516 orphanages in State threaten to close down
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Kottayam: The private orphanages are engaged in a last ditch effort to somehow resist the Supreme Court directive to register under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 as around 516 orphanages in the State have threatened to close down in the wake of the government’s decision to implement the SC order.
The government has asked all the private orphanages and children homes in the country to register before March 31.
Already 169 private orphanages have stopped accepting children. Around 516 institutes have now served notice to the Orphanages Control Board saying that it was not feasible to run orphanages under a new set of stricter guidelines.
The closing down is likely to affect over 12,000 children.
Although the institutes put forth a suggestion for a new policy considering the situation in the State, the Board is determined to go ahead with the registration procedure. An advertisement in this regard was published in all the major newspapers in the State asking the institutes to complete the registration by March 31. The advertisement warns that the managements failing to do so will have to face legal action.
The Board has convened on March 13 a meeting of the orphanages that have threatened to close down. The Board is of an opinion that the institutes should not hesitate to complete the registration process in time, and the facilities could be arranged in due course, since the inspections regarding the prescribed amenities will be carried out only later. The government may provide financial assistance to the registered institutes to set up the amenities, the Board officials say. In case this is not heeded, the idea is to shift the children of such institutions to other places.
Out of the 1116 orphanages under the Board, only 221 have completed the registration so far. The new rule specifies that fixed number of employees, teachers, caretakers, doctors and phychologists have to be employeed in proportion to the number of children. But the bodies running the orphanages are of the view that the situation in Kerala is different and most of the children come to orphanages for educational facilities.