Social audit of 3000 shelter homes done, more than 40 shut: Maneka

The Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Friday said that social audit of 3,000 shelter homes across the country has been completed and more than 40 have been closed down for not adhering to norms.

The government move came following reports of alleged rape of inmates in shelter homes in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The minister had asked the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to conduct a social audit of child care institutes (CCIs) and submit a report within two months.

"The Ministry has been relentlessly pursuing with the states and Union Territories to ensure that CCIs adhere to standards of care as per the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015," she said while addressing a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament attached to the ministry.

"The ministry took up a drive for registration of these CCIs and shelter homes. As an outcome, 7,109 of these CCIs were reported to have been registered by December, 2017 while 401 are reportedly under process," she said.

Earlier this week, Gandhi had said that those CCIs who fail to get registered within two months will face closure.

Gandhi said that for long-term solution to the problem of providing adequate care and protection to the children, states should have a large central facility for women and children.

"The land is provided by the state governments, the WCD Ministry will allot funds from the Nirbhaya Fund and other sources. The government will be able to run well-designed programmes of skilling, trade, education etc in these homes along with providing protection," she added.

--IANS

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