NGOs’ contracts to run shelters to be reviewed

Patna: As a step towards taking over all shelter homes run by NGOs, the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar is gearing up to review its contract with social organisations that were handed over management of the government-funded institutions.

The review is a part of the state government’s plan to take over control of shelter and short stay homes after an audit report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), a research university, exposed sexual abuse in almost all the centres which were being run by NGOs in Bihar.

Social welfare minister Krishnandan Verma recently said that the state government has taken serious note of incidents which occurred in various shelter homes and decided to take harsh measures regarding the issue.

 “The TISS report has raised serious questions on the functioning of shelter homes in the state. NGOs are responsible for whatever happened in the shelter homes and the state government has now decided to take some harsh decisions regarding the issue,” social welfare minister Krishnandan Verma said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar who has been facing criticism over the issue had earlier said that the state government will take over all shelter homes in Bihar in order to monitor them in a better way.

The TISS in its audit report had pointed out sexual exploitation in almost all shelter homes in Bihar. Questions were also raised on the functioning of NGOs which were in agreement to run the shelter homes across the state.

The state government had commissioned an audit of shelter and short stay homes by the TISS in 2017 and the report was submitted to social welfare department in April this year.

According to a 100-page report which was made public last week by the state government, the Muzaffarpur shelter home had been “running in a highly questionable manner along with grave instances of sexual abuse of violence. Several girls reported about violence and being sexually abused”.

At the Muzaffarpur shelter home, 34 minor girls were subjected to extreme brutality and raped by officials and employees of the facility. There are also allegations that shelter home authorities in connivance with the administrator of the NGO running the Muzaffarpur home had carried out the abortion of girls after they became pregnant.

“Almost all institutions found in violation of the respective schemes and the essence of the juvenile justice act but residents in the inalienable right of life were in question in certain institutions,” TISS audit report submitted to the social welfare department said.

The state government had cancelled the registration of Brajesh Thakur which ran the shelter home at Muzaffarpur. Contract of another NGO Anumanya Human resource foundation being run by Manisha Dayal was also cancelled following the mysterious death of two inmates at a Patna based Aasra shelter home earlier this month.

“It seems that she was awarded the contract to run shelter home because of her political connections,” said an official familiar with the case.