BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Odisha government to take action on the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on death and exploitation of children in shelter homes in the State.
Disposing a petition filed by rights activist and lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC has asked the Chief Secretary to comply with the recommendations at the earliest. The direction came after Tripathy informed the Commission that the recommendations made by Special Rapporteur Dr Vikas Aggarwal have not been acted upon by the government and no compensation paid to the victims.
In response to the complaint filed by Tripathy on sexual exploitation in shelter homes, including a Gurukul Ashram in Dhenkanal where a minor student was found dead on July 2, 2019, the NHRC had earlier sought a report from Dhenkanal Collector.
Expressing concern over the report of Dhenkanal Collector that the children victims are not covered under Compensation Rules, the Commission had directed the Collector to move a petition before the court concerned through public prosecutor under Rule 7 of POCSO Rules, 2012, for compensation and submit compliance report within six weeks.
Later, a team led by the Special Rapporteur visited several shelter homes in Dhenkanal. The shelter homes included Good News India Shelter Home at Belatikri, where minor children were allegedly being sexually exploited. Aggarwal enquired into the matter thoroughly and submitted the report recommending the State government to launch an enquiry how such shelter homes and Ashram schools, which were not registered as per the rules under Juvenile Justice Act and not following the guidelines of NCPCR, were allowed by the District Education Officer (DEO) to function and ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
Although, the Collector submitted that the court concerned has directed the Public Prosecutor to file victim compensation applications through victims, the NHRC noted that no enquiry report or compliance report has been submitted so far and no compensation paid. “Therefore, let direction be issued to the Chief Secretary to take action on the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur and send compliance,” the order stated.