August 6, 2018:
Aftermath of the alleged Sexual Assault on Minor Girls in Muzaffarpur and Deora, on Monday, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi asked States to build a single large central facility to house such children in a bid to prevent "abuse and misuse" by NGOs.
Gandhi added that Adoption and Skill Development programmes in a Central facility would be much easier and it would also help in checking "Abuse and Misuse" by NGOs who are running their own shelter homes with grants from the government.
Maneka Gandhi stated that,"I have been asking for a scheme where each state should have a single large facility to house all such girls and children which should be run by the state government".
Other homes in State should only provide temporary shelter to women, girls and children in distress situations and after clearance by the Child Welfare Committee, she added.
Her suggestion came in the backdrop of the recent alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in Bihar's Muzaffarpur and Uttar Pradesh's Deoria districts.
She stated that the Women and Child Development Ministry would be happy to fund the construction of these facilities in each state and then it handover to State Government.
Case of sexual assault of minor girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter home, run by an NGO, was first highlighted in an Audit Report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai, to the Bihar Social Welfare Department in April,2018.
FIR in the case was registered on May 31 against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur, the owner of the NGO which ran the government-funded shelter home for destitute girls.
On July 26, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter.
Source NewIndianExpress
Picture Source :
