Structural Changes in Govt. Schools with NGOs on Board to ensure disabled children actually learn

Dear colleagues,

Please refer to my earlier post titled 'Delhi Govt. focuses on students with disabilities in Govt. Schools- thanks to Working Groups with NGOs'. Here is an updated report on the project by Shreya Roy Chowdhury of TNN, wherein the 6 working groups have moved ahead on many areas and the Delhi Govt. is hoping that through these interventions, the children with disabilities enrolled in govt. schools will actually learn:

6 new working groups for kids with spl needs (Times of India)

Shreya Roy Chowdhury | TNN | Updated: Sep 22, 2016, 12.04 AM IST

New Delhi: Through a number of interventions, Delhi government is hoping to ensure that disabled children in its schools actually learn. Taking disability-sector NGOs on board, the Directorate of Education has established six working groups to address different aspects of education for such kids—teacher training, aids and resources, even "structural changes" in the administration. "Disability mapping" is on the cards and on September 15, the government issued a list of 14 schools in different school districts where accessible "resource centres" will be built.

There are about 20,000 'children with special needs' or CWSN in Delhi government schools. The Right to Education Act's insistence on inclusivity and accessibility has increased enrollment but activists argue the system is not up to scratch. Now, even the government agrees. The minutes of a June 2016 meeting organised by the government with NGOs says, "The issue of mismatch of expertise of Special Education Teachers (SETs) and needs of CWSN was raised. Disability mapping of CWSN should be the first step." The meeting was attended by directorate officials and representatives of many organisations.

"The special educators are single-disability trained. We have offered to train in cross-disability and inclusive education so that they can help children and teachers," says G Syamala of Action for Ability Development and Inclusion.

The DoE's meeting minutes explain that each working group will include two NGOs (or institutes) and one department official. One will work exclusively on learning disabilities — help identify children who have them, "finalize...tools for assessment of learning disabilities", "provide lucid instructions for...teachers", "prepare training module for assessment of these children."

Another will develop teaching aids. There'll be a central resource library in every zone — 29 libraries distributed over 13 school districts. These will serve as repositories of resources for special educators, teachers, parents and the kids themselves. The All India Confederation of the Blind has offered to work with the Delhi Bureau of Text Books to producing Braille and large-print texts.

Members also agreed on developing "zonal resource centres" — essentially one school in a zone capable of extra support — for children "with severe disability." This, however, doesn't mean more 'special' schools — fundamentally contrary to the idea of inclusion. "Recipient[s] of these services (CWSN) will study in their schools" and the centres will offer "specialized services". Major changes to the administration are also being considered including creation of special posts to implement programmes and monitor.

The AICB president AK Mittal has sent the DoE a list of other suggestions including "orientation and mobility" training for the visually challenged, "expanded core curriculum activities" for disabled children and "school-mapping for the placement of special educators."

Delhi Govt. focuses on students with disabilites in Govt. Schools- thanks to Working Groups with NGOs.

Dear Colleagues,

Delhi Govt's decision to form working groups in association with NGOs has resulted in some renewed focus on the learning outcomes of students with disabilities studying in various govt and aided schools in Delhi. I call it a step in right direction by the Kejriwal Govt. which has been experimenting several programs to ensure that students with disabilities were truly included in schools. Its Department of Education (DoE) had formed 7 working groups in association with leading NGOs working on inclusive education to address the issue of quality education for all in Govt. Schools. 

This constructive & participatory process assures all of us that things are going in right direction despite initial hiccups and several challenges. The special educators have been asked to prepare IEP (Individualized Education Program) for each child with disability with short term and long term goals to be reviewed periodically. The teachers are also given flexibility to review & modify the module. The support of multi-disciplinary team like therapists, counselors,  educators etc is also being proposed to be made available.

The challenges that still remain is many schools do not have required number of special educators. Class Teachers also need to be trained and involved in the child's learning and the responsibility shouldn't be just shifted to the special educators completely. This would not result in true inclusion.  Parents also have a larger role in child's development & should be involved in supplementing IEP at home. But this is also a challenge as many of them are working and do not have time to support children's education.

However, I am sure the working groups with the support of expert NGOs would take this challenge further and take this program of inclusion to a gradual success. I would be very keenly following this experiment on inclusive & quality education with measurable learning outcomes of children with disabilities (children with special needs)  in Govt. schools. This experiment deserves accolades and is worth emulating in rest of Indian states given its participatory approach with a focus on inclusion!

Here is the Tribune Report on the same.

Special education programme for the disabled in govt schools

Every disabled child studying in Delhi Government run and aided schools will now get personal attention with the AAP government asking special educators to prepare an individualised education programme (IEP).

"Special educators placed in government run and aided schools have been asked to prepare an individualised education programme for every disabled child in their care. The IEP will include instructions on the teaching procedure as well," a senior official of the Directorate of Education (DoE) said.

There are around disabled 20,000 children enrolled in government schools at present.

"We have asked the special education teachers to prepare the IEP of each child with special needs (CWSN) within 15 days, the format of which should cover everything from basic requirements to extra-curricular activities.

"Teachers will have the liberty to modify any particular child's module as per requirements. The educators will not only record the type of special need but also associated conditions, languages spoken and referral to other services -in case the child needs services such as physiotherapy," the official said.

After identifying the problems, the educators will set both short-term and long-term goals for each child.

DoE officials had recently formed seven working groups in association with various NGOs working for children with special needs.

Inexperienced Bureaucrats as Disability Commissioners - is against the spirit of Disabilities Act

Dear colleagues,

Please refer to my earlier post "We need independent Commissioners for Disabilities....". This has been a long standing demand that the posts of State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities should be filled by  persons with knowledge of disability rehabilitation and at least 10 years standing in the sector working on disability rights. However,  it is little sad to say that the Govt. of Delhi has, in order to accommodate a retired bureaucrat with absolutely no direct experience in disability rehabilitation, tweaked the rules just a month back and now the said person has been appointed rejecting over 11 eligible applicants for the post.

This is an uncalled for situation and these posts should not become accommodating posts for retired bureaucrats faithful to the Government. We need sensitive & experienced people to handle these posts. These amendments are against the very spirit of the Persons with Disabilities Act.

Here is the news coverage from The Hindu

Rules tweaked to hand-pick bureaucrat as Disabilities Commissioner?

Well-known names from disability sector rejected; criteria changed a month before appointment.

Just a month prior to the appointment of former Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra as Commissioner (Persons with Disabilities), the Delhi Government had amended the rules for appointing a bureaucrat to the post. While 12 applications were received, the panel headed by then State Chief Secretary had “unanimously recommended” the name of the lone bureaucrat on it.

The preference given to the bureaucrat has raised many eyebrows as among those who had applied for the post were well known names from the social and disability sector.

The “justification/reason” on the part of the Delhi Government was that “the post of Commissioner (Disabilities) is a quasi-judicial post. Mainly two jobs are done by the Commissioner – to hear grievances, which is a quasi-judicial work; and monitoring the work of the State Government, which is the statutory part. Both these jobs do not require high level specialised knowledge in disability”.

The details about the changes brought about to facilitate Mr. Mehra’s appointment have come through a Right to Information application filed by a non-government organisation, Pratidhi.

Raj Mangal Prasad of Pratidhi said: “While the RTI application was filed when the process of selection was on (and as we came to know that the exercise of amending rules to accommodate bureaucrats was on), the file was not shown till Mr. Mehra’s appointment was notified.”

It has been revealed that among the applicants to the post was a head in the Department of Psychology at a Rohtak college; a Joint Director (Technical) in the Department of Women and Child Development; an anganwadi worker, and audiologist and speech pathologist; a legal adviser, a senior registrar from a Mumbai university; a social worker, a counsellor cum special educator, a rehabilitation social worker and an associate professor of Delhi University.

In response to its query, the Delhi Government stated that the meeting of the Selection Committee for selection of Commissioner (Persons with Disabilities) was held under the chairmanship of the Delhi Chief Secretary on November 9, 2012.

As per the minutes of the meeting, the Selection Committee was appraised about eligibility of the candidates for selection to the post of Commissioner (Persons with Disabilities) based on the provision of Section 60 (1) of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act-1995 and Delhi Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules-2001 ready with the Amendment Rules-2011 and Amendment Rules-2012.

The Department of Social Welfare and Women and Child Development had invited applications for the post of Commissioner (Persons with Disabilities) in October 2012 and received 12 applications.

As per the minutes, “The Selection Committee scrutinised and considered the eligibility conditions required for the post, the qualification and experience of all applicants, and unanimously recommended the name” of retired Indian Administrative Service officer K. S. Mehra for the post.

Incidentally, it was less than a month before the appointment of Mr. Mehra that the rules were changed. On October 12, a notification was issued for the Department of Social Welfare in which the amendment of Rule 50 of the Act was made.

While earlier the rules were such that only those with experience in disability-related matters and social sector, or those who had worked in the field of empowerment of Persons with Disabilities could apply, the amendment made it easier for bureaucrats to get the job.

Following the amendment, as per Rule 62 it is only “essential” for the Commissioner to be “a graduate from a recognised university” and “desirable” for him or her to possess “a recognised masters degree in social work/sociology”.

As for the “experience”, the amended Rule also spelt out that the candidate to the post “should have at least 10 years of consolidated experience in one or more of some type of organisation at desired levels”.

Earlier, the rules were stringent. Rule 50 (B) demanded that the candidate for the post “should have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of matters related to rehabilitation of persons with disabilities”.

In fact in August 2011, former Commissioner (Disabilities) Pradeep Singh had written to the then Secretary (Social Welfare) Sanjiv Kumar stating that “the rules for appointment of Commissioner, as now framed, require 10 years of experience in disability related matters and/or social sector out of which at least 5 years of experience should be in the field of empowerment of Persons with Disabilities”.

Observing that “there may not even be a single officer currently serving in the Government of Delhi or Government of India with a minimum of five years experience in the field of empowerment of persons with disabilities”, Mr. Singh had pointed out that “thus the rules as now framed, would select only persons having worked/working in NGOs/disability organisations”.

New 1100 DTC Buses being bought by Dehi Govt will be inaccessible!

Dear Colleagues, 

The Delhi Cabinet has cleared purchase of 1100 high floor buses (I do not call them standard floor buses since modern Low Floor is the standard for the persons with disabilities!)

"Currently, DTC has 5,667 buses, out of which 3,781 are modern low-floor buses, purchased over the last five years. “The remaining 1,886 buses are obsolete,” said a senior Delhi government official. 

We were waiting these buses to go away from the Delhi roads to be replaced by the standard low floor buses so that the entire fleet could boast off to be accessible and disabled friendly. However, this sudden decision of the Government of Delhi to replace the rickety old high floor buses with new high floor buses is not reason for us to be happy. These buses from day one are useless, obsolete, inaccessible and disabled unfriendly, hence not welcomed.

It would be prudent on the part of the Government of Delhi to consider replacing these old buses with low floor only so that we achieve an aim of inclusive and barrier free society that provides its services based on universal design of products and not on exclusive designs for various segments. I find no alternate to this given the fact that all our pedestrian infrastructure and the bus q shelters in Delhi are built keeping the low floor bus as the standard to allow easy access to all. 

The disability sector could have agreed to even high floor buses provided the corresponding street infrastructure especially the boarding and de-boarding points are made in tune with the high floor and that the bus allows easy access to the disabled. This may only happen in a dedicated BRT system where the height of new bus q shelters may be kept accordingly. However, this doesn't seem to be the planning of the Government. 

We are raising our voice against this decision. The Government must think of promoting inclusive cities to realize the mandate of UNCRPD and stop taking arbitrary decisions that exclude the disabled and the elderly from its urban and transport planning.

The city is already troubled with the high foot paths being built by the PWD after the maintenance of roads was taken away by the Delhi Government from the MCD over the later's inaction.

Below is the coverage from Indian Express:

Cabinet clears purchase of 1,100 DTC buses

New Delhi, Tue Oct 23 2012,

With the Delhi Cabinet clearing the way for the purchase of 1,100 standard-floor CNG buses, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will start the process of replacing obsolete vehicles in its fleet. The new buses will cost the Delhi government around Rs 330 crore and will be purchased through a global tender.

Following a meeting of the Delhi Cabinet on Monday, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the government was taking steps to improve public transport in the city. “There is an urgent need to replace 1,886 standard-floor buses, which have completed their prescribed life for economic run,” Dikshit said.

She said the plying of such buses was causing loss to DTC and affecting its image.

The buses will be purchased with maintenance for 7,50,000 km or 12 years of operations, whichever is later. “The buses will be purchased through a global tender. In the DTC fleet of 5,667 buses, 3,781 are low-floor variants while the remaining 1,886 are obsolete and hence not dependable,” Dikshit said.

She said the new non-AC buses would be purchased at the earliest.

Source: Indian Express

Death toll 228 at Asha Kiran since 2005, unabated

Dear Colleagues,

Those of you who work with person with multiple disabilities have seen them living ordinary life if given proper medication for epilepsy and care. However, there is utter chaos at Asha Kiran centre where no one want to take the blame for the deaths which are happening in the Govt. run institution. The centre says it is the severe mental retardation and epileptic fits that is leading to deaths while the court appointed committee and any person involved or with experience in caring for a person with multiple disabilities would say that it is unhygienic conditions, lack of medical facilities and mismanagement at the Asha Kiran which is resulting in avoidable deaths. Human life doesn't seem to have a value here.

I wanted to share a personal experience of one and half year back. One day on my way to work, I suddenly saw, a person with mental disability roaming on the ring road and then sitting under a flyover. I really got worried about his life and always thought some day some vehicle might strike him down and I thought of admitting him to the state run centres where he will be cared. Sooner, I realised the pathetic condition of the Centres that we are discussing here, I decided not to even think that way. I consulted several of my friends who expressed that this person may live a better, safe and longer life under a flyover than a State run Centre and that I should stop thinking of making efforts to have him shifted to a "safer" place like Asha Kiran.

Today after more than one and half year, when I continue to see him every day at the same place while on way to work, I feel how mistaken I was. He is at least happy & safe here and leading his life though with help from passer byes. I am sure if I had decided otherwise, I wouldn't see him alive!

Here is the news from Hindustan Times of 31st Aug 2012 giving you the update:

At Asha Kiran, 228 inmates have died since 2005


The Delhi government has admitted that 228 deaths have taken place at Asha Kiran, the Capital’s lone home for mentally challenged children and adults, since 2005. In an affidavit filed recently before the Delhi High Court hearing a PIL complaining of lack of medical care and shockingly  unhygienic conditions at the home in Rohini, the Delhi government said 59 inmates died in 2005-06, 28 in 2006-07, 34 in 2007-08, 37 in 2008-09, 46 in 2009-10, 11 in 2010-11 and 13 in 2011-July 2012.

During a hearing on August 8, the court had slammed the government for the inhuman manner in which the inmates were kept at the home and termed it the "worst kind of human rights violation". The court was perusing a report submitted by a court-appointed committee which inspected the premises of the welfare home.

Expressing shock at the revelation of 228 deaths, human rights activist and a member of the court-appointed committee Colin Gonsalves said: "This figure is high but the government feels it is low. They thought that by stating it on an affidavit it would save them before the court. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has repeatedly said deaths were taking place at the home due to negligence."

A bench of acting chief justice AK Sikri and justice RS Endlaw is to take a stand on the issue on Friday. The government denied the deaths were due to negligence and mismanagement. "Biological factors play a major role in high mortality rates among the mentally-challenged persons. A large number of inmates at Asha Kiran fall in the categories of severe and profound mental retardation with multiple disabilities and suffering from epileptic fits. Studies show that such types of individual keep very shortened life expectancy," the government said.

DP Bharal, deputy director with the department of social welfare, said in an affidavit: "From 59 deaths in 2005-2006, the same has come down to 13 in 2011-12. None of the deaths occurred due to negligence. The inmates who died were extreme cases of mental retardation or having chronic medical ailments."

Now some "Action Plan" to set things right at Asha Kiran

Dear Friends,

This is subsequent to my earlier posts on continued deaths of inmates at Asha Kiran - A Govt. Run home for Intellectually challenged persons. Now after several deaths in a row and mass agitation by Civil Society, finally Delhi Government seems to have woken up to the mess that has been created at the Govt. run home for the Intellectually Challenged persons. This indicates that persons with disabilities with no family support are not the priority of the Government. 

I have three major objections to this process:

(a)  It is surprising to know that no civil society organisations/stakeholders were invited to the meeting.
(b)  Secondly appointing contractual employees in these centres will not improve the conditions unless they are given decent wages.
(c) Thirdly though the Delhi Govt has admitted lapses on the part of authorities, there is no criminal action on the persons responsible indicating how Delhi Govt. values lives of persons with disabilities!
(d) The whole process of managing the action plan seems to be medically oriented with Doctors treating the patients! There is no rehabilitation professional involvement nor is any thing being discussed to ensure their social political rights, Right to education for children under 18 years, vocational training etc.

I wonder whether the thought process in the political class has undergone any change in light of  India proudly signing UNCRPD ! There is no doubt that  involving civil society, National Trust and Rehabilitation Professionals will give more credibility to the Government's action plan and the Government should seriously consider this for in absence of this and given the past expereince, we might see the condition of these homes "back to Square one"!

Here is the coverage from Zee News and Times of India on the subject.

regards
SC Vashishth, Advocate


Delhi Govt. Brings Action Plan : Zee News

New Delhi: Under attack for a spate of deaths at an observation home run by it for the mentally challenged, Delhi Government on Wednesday came out with a time-bound action plan to ensure proper care and medical facilities for the inmates.


As per the action plan, some of the over 700 inmates at the Asha Kiran Home would be transferred to three buildings within next two months to decongest the existing home so that each mentally challenged child get proper care and attention.

The Government also decided to deploy well-equipped ambulances and upgrade other infrastructure at the home which witnessed 26 deaths in the last five months. Two inmates had died last week while one breathed his last on Monday.

The action plan was finalised at a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and attended by Finance Minister A K Walia, Social Welfare Minister Mangat Ram Singhal, Health Minister Kiran Walia and Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta, besides several top officials.

The meeting decided to initiate a series of short-term and long-term measures to overcome existing deficiencies at the home. The home is being maintained by the Social Welfare department.

Yesterday, Dikshit had admitted lapses on the part of authorities and said over 700 inmates were staying at the home against the sanctioned strength of 300.

In the meeting, it was also decided to appoint more attendants on contract basis to ensure proper care of the children.

"To overcome the situation of over-crowding in the Home, it was decided to shift inmates to three other existing buildings, which are being upgraded," an official said.

He said an expert team of the doctors will guide the authorities to shift the inmates. The meeting also decided to appoint separate administrators for the new homes.

Further, a special ward at Ambedkar Hospital is being readied to provide treatment to those inmates who may require hospitalisation, the official said.

Dikshit also instructed the health department to deploy three well-equipped ambulances for the inmates. Apart from this, mental health experts will be visiting the Home on regular interval for check-up of the inmates.

The Chief Minister also instructed authorities to conduct review of all existing homes so that no such incident takes place in future.

Walia and Singhal had visited the home on Monday and suggested a series of measures, including upgrading the shelter to a mini-hospital.
PTI



Finally, Asha Kiran inmates to be shifted : Times of India


TNN, Feb 18, 2010, 12.46am IST
NEW DELHI: After years of neglect and many deaths, the government has finally spelt out relief for inmates of the Asha Kiran home for the mentally challenged in Rohini. What was being proposed for over a decade is now being promised by chief minister Sheila Dikshit who has set a deadline to decongest the overcrowded home by shifting its inmates to three other buildings. One building in Bindapur and two others in rural areas are being upgraded for the purpose. The home as of now has space for 350 but it houses over 700 inmates.


Shifting will be undertaken on the basis of the gravity of the inmates' mental retardation.

The segregation will also be need-based. An expert team of doctors will guide the segregation process. There will be a separate administrator for the three buildings who will be fully responsible for the running of the home and will be accountable for all actions, CM Sheila Dikshit made it clear at a high level meeting on Wednesday.

Further, a special ward at Dr Ambedkar Hospital is being prepared to provide treatment to those inmates who may need hospitalization. The chief minister expressed confidence that there will be a positive change at Asha Kiran within two months.

The meeting, chaired by the CM, was attended by Finance Minister Dr AK Walia, Social Welfare Minister Mangat Ram Singhal, Health Minister Kiran Walia, Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta, Principal Secretary (Finance) JP Singh, Secretary (Social Welfare) Manoj Parida, Director (IHBAS) and other senior officers of concerned departments.

Dikshit instructed officials to conduct a review of all existing homes so that no untoward incident takes place in future. To cope with the extreme shortage of staff, it was decided to employ attendants on a contractual basis.

Dikshit also said three well-equipped ambulances will be deployed at the home. The ambulances will act like mobile hospitals. Experts from Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences will visit Asha Kiran regularly.

Asha Kiran- a state run hope for disabled reports 12 deaths in December alone!

Dear Friends,

Nothing is well at Asha Kiran. With the capacity of 350, you stuff 730 inmates, isn't this a violation of basic human rights of those who can't take care of themselves due to their disabling conditions that they live with?

Also are we providing sufficient support to the numbers housed there with one carer looking after 40 persons? Is it humanely possible for one person to care 40 inmates with varying degree of disability and associated medical condition like epilepsy, tuberculosis- forget about fever, cold, smaller injuries! This is gross violation and you can't expect the carers to work at Rs 3934/- per month and look after 40 people every day.

Perhaps it is the fear of catching infections that even the doctors do not examine them closely and properly! This is just not acceptable. The facilities need to be created /provided strictly as per norms as it is the responsibility of the Govt. Each life is precious !

Hope each one you are perturbed at the conditions that prevail at Asha Kiran in Delhi and several other institutions across length and breadth of India in similar state which never make headlines! If we tolerate it as an accepted norm, perhaps we don't deserve to be called a socialist democratic republic!

Source: For inmates, few rays of hope at Asha Kiran; Express Newsline 11 January 2010

In December, 12 people died at this home for mentally retarded; few caregivers, little care, reveals report by Social Welfare Department

As the green ambulance rolls through the 7-ft gates of Asha Kiran complex, in Awantika, near Rohini, a middle-aged man looks out of the window, trying to capture one last glimpse of the outside world. Within seconds, the gates shut.

In December, 12 deaths were reported here — three of them within 24 hours.

The inquiry report by the Social Welfare Department (a copy of which is with Newsline) under which the centre works, concludes that death is not new for Asha Kiran.  Over the last four years, 128 inmates have died in the home. The complex, built for 350 people, now houses 730.

“The mentally retarded inmates suffer from multiple deficiencies as far as physical health is concerned. Because of this, particularly in respect of severely retarded inmates, life expectancy is relatively low,” reads the report filed by Director, Social Welfare, S A Awardi. According to the report, 60 per cent of inmates are in the “category of severely or profoundly mentally retarded persons.” Many inmates do not even survive a year. There is no segregation of people who have infectious diseases like tuberculosis.

The inmates are taken care of by ‘house aunties’. The staff reveals that each of them sometimes take care of over 40 people. They are paid Rs 3,934 per month for 8-hour daily job — which probably explains why a majority of the caregivers quit within days of joining.

“The inmates feed each other and give each other a bath,” said a sweeper working in the male ward. “There’s too much noise and it is not easy to work.”

The report states: “Many gave up their jobs after serving for a very short period. It is mentioned that providing every care like a mother to mentally retarded persons is really difficult.”

Constant medical care is available. But the staff say the doctors merely prescribe medicines without even closely examining the inmates.

Despite the fact that the walls of the complex are nearly 10-feet tall and the high gates are guarded 24-hours, the officials have even reported cases of children going missing. On December 24, the Social Welfare Department advertised in newspapers about two inmates. One of them, Raju, was 16 years old and 4.8 ft tall. He was admitted on 21 May and has been missing since 16 September. More bizarre was the case of the 7-year-old boy admitted in December 2006. The child was merely 3.6 ft tall.

December deaths

Dec 2: Krishna (16), living here since 2007. Post mortem report awaited

Dec 9: Anu (20), had been staying since 2006. Cause of death tuberculosis and epileptic fit

Dec 12: Ranveer Kumar (48), was admitted at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Mangolpuri, since 16 November following dehydration and swelling in legs

Dec 14: Manjeet (55) was admitted at the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, suffered from swelling of body

Dec 15: Raj Kumar (42) admitted in Sanjay Gandhi Hospital since 12 December. Had swelling of body, difficulty in breathing

Dec 18: Seeta Gauri (19), living here since 1989. Cause of death cardio-pulmonary arrest

Dec 19: Sandeep, was under treatment since Nov 29 at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, was referred to LNJP. Cause of death Meningoencephalitis with refractory shock

Dec 25: Soni, living here since in 2007, died due to seizure disorder

Dec 27: Meena Payal (38), living here since 1999, postmortem report awaited

Dec 29: Angoori (19), living here since August 200, was suffering from asthma and TB

Dec 29: Sangeeta (21), had been living here since 1996. Body discovered several hours after death, was a victim of bone tuberculosis

Dec 30: Deepti (12) had been here since March 2009, cause of death epilepsy