HOME COMMITTEE REPORT GOVERNMENT OBSERVATION HOME, BANGALORE 

Published in June 2002

Hon’rable Minister for Women and Child Welfare - Smt. Motamma
Mr. Ramalinga Reddy, - MLA
Mr. Jayaram Raj Urs - Director, DWCD
Distinguished guests and children.

In an extremely innovative move, the DWCD, Government of Karnataka, decided to change the management structure of the Observation Home for Girls and boys and the Certified School for Girls, in Bangalore. The experiment was aimed at making the system more open and responsive to children, in keeping with the spirit and guidelines laid down in the new J.J. Act 2000. These institutions have traditionally remained closed–door and have come under a barrage of criticism over the years . In August 2001, the Home Committees were formed. The Home Committee of the Observation Home for Boys, comprises of the Assistant Director, DWCD, two NGO’s Ashraya and BOSCO, The Government Medical Officer, The Superintendent and Probation Officer, Observation Home.

It has been an interesting period of change and with a little give and take , from both sides, our level of co-operation has been very good. We have met at least once in a month to discuss issues pertaining to the children and to the running of the Observation Home itself. The Secretary, DWCD, Mrs. Sobha Nambisan, and the Director, have responded very quickly whenever there has been a crisis and we required their intervention, for which we are very grateful. We have also had the utmost co-operation from the Chairman of the JWB.

BOSCO, an organisation working with street children, conducted a much needed programme, on hygiene , for the boys which was well received. Ashraya bought 30 bunk beds and mattresses for the use of the children, out of a generous donation received from Mr. and Mrs. Vikram, for which we are most grateful. We have also donated a colour T.V. from donations received from Mr. Abishekh Jalan, from France. An old computer has also been donated by Mrs. Kanchan, to help in the office work. The PWD has done a good job of renovating and retiling the building. We hope that with the improvement in their living conditions the boys can stay here in an atmosphere of dignity and reasonable comfort.

Two months ago Vishwas, an NGO providing free professional counselling services has started work in the Observation Home. Mr. Sukumar Menon and his team of volunteers, are doing an excellent job, both with group and individual counselling. Many of these children come from extremely disturbed backgrounds and the counselling can help them to come to terms with their problems. We hope to extend the counselling to the families of the children as well.

Elfun , the volunteer group of General Electric, have started to work in the Observation Home conducting games and other activities for the children. Ashraya has run a non-formal school in the Observation Home, for the past five years. Though this is a transit home, many of the children remain here for a long time, especially the IPC cases and it is essential to keep the children well occupied and motivated in the interim. We have also attached a professional Social Worker to the Home recently. The aim of the Home Committee is to do a case study on each child, inclusive of the Counselling Report , Home Visit Report, and other data, to enable us to make the best plan to rehabilitate each child, in a time bound manner.

Echo, another NGO, has started Yoga classes for the children in the mornings. Their volunteers help in conducting home visits and follow- up visits for children returned to their families. We hope to soon induct Echo into our Home Committee.

This is just a beginning and we still have a lot of ground to cover. We urge the Hon’rable Minister to kindly sanction a vehicle for the use of the Observation Home, which is essential for the Superintendent and Probation Officer to carry out their duties of doing home visits, restoration of children, and taking children to hospital in emergencies. I know that the department is seriously looking into the issue of segregation of delinquent and abandoned children, which is mandated under the law. The smaller children have to be protected from the violence meted out by the older boys. Some rationalization of the system is on the cards and needs to be implemented quickly. We also request the National Law School, to conduct workshops on the usage of the new J.J. Act 2000, for the functionaries of all these institutions, police personnel and for the NGO’S. The law can only become a reality if it is properly used. More trained personnel are needed to run these homes , particularly wardens who can be more sensitive to the needs of the children. We would like to involve the children and give them a say in the deliberations concerning their own welfare. We also hope that the Juvenile Courts will process cases of children involved in petty crime, quickly, so that some proper rehabilitation plan can be put in place to help the child get back onto a proper path. We also need to look at problems such as HIV Aids, Sexually transmitted diseases, Hepatitis B, and other such health care issues.

In all our endeavours we need the help and the guidance of the Hon’rable Minister , The Secretary, and Director, DWCD, The Chairman, JWB, and the Juvenile Court Magistrate. If these Home Committees, in Bangalore, can visibly improve the conditions of these institutions and the life of these children, the experiment can be carried forward all over the State and in fact, all over the country.

HOME COMMITTEE REPORT GOVERNMENT OBSERVATION HOME, BANGALORE - JUNE, 2002