Juvenile home lacks child welfare panel

HYDERABAD: The Juvenile Welfare Home for Boys at Saidabad does not have a full-fledged child welfare committee to monitor its functioning though the ‘Juvenile Justice Act’ passed by the government in 2000 specifies that a four-member committee is a must.
However, for the past two years, the committee has been ‘functioning’ with just two members, that too a couple.The couple — G F Prabhakar and his wife G Lakshmi — run a home for street children named ‘Karuna Nilayam’. However, they managed to become members of the committee and Prabhakar is now the ad-hoc chairman.
Asked how both husband and wife can be members of the same committee, Prabhakar said the Act neither permits nor restricts couples from being members. The couple became members before the new Act was passed and were part of the AP Juvenile Welfare Committee. They submitted their resignations nine months ago, but were asked to continue till a new committee was formed.
The motive behind continuing with the couple, instead of constituting a fresh committee is not clear. While sources in the department told The Times of India that ‘some people’ are persisting with the ad-hoc committee due to monetary benefits, superintendent of the home Sukumaran fumbled for an answer. He said as the Act was introduced ‘recently,’ the committee would have to recast according to the new stipulation.
Asked about his experience with the juvenile home, he said problems persist due to lack of cooperation from the supervisory staff. He, however, said that food being served at the juvenile home was of high quality and he himself does not get s u c h g o o d food at h i s house. Inmates of the juvenile h o m e told The Times of I n d i a t h a t they get o n l y rice and sambar.