City care homes for differently-abled lack essentials; govt flags staff shortage, registration gaps

Guwahati, April 21: In recent times, Guwahati has witnessed mushrooming of NGO-run day care-cum-residential homes for differently-abled persons. But the authorities concerned are yet to be equipped with proper machinery to ensure availability of adequate facilities in such establishments for the inmates.

As a consequence, a mentally-challenged person, who was an inmate of a city-based day care-cum-residential home for differently-abled persons, had gone missing from the establishment on April 14 late evening. Later, he was rescued from the roadside of Bijoynagar area in Kamrup district late in the night on April 16, with injury marks on his body.

When this reporter visited the establishment, after the incident had come to light, it was observed that the home did not have CCTV surveillance, a basic norm to be followed.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, a senior official of the Directorate of Social Justice and Empowerment informed that they don’t have adequate manpower to conduct regular visits to such Homes located in the city to ensure proper facilities and securities for the inmates.

“As per the mandate issued to such homes, CCTV surveillance in and around the premises is a must. The District Social Welfare Officer is responsible for ensuring such facilities in such establishments. But in reality, it is not possible to conduct regular inspection of such establishments due to lack of adequate manpower in the department,” he said.

The official also noted that a number of NGOs are running such homes in the city and other parts of the State, which are not registered under the Directorate of Social Justice and Empowerment. So, the Directorate doesn’t have the exact data about the number of such homes operating in the State.

“We have data about such day care-cum-residential homes, which are availing funds from government schemes. But a number of such homes are also being operated by managing funds from individual donors and other private entities. They are providing service by obtaining necessary permission from the local bodies. In Guwahati, such homes are functioning with permission from Guwahati Municipal Corporation,” the official said.

On being contacted, Suhel Yasir, assistant commissioner of Guwahati Municipal Corporation said that the civic body is working to prepare a standard operating procedure (SoP) for such establishments in the city.

“As per the law, it is mandatory to obtain permission from the GMC to run such homes. But at present, the GMC does not have any SoP to look after such establishments. We are working to chalk out the same and matter is in the discussion stage,” he said.

Nripen Malakar, an activist working for the rights of differently-abled persons of Assam said that the district administration, the GMC and the Directorate of Social Justice and Empowerment are responsible for looking after such homes.

“The responsibilities of the authorities concerned don’t end at issuing the necessary permission. There are some rules and regulations which the NGO concerned agreed to obey while applying for the permission. In later stages, it is the duty of the government agencies to conduct inspections to ensure proper implementation of the rules of regulations as per laws,” Malakar said.