TIRUCHY: A total of ten out of 66 homes for children in the district have voluntarily come forward to close down, since they could not conform to the guidelines laid down by the Juvenile Justice Act.
Child welfare officials say that they would not force any home, which lacks infrastructure, to close down immediately but they have to conform to the guidelines in a time-bound manner. However, they would accept the voluntary closure of the homes.
Some of the voluntarily closed homes include Oli Illam home located in Ammapettai area (outskirts of the city), Dollars home located at Ponmalaipatti and Cope Trust home from the Ponmalai area in the city.
The children staying in the ten homes would be shifted to other homes gradually or the child welfare officials would recommend the parents of the children to take them away.