New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday issued notice to the Jharkhand Government over reported very poor upkeep and management of its Jamshedpur Juvenile Justice Home.
NHRC took suo motu cognizance of the report of its Special Rapporteur on the lack of adequate facilities, care and rehabilitation plans for the inmates in the overcrowded Juvenile Justice Home, run by Jharkhand government, NHRC said in a statement.
The Commission has observed that a government institution cannot be allowed to remain in complete apathy and neglect due to the negligence of the officers, causing human rights violations of the children in conflict with the law, some of whom have been staying in JJH for years together, it said.
The Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Jharkhand, seeking a report within six weeks.
According to the report of the NHRC Special Rapporteur, Suchitra Sinha, the Juvenile Justice Home is overcrowded with very poor basic facilities. There have been violent fights among the groups of juveniles due to poor security, lack of supervision and a shortage of staff for effective monitoring.
Superior officers including the District Welfare officers rarely visited the juvenile homes, resulting in a lack of accountability, it said.
No counselor was apparently available. In fact, it is being run by a House Father and four police personnel, who very badly beat up the juveniles, in the absence of CCTV surveillance.
There is no plan to shift out the inmates who are now above 18 years old and continue to live with the inmates much younger to them without any segregation between those who committed petty offences and those heinous crimes. The condition of the kitchen is very poor, the juveniles repeatedly complained of the shortage of toiletry items. There is a lack of initiative to rehabilitate children in conflict with the law, the statement added.
