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Surprise check Delhi government-run Asha Kiran Home reveals shocking human rights violations

Women’s commission alleged gross human rights violations at government-run Asha Kiran Home

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Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal
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In a shocking revelation, as many as 11 deaths have been reported in the Delhi government-run Asha Kiran Home, meant for mentally challenged persons, in the last two months. The matter came to light after Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) member Promila Gupta conducted a surprise inspection at the Home on Saturday and decided to stay overnight.

The Commission has now issued a notice to the Social Welfare Department of the AAP government, seeking an explanation by Wednesday. DCW Chief Swati Maliwal has also set up an inquiry in to the condition of the Home and issued a notice to the Secretary, Social Welfare, to respond within 72 hours.

“The Commission member found that 11 people died in the Asha Kiran Home in the last two months. She also observed several human rights violations,” Maliwal said. The panel members found extreme overcrowding in the Home, with each mattress being occupied by up to four residents. “Children and women were piled up together in an inhumane manner,” Maliwal said.

She further alleged that the women were being made to remove their clothes in the open while being lined up for a bath. “Shockingly, nude women were roaming around in the corridors, which have CCTV cameras that are monitored by male staffers. The Commission saw the related CCTV footage,” Maliwal added.

She also said the toilets were extremely filthy. “Most toilets and corridors had stool and urine lying around. Menstruation blood and stool were lying on the floor of the washroom and women were walking all over it,” she alleged.

The Commission also observed an extreme shortage of staff. “For instance, in a dormitory housing 153 residents, only one staff member was deployed. Most cottages and dormitories had bed-ridden children and women, and there was no one to look after them. Mentally-challenged residents were being made to sweep, clean clothes, and assist in daily chores. In one of the cottages that the Commission member visited, a staff member was getting her legs pressed from a mentally-challenged resident,” Maliwal said.

She further said only a single blanket was provided to most residents, and several women and children could be seen crawling unattended to get to the toilets, as the staffers were not providing them with the wheelchairs.

above all this, the Home has no clinical psychologist. One psychiatrist visits the Home, only for a few hours twice a week. Several posts for doctors were lying vacant, the Commission stated.

There was no guard stationed at the entrance of the female wing and it was easy for anybody, including male staffers, many of whom live in the same complex, to walk inside unchecked, Maliwal said.

The Commission member also observed that there were no counsellors and very few welfare officers, who did not interact with the residents daily, adversely affecting the residents’ well being. There was also only one special educator each for the mentally retarded persons as well as the hearing impaired persons in the Home.

“Many children were not given mattresses to sleep on. When queried, the staffers said children frequently wet their beds,” Maliwal said.

The Commission has stated that it is deeply disturbed at the inhumane condition in the Home. Last year in November, the Commission had issued a notice to the the Social Welfare Department after observing overcrowding and shortage of staff during an inspection in the same Home.

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