WCD to make installing CCTV in orphanages mandatory

Following the incident of sexual abuse reported at a Karjat shelter for poor orphans, the Woman and Child Development (WCD) department is now planning to make it mandatory for such shelters and orphanages to install CCTV cameras on their premises.

According to WCD officials, the Karjat shelter was being operated without the requisite permission or licence mandatory under section 34(3) of the Juvenile Justice Act.

"What can we do when these institutions do not take permission. It then becomes difficult for us to monitor them as we are short-staffed. If somebody opens a small establishment in some home, we would not know. People have to be cautious, that is the only way out," said a WCD official.

He claimed that district officials of the department had brought the issue of illegal children & women's homes operating in Raigad district.

"Our officials have been writing to the district police superintendent and seeking action against these homes right from 2012. It is for the police to take action, and our officials have been frequently informing the police about such illegal operations," said a WCD official

"We are contemplating on installing and making it mandatory for all such homes to install CCTV cameras to monitor the goings-on there. We are working out a proposal on this," said the official.