Children housed at the shelters for the urban homeless functioning under the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) face the risk of being displaced and shifted to other government homes in the city.
In a letter to the Department of Social Defence in March this year, the GCC said seven shelters for children were among the 54 for urban homeless in the city, and functioned as per the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) guidelines.
As per the letter, the seven shelters that housed 163 children were short stay homes, hence could not function as permanent homes for the children. It was observed that these buildings were raised as per the DAY-NULM norms for homeless adults as there were no alternative buildings available with the GCC which met the norms under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 where these children could be shifted to.
Paul Sunder Singh, founder, Karunalaya Girls Shelter Home that houses 20 girls, said that they received a letter from the DCPU in May this year, asking to produce all the children before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) so that they could be sent to other homes. “We had appealed to the government about this and were informed following a high-level meeting of various departments, that the children would not be displaced. However, in September again, we received a letter from the GCC asking to transfer the girls,” he said.
Mr. Paul said that despite having all the necessary documents, they had been struggling to get the shelter registered under the JJ Act. “The building where the shelter is, was provided to us by the GCC last year and we were asked to shift in August 2022. Our previous shelter was registered. The DCPO office has informed us that unless the GCC gives a written consent, the registration cannot be completed. This is not mandatory under the JJ Act, and is causing a needless delay,” he alleged.
Stating that the Karunalaya shelter worked for the betterment of the girls who stayed there, he said many of them had gone on to become sports champions, and participated in global sporting events including the street child cricket and football world cups. “The registration process for our shelter should be expedited at the earliest. Children who are comfortable here and are thriving, will bear the brunt of being displaced,” he added.
Last month, the Boys Shelter at Rajarathinam Nagar, Kodungaiyur, managed by the Arunodaya Centre for Street and Working Children, which was one among the seven shelters run by the GCC, was shut down. Sixteen children, who were housed there, were produced before the CWC and transferred to other homes.
The City Health Officer, M. Jagadeesan, said the GCC was also awaiting an action plan from the Department of Social Defence Child Protection Management System, and that the children may not be shifted. Norms were not specified under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission for shelters for children when the Corporation took up the initiative in 2013.
According to him: “We did not refer to the shelters initially. A member of the Tamil Nadu Child Welfare Committee checked one of the homes and reported it was not conforming to the norms under the JJ Act. There were shortcomings in the stays, toilet facilities and working areas. So we asked the committee to assess all our centres and let us know the way forward.”
“The committee sent letters directly to six shelters requesting that they present the children in front of the committee. The Corporation does not know of its plan. The Child Welfare Committee is statutorily more empowered to take care of children than the Corporation. DCPO [District Child Protection Officer] knows better than us. The shortcomings can be addressed by the DCPO,” Dr. Jagadeesan said.
(With inputs from Aishwaryaa R.)
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