Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): NGOs running shelter homes for women and children in the state say they would vehemently oppose the Central government’s decision to take over these institutions and get them run by the state governments. They would also approach the courts, which are already monitoring their work.
According to the decision of the Central Government, the MP Government has decided to take over the shelter homes for women and children being run by NGOs and manage them itself. The shelter homes include Shakti Sadans, One Stop Centres and Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
.jpg)
There are a total of 14 Shakti Sadans, which are meant for women victims of domestic violence and crimes and deserted women. All the Sadans are being run by NGOs. There are 60 CCIs in the state, which are meant for children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with law. Of these only four are being run by the government and the rest by NGOs. The government gives grants to the NGOs for running the homes. They say that they have not been formally informed about the decision, but they are aware of the same.
“NGOs in Gujarat and Rajasthan are planning to approach the Supreme Court in the matter soon. We also plan to join them,” said a representative of one of the NGOs from Bhopal who did not want to be named. The NGOs say that they have been managing these institutions for years. “We established these institutions when the grants were low. Now that they have been raised, the government wants to take over,” said the representative of another NGO from Narsinghpur.
The NGOs said that Shakti Sadans were earlier known as Mahila Swadhar Grihas. “Earlier, they were given grants at the rate of Rs 1,300 per month per inmate. Now, the amount has been raised to Rs 5,300 and the government wants to throw us out,” said a representative of an NGO from Rajgarh. They also say that the CCIs (Child Care Institutions) are monitored by the High Court of the state through District and Sessions judges and Juvenile Justice Boards and that there have been no complaints against them.
According to the NGOs workers, the Madhya Pradesh Government is not even paying their grants regularly. “The payment of our grant has been pending for the past three years. Over Rs 40 lakh remains unpaid,” said the representative of an NGO from Bhopal. Others also complained of grants for the past one or two years being unpaid.
.jpeg)
