BHOPAL: The death of a 16-year-old inmate in the Nehru Nagar shelter home has prompted the Madhya Pradesh Child Rights protection Commission to come up with new guidelines and rules for running the shelter homes in the state and avert repetition of any such tragic incident.
Deputation of a permanent counselor, two caretakers, an observer for monitoring medicines prescribed for inmates are some of the recommendations that the commissions intend to send to the department of Women and Child development.
The development comes following the death of a 16-year-old the Nehru Nagar shelter inmate. The girl, a witness in Pyare Miyan sex racket case, had died of sleeping pill overdose a fortnight back. A team of the Commission visited the shelter home to look into quality of life at shelter homes, facilities provided to the inmates. While the basic facilities at the center would be upgraded to make life more comfortable for its inmates, certain guidelines would be set to ensure their safety and security.
The commission had found that the incidents could have been averted if there were certain facilities in place at the shelter home. A special investigation team (SIT) probe is underway into the incident.
It was still a mystery as to why the girl had taken medicines that she had not been prescribed. The commission’s recommendations will be applied to all the 107 shelter homes being run for both girls and boys across the state.Currently, counselors are only provided on demand of the shelter home authorities, while there is a need of permanent counselors, said commission member Brajesh Singh Chauhan. Also, we need some staff who would give medicines to the minors, he said.
Training sessions and classes will also be organized at the shelter homes for the inmates who are about to be released to ensure that they are financially independent and are able to earn their livelihood.
Meanwhile, a notice was served on the district administration to send a concerned official in person and file a report on seven questions raised by the commission. The district administration was asked to file a report on the seven points in connection with the death of the minor, 11 days ago.
On the other hand, the commission had also carried out an inquiry and had sought suspension of shelter home’s warden Antonia Ekka Kujoor.
