Education, insurance for mentally deficient kids in shelter homes, says court
Having taken cognisance of the Mirror reports exposing 19 kids’ plight at a Kavdas shelter, the HC wants RTE Act for mentally deficient children’s homes across state.
To ensure long-term rehabilitation of the mentally challenged children in the shelter homes in the state, the Bombay High Court has directed that the Right to Education (RTE) Act is implemented immediately for the mentally deficient children’s homes and schools accredited by the National Institute of Open Schooling are linked to these shelter homes.
The court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) taken on the basis of the Mirror reports on the abuse of the inmates at a Kavdas orphanage. This newspaper first reported the horrifying details of what 19 mentally deficient children, some as young as seven, went through at the shelter home in its August 23, 2010 edition.
Now, a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and A R Joshi has directed the Central government to provide health insurance to the inmates of the mentally deficient children’s homes as well. The HC, on Wednesday, asked the concerned departments to report compliance of order by April 28.
The court passed the order based on a report submitted by Dr Asha Vajpayee, who was appointed the head of the State Coordination Committee for Child Protection (SCCCP), and who is also heading a model project called ‘Chunauti’ for children at a Mankhurd shelter home.
“It is the duty of the state and the District Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan to ensure implementation of the RTE Act even in respect of the inmates at the mentally deficient children’s homes in Maharashtra,” the bench observed.
On the point of providing health insurance to the children, the court said, “Under the National Trust Act, 1999, provision is made for health insurance scheme for the welfare of people with autism, retardation, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. We direct the chairperson of the National Trust to ensure that health insurance is provided to the inmates at the mentally deficient children’s homes in the state.”
The court also accepted the suggestion made by Vajpayee and her colleague Sita Shankaran that project Chunauti - which has been restricted to over 90 children in the Mankhurd shelter, be replicated across the state. This newspaper had reported that the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has put in place a long-term rehabilitation plan - Chunauti -- for the 35 mentally challenged children rescued in 2012 from two orphanages, where they had undergone untold torture at the hands of their caretakers (Kids rescued from Kavdas, Panvel get rehab hope thanks to TISS, February 9, 2012). The plan, especially designed for these kids and 57 other children drawn for orphanages across the city, aims to make them self-reliant by equipping them with vocational skills.
The HC bench directed principal secretary, Women & Child Welfare Department, and the Social Justice Department to ensure that the Chunauti model is replicated in all such shelters in the state.
The court was updated by the Vajpayee-led committee that it had conducted 11 individual counselling sessions with 10 children, and two group sessions were held with 20 children. Apart from this, seven gardening sessions were conducted with 16 children and 23 boys were given special training by the male special educator who trained them in self helps skills, social skills, functional academics and sports.
The court was informed some of the children were found to have an intelligence quotient (IQ) of above 70. The court directed the concerned authorities to scrutinise this aspect and “ensure that children whose IQ is normal or above normal or just below the normal be transferred to regular schools.”
To ensure long-term rehabilitation of the mentally challenged children in the shelter homes in the state, the Bombay High Court has directed that the Right to Education (RTE) Act is implemented immediately for the mentally deficient children’s homes and schools accredited by the National Institute of Open Schooling are linked to these shelter homes.
The court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) taken on the basis of the Mirror reports on the abuse of the inmates at a Kavdas orphanage. This newspaper first reported the horrifying details of what 19 mentally deficient children, some as young as seven, went through at the shelter home in its August 23, 2010 edition.
All the children were rescued the same day and moved to another orphanage, where they told counsellors how they were routinely raped and sodomised after being forced to consume liquor. Those who resisted were branded with cigarettes and thrashed. Within days of the expose and the children's rescue, the Bombay High Court took suo motu cognisance of the Mirror report and the police filed a criminal case against the shelter caretakers on September 4, 2010.
Now, a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and A R Joshi has directed the Central government to provide health insurance to the inmates of the mentally deficient children’s homes as well. The HC, on Wednesday, asked the concerned departments to report compliance of order by April 28.
The court passed the order based on a report submitted by Dr Asha Vajpayee, who was appointed the head of the State Coordination Committee for Child Protection (SCCCP), and who is also heading a model project called ‘Chunauti’ for children at a Mankhurd shelter home.
“It is the duty of the state and the District Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan to ensure implementation of the RTE Act even in respect of the inmates at the mentally deficient children’s homes in Maharashtra,” the bench observed.
On the point of providing health insurance to the children, the court said, “Under the National Trust Act, 1999, provision is made for health insurance scheme for the welfare of people with autism, retardation, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. We direct the chairperson of the National Trust to ensure that health insurance is provided to the inmates at the mentally deficient children’s homes in the state.”
The court also accepted the suggestion made by Vajpayee and her colleague Sita Shankaran that project Chunauti - which has been restricted to over 90 children in the Mankhurd shelter, be replicated across the state. This newspaper had reported that the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has put in place a long-term rehabilitation plan - Chunauti -- for the 35 mentally challenged children rescued in 2012 from two orphanages, where they had undergone untold torture at the hands of their caretakers (Kids rescued from Kavdas, Panvel get rehab hope thanks to TISS, February 9, 2012). The plan, especially designed for these kids and 57 other children drawn for orphanages across the city, aims to make them self-reliant by equipping them with vocational skills.
The HC bench directed principal secretary, Women & Child Welfare Department, and the Social Justice Department to ensure that the Chunauti model is replicated in all such shelters in the state.
The court was updated by the Vajpayee-led committee that it had conducted 11 individual counselling sessions with 10 children, and two group sessions were held with 20 children. Apart from this, seven gardening sessions were conducted with 16 children and 23 boys were given special training by the male special educator who trained them in self helps skills, social skills, functional academics and sports.
The court was informed some of the children were found to have an intelligence quotient (IQ) of above 70. The court directed the concerned authorities to scrutinise this aspect and “ensure that children whose IQ is normal or above normal or just below the normal be transferred to regular schools.”
