Delhi Minister for Women and Child Development Rajendra Pal Gautam on Tuesday conducted a surprise inspection of shelter and observational homes in the national capital.
He said inspections are necessary to ensure incidents like those reported from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar do not happen here.
The minister was referring to the 2019 Muzaffarpur shelter home case in Bihar where several girls were physically assaulted and sexually abused, and the recent case in Kanpur, where 57 girls, five of them pregnant, tested COVID-19 positive.
Gautam conducted surprise inspections of all shelter and observational homes under the women child development and social welfare department, a statement from the Delhi government said.
During the inspections, he found that children are getting good facilities in all the homes and special attention is being given towards cleanliness, it said.
“To ensure that incidents like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar don”t happen, regular checks and surprise inspections, are mandatory in all the institutions. Strict instructions have been issued to all senior officers to keep strong vigilance on anyone coming inside homes, especially males,” Gautam said.
The minister said these homes have only women as staff. In case a male enters a home for some work, a female accompanies him, he said.
Various activities are organised for girls living in these homes and these include sewing, embroidery and pottery, the statement said, adding that at the Nirmal Chhaya Girls Homes, face masks are being made for COVID-19 workers.
“I am very happy to see that children are making such a huge contribution in fighting this pandemic. They are making masks for our corona warriors… They are also making good quality surgical masks for corona warriors,” he said.
The cabinet minister also inspected the quality of food in all the homes and was satisfied, the statement said.
