All 12 HIV+ children from the Kothrud-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Asha Samajik Pratishthan (ASP), will be shifted to the Manavya NGO for HIV+ children at Bhugaon near Pune.
All 12 HIV+ children from the Kothrud-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Asha Samajik Pratishthan (ASP), will be shifted to the Manavya NGO for HIV+ children at Bhugaon, near Pune, on Wednesday.
This follows the arrest of the founder trustee of ASP, Asha Shinde, on Monday evening by the Kothrud police, following a police complaint lodged by the district women and child development officer, Suvarna Pawar. Shinde was released on bail on Tuesday.
In ‘NGO runs orphanage for HIV+, sans caretaker’ (January 3) DNA had stated how the ASP is running its Kothrud centre for HIV+ children without a caretaker for the past year, putting the children to hardship.
Acting on a tip-off, Pawar raided the centre on Monday evening and was shocked to see that the centre did not have the mandatory licence from the state government’s women and child development office.
Speaking to DNA in her office on Tuesday, Pawar said the ASP had violated sections 23 and 34(3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. “Asha Shinde, the founder trustee, first violated section 34(3) of the Act by not registering with our department within six months of having started her centre. Later, she violated section 23, which refers to cruelty caused to juveniles and children,” Pawar said.
Pawar said she lodged a police complaint against Shinde at the Kothrud police station on Monday evening quoting these two violations, following which the police arrested Shinde. Senior police inspector, Kothrud police station, Chandrakant Ghodke, confirmed to DNA that he arrested Shinde on Monday evening and released her on bail on Tuesday afternoon.
Pawar said she was appalled to see the state of children at the centre. “I was shocked to see that the centre did not have a full-time rector or caretaker. The children were being neglected by ASP,” she said.
Pawar said the 12 children were immediately shifted to the boys and girls observation homes in the city on Monday evening. She would be submitting a report to the state commissioner for women and child development and a complaint to the Pune charity commissioner as the ASP was registered as a charitable trust.
Meanwhile, managing trustee of Manavya, Ujwala Lawate, told DNA that the ASP children were expected to arrive on Wednesday morning. Lawate said her centre was running to full capacity with 50 children and they had accepted the government’s request to house the additional 12 children on humanitarian grounds.
“We will be making a fresh application for enhanced capacities to the women and child development department,” Lawate said.
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