180 orphanages want to shut down

KP Saikiran | TNN | Dec 10, 2017, 07:14 IST

Representative Image

Representative Image

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the state insisting on mandatory registration of orphanages under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act by December 15, at least 180 institutions have informed the government that they are not willing to register and are planning to shut down their operations.

The orphanages are citing serious financial crunch and loss of decisionmaking powers with regard to the admission of children, if they are brought under the JJ Act. A couple of such applications sent by the orphanages to the government, accessed by TOI, says that they want the children to be shifted from their institutions to places that are deemed fit by the government.

"We are running the institution with local contributions. With this contribution alone, we will not be able to meet the staff specifications prescribed in the new Act. We have expressed our concerns in writing to the government. But we are yet to receive any response," said sister Navya Maria, office-incharge, Assissi Snehashram at Kattappana in Idukki. The organization's orphanage at Thopramkudi houses 38 children.

Of the 1,183 orphanages functioning in the state, 40 run by the social justice department have got themselves registered under the provisions of the JJ Act. Earlier, these institutions were under the regulatory control of orphanage control board which gave them more freedom but the JJ Act is stringent with respect to needs of the children. The Act insists that institutional care should be the last resort, after exhausting the possibilities of adoption and foster care.

"The government is firm that the institutions should register before the deadline. Any move to put pressure on the government using children cannot be agreed to," said Biju Prabhakar, special secretary (social justice).

He said that the government is fully aware that it cannot take over the protection and care of all the children in one go, and it will approach the Centre seeking special financial assistance, and if the Centre does not agree, it will approach the Supreme Court with the request. The state's lack of preparedness is evident from the fact that in a district like Idukki alone, where alone there are 78 orphanages, more than 20 have declined to register. The state government will have to take up the responsibility of the children when such orphanages decide to shut down operations. The child welfare committee in Idukki has written to the government seeking necessary directions on what to do with the children if the orphanages cease to provide care.

The issue came in for the discussion at the meeting convened by social justice minister K K Shailaja in the secretariat on Tuesday, but, it is learnt that no decisions were taken. "The government is of the opinion that institutions that cannot function as orphanages but are housing destitutes can be renamed as hostels. But homes that are housing orphans will have to register if they want to provide children for adoption," government sources said.

The refusal of the orphanages to register under JJ Act has literally put the child welfare committees in a spot. "There are very few orphanages that have registered under the Act. The CWCs can send the children to only such orphanages. Since the options are limited, the CWCs are helpless," said Umar Farooq, member, child welfare committee, Kannur . He said that it is the orphanage control board which is becoming toothless that are misleading the orphanages. "If the orphanages are properly made aware of the regulations, many of them will be willing to register under the Act," he said.

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