NEW DELHI: Three departments of the government will be working in close coordination to set up a boarding school for homeless children announced by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia during his budget speech.
According to an official privy to the development, the modalities of the same will be worked out in a couple of weeks. “The modalities of the school will be worked out in close coordination with the Department of Social Welfare, Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) and the Department of Education,” the official said.
Talking about how the idea of the school originated, the official said in the post-pandemic period, there was a surge in the number of homeless children. “It was observed that the number of children seen near traffic signals increased after the pandemic. We did a pilot project in Malviya Nagar with the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and district authorities to see that, if they are provided with residential facilities” he said.
Another official said the WCD has been working on the issue of street children and issued guidelines for their identification. He said various NGOs could also work on identifying such children. The data collected would come in handy for the work, he said.