Uttarakhand Commission for Protection of Child Rights (UCPCR) chairperson Yogendra Khanduri sounded disappointed over non- submission of a detailed report by the State social welfare department over the escape of some girls from the State-run Balika Niketan at Kedarpuram in Dehradun on December 17 last. Notably, Khanduri had shot off a letter to the additional Chief Secretary, social welfare, Ranveer Singh, on December 18 last, asking him to inform about the steps being taken to stop recurrence of such escape of the inmates of the juvenile home. In the letter, he is said to have asked the department to submit a detailed report on the sequence of events leading to the escape of the girls from the home and also on the steps being taken to stop recurrence of incidents in 10 days.
“Regretfully, the report is yet to be submitted to the commission by the social welfare department. We have had no response to the letter we wrote to the state chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh on the same issue,” he said.
He further said that the administration trifling with the Commission for Protection of Child Rights is unfortunate. “The commission was formed following an act passed in the Parliament. Some important powers have been invested in the commission by the Parliament regarding the children’s rights and their protection. Given the power it is enjoying, the commission has every right to seek documents, to call for an inquiry and to summon officers at the commission.
Underplaying the importance of the commission amounts to undermining the Parliament,” Khanduri said. He further said that he has asked the chief secretary to make the additional chief secretary to explain why he has not yet submitted the detail report sought of him regarding the sensitive issue. “I have asked the chief secretary to make things clear in no time,” he said.
Notably, five girls had escaped from Balika Niketan on the intervening night of December 16 and 17 last and had been later recovered.