THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Moves are on to make orphanages run by religious institutions to register under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) (JJ) Act within three months. As of now, these orphanages are governed by the Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act, 1960, which keeps these homes out of control of monitoring agencies and imposes virtually no conditions of care and protection on them.
A recommendation to this effect has already been made the by the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. The Commission being a statutory body, the state government will be forced to act on the recommendation. Once under the JJ Act, these orphanages will have to adhere to the rigorous specifications and standards of care and protection laid down in the JJ Act.
It is estimated that currently there are over 1200 orphanages in the state, more than 95 percent of them run by religious institutions, which function outside the ambit of the JJ Act. Ernakulam district has the highest number of such orphanages, followed by Kottayam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Malappuram.
The Prakahsan Master Committee, which had submitted a report in 2010 after probing the conditions in privately-run orphanages, had stated that over 50,000 children are lodged in 1086 orphanages.
The Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act, which came into existence in 1960, is vague on specifics. It just says care should be given, not how.
On the other hand, the JJ Act, which came into force in 2000, is comprehensive and detailed. For instance, the JJ Act has laid down that each child in a home should be provided a space of 40 sq feet. It has also specified that there should be at least one latrine for seven children, and at least one bathroom for ten.
Further, homes registered under the 1960 Act cannot be pulled up by monitoring agencies like child welfare committees which are empowered to take stringent action against erring home authorities. Under the 1960 Act, the maximum punishment for negligence is a fine of Rs 50.
