Lahore: There are 76 shelter homes working at government and non-government level for raising orphan, abandoned and destitute children in Punjab. No record exists.
According to Express News, a large number of private shelter homes are not registered with the Child Protection Bureau, therefore the future of hundreds of children brought up in these shelter homes is a question mark.
The Child Protection and Welfare Bureau rescued 32 young children from an orphanage in Gajumta area of Lahore. Among these children, 18 are boys and 14 are girls and their ages range from 3 to 12 years. Placed in situations.
According to the documents and information obtained by The Express Tribune, 76 institutions are currently providing shelter to children in Punjab. Out of these, 15 institutions are managed by the Social Welfare Department and 9 institutions are managed by the Child Protection Bureau, while 52 are non-governmental NGOs that are providing accommodation to children along with their education and training.
The Child Protection and Welfare Bureau issued notices to all 52 NGOs to register themselves with the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau and provide details of how many children they have under their care, number of miles and number of children per mile. What is the age of these children and other information should be provided.
According to a report obtained by The Express Tribune, so far only 30 NGOs/shelter homes have submitted applications for registration to the Child Protection Bureau. Out of these 27 applications were sent to the respective Deputy Commissioners for NOC but no response has been received from them till now. Similarly, notices have been sent to 19 NGOs/Shelter Homes while so far only one NGO has been issued a license and the process of issuing licenses to two is pending.
So far only one organization has been registered with the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau. Interestingly, the Social Welfare Orphans and Abandoned Children’s Institutions themselves are not registered with the Child Protection Welfare Bureau.
Sara Ahmed, Member of Punjab Assembly and Chairperson of Child Protection Bureau, told The Express Tribune, “Under Clause 20A of the Destitute and Neglected Children Amendment Act, 2017, to provide accommodation to abandoned, destitute and orphaned children in Punjab. All NGOs are required to register themselves with the Child Protection Bureau.
He said that notices have been sent to all the orphanages/shelterhomes working in Punjab for registration. Several institutions have submitted applications and their registration is in process.
Sara Ahmed said that if a complaint is received against such institutions which are providing shelter to children and girls, action can be taken. Just as action has been taken against an illegal orphanage in Gujumta.
Child rights activist Rashida Qureshi, program coordinator of SearchForests, while talking to The Express Tribune said it is surprising how an organization can keep children without any legal authority. Unfortunately, some individuals have made the work of providing shelter to children as a means of concealing their ill-gotten gains. How can she keep children in her house?
Rashida Qureshi says that it is the responsibility of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau to register all institutions providing shelters to children, make SOPs for shelter homes on how to provide accommodation, food, education and skills to children. will go
He said that there are many institutions that are providing the best shelter and facilities to children, only coordination needs to be improved for the registration of these institutions.
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