The Women and Child Welfare department's ambitious plan of starting children's homes for orphans in each taluka of the state to prevent them from taking to crime has hit a financial roadblock
The Women and Child Welfare department's ambitious plan of starting children's homes for orphans in each taluka of the state to prevent them from taking to crime has hit a financial roadblock.
The plan was undertaken as part of the Child Protection Scheme, which was announced in 2007.
"The Scheme was announced to ensure that orphan children between the ages of 6 and 18 get a home and are given vocational training to sustain themselves.
This would have also led to a considerable drop in the number of children taking to crime. A paucity of funds has, however, led to the scheme getting stalled," said an official from the department, on condition of anonymity.u00a0
The official maintained that the state had even sent a project report to the Centre with details of the proposed expenditure for the children's homes.
"We had prepared three monthly expenditure slabs. The first slab envisioned a cost of Rs 900 per child, the second, Rs 1,500 and the third, Rs 2,000. If the Centre approves the third slab, the project will cost more than Rs 500 crore for a year.
"We had sent a proposal for Rs 49 crore last year, of which the Centre approved Rs 42 crore and sent its share of Rs 21 crore. We now plan to seek further assistance," he added.
Senior officials from the department said that, while they wait for funds, they will set up a Child Protection Society to take care of the children.
Protection society
The Child Protection Society will have the principal secretaries of the Women and Child Welfare Department and Social Justice Department, among others, as its members.
The Society will look into the integrated child protection scheme, which encompasses juvenile justice and other schemes geared towards the welfare of orphan and homeless children.
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