Abandoned to fate

LUCKNOW: Monu was found in Barabanki with not even a shred of clothing on his body. The ten-year-old boy, who is mentally challenged, could only tell his name when asked about his whereabouts. Police brought him to Lucknow and handed over to childline. Similarly, another mentally challenged boy, about eight-year-old, was standing on Jugauli railway crossing in Gomtinagar when he was saved by a cycle mechanic and brought to the childline.However, all government homes refused to admit the two boys as they were already overcrowded.
Finally, after much effort, Monu was admitted in Nirvaan, a non-government organisation and the other one, who cold not even tell about his name, at another NGO, Drishti Samaji Sansthan. As many as 28 mentally disabled children have been found abandoned in the city since April 2006, including three in one month alone. While there are an estimated over one lakh mentally retarded children, there are only two government shelter homes, for boys in Allahabad and for girls in Bareilly, with a capacity of 50 each.
Regular shelter homes for normal children do not admit mentally retarded children because they need 24 hours attention. "Such children even do not know about toilet practices, hence we need one maid over five children and expert hands who can train such children about basics of life and help them survive on their own. As managing these children require adequate facilities, tremendous skills, patience, sense of service and dedication, hence only few NGOs work in the area,'' said Abhishek Singh, a social activist.
Ironically, the city boasts of having eight universities, over 200 higher educational institutes, over one thousand schools, now even an upcoming university for disabled, big malls and huge parks, but it does not have a shelter home for mentally disabled destitute. The one for mentally challenged girls at city station is for training and not a shelter. Some NGOs also run training centres for mentally challenged but have limited capacity. However, in NGO sector also only few are working with dedication.
While there are some facilities, though minuscule, for children, there is absolutely nothing for mentally retarded destitute above 18 years of age. A group of IPS officers in the city work for these destitute. They take them to the hospital for treatment and find them homes for rehabilitation. But there are many who cannot recall their whereabouts. "Such people are also citizens of India. They do not want sympathies but shelter and care which is their right in a welfare state,'' said Ajit Shukla, a social worker.
Multi-disabled suffer even more
The condition of multi-disabled is worse. There are over 28,000 such children in the state but not a single shelter home or training centre. The case of Rinku, the five year old child, found abandoned in Charbagh railway station last year is an eye opener. Blind, partially deaf and mentally challenged, he was forced to live on footpath for eight months on the mercy of passers-by till a child rights activist found him and convinced an NGO Ashok Punarvas Sansthan (APS) to keep the boy till a permanent shelter was found. The APS kept the boy for four months but on February 3 appeared before the court of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and said that they cannot keep the child any longer. Facilities in the government blind school were also not adequate for the boy. Now CWC has asked APS to surrender the boy to government child home so that he can he handed over to Drishti Samajik Sansthan, the organisation found to be fit for the purpose by CWC chairperson, Dr Brigeetha VV. But APS has changed its stand and has not surrendered the boy so far citing some reason or other. Sources said that CWC can seek police help for non-compliance of the order.