Shelter home ‘flouts rules’, told to shut down

GURUGRAM: Asha Bhawan, a shelter home for destitute children in the city, will soon be shut down, following directions from Child Welfare Committee (CWC), for allegedly flouting regulations of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act. The shelter home, which is located in Kadipur Industrial Area on Pataudi road, allegedly runs a de-addiction-cum-rehabilitation facility on its premises and has refused to take in children rescued by the CWC.

Instead of sheltering destitute children and those sent by CWC, the children of patients who underwent rehabilitation and later got employed at Asha Bhawan are staying there, according to CWC chairperson Shakuntala Dhull.

The committee had sent several notices to the shelter home over the last year, asking them to disclose details of the children staying there and produce them before the committee, but it failed to respond, Dhull said. Neena Doss Bhattacharya, district in-charge of the shelter home, furnished the required documents before CWC on Tuesday. District programme officer for women and child development Sunaina Khatri, who had begun a fresh enquiry in this matter, confirmed that the process for the closure of the shelter home had been initiated.

CWC chairperson Dhull said the shelter home didn’t adhere to the guidelines of the JJ Act. “At times, some NGOs like Asha Bhawan deliberately get themselves registered under a government scheme — in this case, as a shelter home under the JJ Act — to claim the legitimacy of being recognised by the government, which they use to bag various other government-funded projects. In reality, Asha Bhawan was running a hostel for children of its employees,” she said,

Asha Bhawan, an NGO, houses more than 400 men, women and children in its 16 centres located in 12 states across the country.

“Our director (of the shelter home) is likely to come by the end of August and meet CWC officials. The shelter home is going to be closed at the behest of CWC,” shelter home in-charge Bhattacharya said.