Child care institutions (CCI) in the district continue to have a tight reign over entry of persons into their premises.
Child Welfare Committee Chairman K. Vijayasaravanan said the committee had decided, after consulting heads of various child care institutions, to send back children, who either have single parents or are below the poverty line, to their homes in April.
“We wanted to prevent any spread of COVID-19 within our 45 CCIs. Children who were either orphaned or had been subjected to abuse are at our CCIs. We barely allow any outsiders to come in to ensure there is no spread of the disease,” he says.
He adds that around three CCIs have completely shut down operations and will resume operations only when schools start functioning.
However, a source said that only two out of 41 CCIs have admitted a number of students and provide shelter to a majority of children in these CCIs.
“Other places have clubbed resources and transferred children from one home to another. Children are all safe and get enough food and shelter. This is important for their welfare,” the source said.
CCIs have begun insisting on hand washing for cooks and caretakers who walk in from outside. They are disallowing donors from physically visiting the homes at the moment.
The chairman of the committee said that they are attempting to incorporate learning inside CCIs by encouraging children to read newspapers, watch educational videos and play. He says that physical and mental health need to be kept up in order to ensure that one is protected against COVID-19.
He added that inspections are regularly being conducted so as to ensure that needs of children are met. “We recently arranged for some sponsorship to provide sanitary napkins to all girls at our homes. Menstrual hygiene is important,” he said.
This arrangement of fewer children will likely to continue until schools start in full swing. “Until then, few or no people will be allowed to visit these institutions. We do not want any transmission inside our CCIs,” he said.