BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered issuance of notice to the state government while initiating a suo-motu PIL on the maladministration of juvenile homes in the state.Amicus Curiae Sumana Baliga and a representative of Bangalore-based NGO Ashraya, who were impleaded in the petition, submitted that the problems in juvenile homes included segregation of juveniles, integrating children in the mainstream, their protection, inefficiency of special juvenile police units and lack of skilled, professional staff.To this, counsel for the state government alleged that some NGOs receiving foreign funding aren’t efficient themselves.Refusing to accept the argument, a divisional bench headed by Justice Shylendra Kumar remarked: “The government nowadays does not believe in service, but only in increasing the GDP. It is fashionable to discuss human right violations in India; however, one must also keep in mind the socio-economic context.”Chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights Nina Nayak, too, pointed out at the poor implementation of the statute despite regular recommendations from the commission to the government.The court held that there exist many shortcomings in the administration of observation homes, which it added, have been turned into jails, instead of providing rehabilitation. It was submitted that more than 2,500 cases are pending before the Juvenile Justice Board. To this, the bench ordered that the board’s sittings be made more frequent.The bench directed that a report be submitted on the issue before adjourning the case till June 6 for further hearing.
Comments
0 comment