NEW DELHI: The Delhi government's finance department has shot down the Women and Child Development Ministry’s proposal for construction of a new building to house juveniles in conflict with law. As per the documents accessed, the proposed project has the capacity to accommodate only 225 children, whereas the real number is far more. Therefore in a meeting of the Expenditure Finance Committee held on May 15 under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the WCD Ministry was asked to revisit the proposal.
“After due deliberations, the proposal was deferred by the Committee and the administrative department was directed to re-visit the proposal keeping in view all futuristic requirements,” said an official present in the meeting on condition of anonymity. The proposal for the new complex was pushed by the Juvenile Justice Committee which was set up by the Delhi High Court after taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on the findings of a team of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).
The DCPCR team, which had received reports of drug and sexual abuse at a facility, had carried out a surprise inspection of juvenile home in Jahangirpuri in December last year, found the building lacking basic amenities. Consequently, the High Court asked the Public Works Department, WCD Ministry and the Finance Committee to fast-track the construction of a new home.
The proposed project worth Rs 19 crore was to come up in Narela on an urgent basis. However, even six months after the court’s direction, it has not even been finalised on paper. “There is a lot of work that is needed to be done in the field of juvenile correctional homes. But the attitude of officials and the lack of vision hurt our cause. If the government is planning to take some new steps, then they should seriously work on it,” said Satya Prakash, programme manager of FXB India Suraksha Childline India Foundation.
Young and troubled