PNS | VIJAYAWADA
Nine orphan ST girls were tonsured at the government-run Vijayawada Bala Sadan a month ago, which came to light after the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) served notice to the NTR district Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Project Director.
The SCPCR served notices to the PDs of both districts to appear before the commission on August 8 for the probe into the incident. The Commission noticed that the officers concerned were not visiting Bala Sadan regularly, and were neglecting the inmates and not maintaining the records properly. SCPCR directed the NTR District WD&CW Project Director, Bala Sadan Superintendent, Superviser and the staff who were responsible for the incident to appear before the Commission in person on August 8. A detailed inquiry on violation of child rights and the negligence of the concerned staff and the officers is being probed, as per the notices.
Project Director Umadevi told The Pioneer that the inmates were being taken care of very well by the staff maintaining hygiene and providing all basic amenities. She said that 11 inmates from Chiguru orphans in Guntur district joined the Bala Sadan on July 2 referred by Child Welfare committee members. It was noticed that five of them were suffering from infection and wounds on the head. For medication, hair was cut partially on July 12. However, on July 14 the infection spread to another six inmates and all the infected were on medication. One of the staff, without informing the superiors of Bala Sadan, took the decision to tonsure the 11 infected inmates.
Later, the SCPCR officials visited the Bala Sadan on July 22. The Commission observed that the children were anaemic, staying in an unhygienic atmosphere, and suffering from various ailments.
