Varanasi, 10 each of Mathura and Prayagraj, six each of Ghaziabad, Bijnor, Meerut and Saharanpur, five of Bareilly and three each of Pratapgarh, Gorakhpur and Hardoi districts among others.
District probation officer, Prayagraj, Sarvjeet Singh confirmed that an order has been received to conduct a detailed audit of the homes being run by voluntary organisations in different districts of the state, including Prayagraj.
“The district magistrate will form a committee for point-wise inspection of the houses in accordance with the missive. The report of the findings in the set format will be sent to the state government at the earliest,” he added.