CAG exposes chinks in juvenile homes

The progress of every juvenile or child is not being reviewed at prescribed intervals as per the norms for taking corrective action, the report observed.

Hyderabad: The Comptroller and Auditor General in its report pointed out that juveniles in Telangana were not being segregated based on age, nature of offence or kind of care required (physical and mental health) in any of the childcare institutions, except at the Observation Home for Boys in Warangal and Children’s Home for Boys in the city.

The CAG scrutiny report observed that juveniles were being accommodated in a single dormitory at observation homes in Hyderabad, Warangal and Nizamabad and at the Special Home and Girls' Home in the city. The audit report revealed that the management committees were not constituted in any of the childcare institutions, except at the Children’s Home for Boys in Warangal.

Consequently, the functioning of the institutions, provision of required infrastructure and other amenities as well as progress of every juvenile or child was not being reviewed at prescribed intervals as per the norms for taking corrective action wherever necessary, the report said. The report observed that juveniles in conflict with law were not being grouped on the basis of age by attributing it to insufficient accommodation at the Observation Home in the city.

Further, juveniles who were in delinquency for the first time and juveniles who were repeated delinquents were accommodated in the same dormitory, causing frequent conflicts among them, the report said. The report further said that mentally challenged children were accommodated with other girls in the same dormitory without providing an enabling environment at the Girls' Home in the city.