[Yahoo] Ragging rampant in juvenile homes

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By HT
Friday January 4, 12:53 AM

RAGGING AT Delhi government-run juvenile homes is not something new, but for the first time 12 children were shifted out of a home in North Delhi's Alipur after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) intervened. They were given shelter in a home run by an NGO.

The organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) rescued the children, who were employed as bonded labourers in zari units located in Khanpur area of South Delhi. The sub-divisional magistrate Mehraulli Sanjay Bagaria had sent them to the Alipur juvenile home until the process for their repatriation was completed. That was the beginning of another trauma for these boys.

"The senior boys in the home used to beat them up often. They were not given proper clothing and were not allowed to sleep in cots. On Saturdays, seniors used to force them to stand for hours as part of the induction programme into the home," said Sandhya Bajaj, member of NCPCR.

Bajaj had visited the home after some of the children complained of inhuman behaviour in the homes. "I found there that such ragging was a routine affair. Every boy who goes there has to undergo this sort of ragging. What I found strange was that the authorities had turned a blind eye towards such incidents," Bajaj recalled. It was then that she asked sub-divisional magistrate Bagaria to shift them to another home. Her plea was accepted.

The case of the 12 boys is not a case in isolation. Raj Mangal Prasad of NGO Pratidhi said most of the Delhi government's juvenile homes are virtually run by senior boys aged between 16years and 18 years, due to a huge shortage of staff in the homes. "When they are the bosses, ragging is natural and part of the culture to maintain disciplines in the homes," he said.