After Asha Kiran, DCW finds serious violations at Asha Jyoti Home

Days after shocking lapses at government-run Asha Kiran Home here came to light, the Delhi Commission for Women found similar lapses at Asha Jyoti Home for the mentally challenged and issued notice to the Social Welfare Department Secretary on Thursday.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal, during a surprise visit to Asha Jyoti Home on Wednesday, observed that women residents were lined up "completely naked" while awaiting turn for bath, the notice said.

The Home houses 59 women and girls who are mentally challenged in "mild and moderate" categories.

"Even after bath, (the women) were walking naked to their rooms. This is a severe blow to their dignity and a serious human rights violation," the notice said.

Similar violations were observed at the Asha Kiran Home as well where Maliwal made a surprise inspection last week.

In the notice, Maliwal said the area where the women were lined up naked was partially uncovered, "which could easily result in the women catching cold and falling ill".

"Warm water was not available for bathing even as it is winter," it said.

Maliwal said the mentally challenged women were being made to cook meals for Asha Jyoti and Beggar Home (which share a kitchen) "as there was only one cook and one helper to cook meals for over 80 residents".

Maliwal also found lack of hygiene at the Asha Jyoti Home.

"There is only one sweeper for two homes and that too in one shift. Due to this, on the morning of the surprise inspection, the toilets and the area around it in Asha Jyoti Home were dirty," the notice read.

Maliwal highlighted the urgent need to increase the number of sweepers in each shift.

She also recommended installation of closed-circuit television in the home and its monitoring "only by female staff".

"Please provide an action-taken report on the above-mentioned points along with specific timelines for rectification of each issue latest by 5 p.m. on February 15," Maliwal told Social Welfare Department Secretary Dilraj Kaur.

The DCW on Wednesday summoned Kaur to appear before it on February 11 over lapses at the Asha Kiran Home for the mentally challenged.

Maliwal had on Saturday night paid a surprise visit to the Asha Kiran Home and found the condition there "deplorable".

Maliwal noted overcrowding with up to four patients sharing a single bed, women inmates made to remove clothes in the open while queueing up for bath and walking naked in the corridors, and CCTV cameras being monitored by male staff.

--IANS

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