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.

Deaths at Asha Kiran- isn't this a criminal negligence on part of State?

Dear Friends,

Please refer to my earlier post on the subject.

"Poor maintenance or lack of basic amenities could be contributing factors, however prima facie all the deaths seems to be natural" ! The statement doesn't inspire confidence.

It is evident that the deaths occurred due to lack of facilities which is equally criminal negligence of duty when compared to inflicting a fatal blow on some hapless person entirely in your custody with no chance to escape! Are you really serious about the human rights of those whom you put in institutions and forget?

Can the Government of Delhi own up the negligence on its part and fix the responsibilities of lapse and and provide for appropriate systems at the earliest?

The human rights record is so poor when it comes to disabled people here. And the Govt. is answerable to the nation and international community soon with the State Progress report on actions taken by Govt. in light of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilites" falling due in May 2010.

DCPCR must act and ensure that those at fault are booked in terms of law and immediate preventive action are taken to restore dignity of life and basic services in the state run home by Delhi Govt.

Read from Source: Deaths in juvenile home natural: Delhi govt

Around 75 inmates died between 2004 and 2008 at the complex

Published on 01/14/2010 - 10:17:24 AM

New Delhi: The deaths of 12 inmates of a state-run juvenile home in one month were natural, the Delhi government said Wednesday in its reply to a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) notice. According to investigating officials, poor maintenance or lack of basic amenities could be contributing factors.

According to investigating officials, poor maintenance or lack of basic amenities could be contributing factors.

The NHRC Tuesday issued a notice to Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta asking for a detailed report into the cause of deaths of members of Asha Kiran Home and the state of affairs at the juvenile home, in north west Delhi's Rohini area.

"The Delhi government has filed a reply to NHRC. Of the 12 inmates who died, one was under 18 years. Prima facie the cause of death appears to be natural. However, based on that we won't close investigations. In previous reports, the home was found to lack basic requirement and had poor sanitation levels. We are going to see if the deaths had anything to do with that," a senior official of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) told IANS.

The NHRC was acting on a complaint filed by human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das who alleged that 12 mentally challenged inmates of the home had died in one month.

Media reports suggested that three of the 12 had died within 24 hours due to lack of basic facilities such as warm clothes.

An earlier report by the child right's panel in June last year had found that although sanctioned for 250 inmates, the only state-run complex for mentally challenged people in the national capital houses 750 mentally retarded men, women and children.

The children were found to be suffering from tuberculosis, seizures and skin diseases. The home lacked hygiene and proper sanitary conditions. Around 75 inmates died between 2004 and 2008 at the complex.

In many of these cases, the cause of death was epileptic seizures, which the DCPCR probe committee said could be owing to neglect of medical authorities.

The detailed report from the chief secretary sought by NHRC is due within four weeks time.

Nari Niketan Rape Victim gives birth to a baby girl on 03 Dec 09- World Disability Day!

Dear Friends,

We continue to learn from the life of the Chandigarh Nari Niketan Rape Victim - a mentally retarded girl. The God chose the day of birth -03rd December -World Disability Day. For media, its a great story, for me it is a great lesson for humanity and to understand abilities of those experiencing disabilities.

The mother has many hopes from the newborn as covered in the article below. The little child seem to be healthy and what amazes every one is that how the mentally retarded girl has adopted to motherhood! Nature continues to amaze all of us with the human instincts that it gives to the living species including men and women whom some experts may label as "incapable to taking care of themselves"!

I had covered this issue at great length in my earlier posts on my other blog "Disability  Rights through Courts" the links of which are as below:
http://disabilityrightsthroughcourts.blogspot.com/2009/07/detailed-facts-of-chandigarh-case-of.html

http://disabilityrightsthroughcourts.blogspot.com/2009/07/raped-mentally-challenged-firl-can.html
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8131563375136204790&postID=3457818963549407026

Hope we all continue to learn from the developments as they continue to unfold.

regards

Subhash Chandra Vashishth
Human Rights Worker

To read from source Click here:

‘Want daughter to be a doctor, to take care of me’

Like any young mother, she dotes on her newborn daughter and hopes that the baby will grow up to become a doctor. But her journey to motherhood has been far from normal.

When she gave birth on December 3 —World Disability Day — Sheila (name changed), who is in her late teens and mentally challenged, had crossed hurdles she could barely understand. Not only had she been raped and impregnated at the Nari Niketan here, the Chandigarh administration had convinced the Punjab and Haryana High Court barely a month ago that Sheila was not capable of looking after an infant and that the child would be a “toy” to her. That Sheila had been firm in her resolve to keep her baby was barely taken into consideration when it was ordered that her baby be aborted in the seventh month of pregnancy. A Supreme Court order, however, overturned this verdict.

Today, doctors at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) are pleasantly surprised at the ease with which Sheila has adapted to motherhood.

“I am her mother. I will make sure that she grows up to be a doctor. Doctors are good human beings who alleviate the pain of others. No one has ever taken care of me. She will grow up and take care of me,” she says as she burps her baby, whom she has named Pari, before putting her to sleep. When asked who taught her how to do these tasks, she replies, “I took take care of an inmate’s baby at Nari Niketan. She was my best friend.”

But Sheila’s experience at Nari Niketan — a centre for destitute women — was nothing short of a nightmare. “I don’t ever want to go back,” she says. It was there, as investigations and subsequent high court judgments have shown, that she was repeatedly raped by three of the staff members of the institution in connivance with two female staff members who would beat her into submission. The child’s paternity will be known only after DNA tests.

“I want to go back to Ashreya. That is where they take care of me,” she says, referring to another government-run institute for the mentally challenged. It is Dr Raj Bahadur — Director, GMCH, and in-charge of Ashreya — who along with his staff has been credited for the marked improvement Sheila has shown after her ordeal.

“To be honest, even I am surprised at the tremendous maternal instincts she is showing. In fact, even her mental state has improved considerably after the child’s birth. Contrary to fears that she would be violent and may harm the baby, she is protective and caring and doesn’t even like staff members handling her,” he says.

Even as offers of help from various NGOs, social institutions and philanthropists pour in, the UT administration has decided to take full responsibility of the child and the mother. “All the expenditure of the child, mother, education, upkeep would be borne by the administration until the child completes her education and reaches adulthood,” says Anupam Gupta, senior standing counsel for the UT administration in this case.

This decision follows the Supreme Court’s overturning of the High Court’s verdict to abort the child in the seventh month of pregnancy. The apex court’s intervention had come as a result of an appeal made by amicus curiae R S Cheema. “The plea that the girl is of unsound mind and a minor and hence her consent is not valid was fallacious. There is no guardian, and the government said that since we are the custodians, our decision is valid. This again was again dangerous. If the child was aborted, it would have absolved the authorities. Remember, the rape took place under their custody and any decision to abort would have set a precedent that if a rape of a minor took place in government’s custody, they were free to go for termination of pregnancy,” says Cheema.

Next week, the mother and child will move back to Ashreya. “She is looking forward to that. She is very particular about the needs of baby and doesn’t like it if we hold her for long periods,” says Sonu, an attendant. As one leaves her room, Sheila says goodbye but not without a reminder to “bring sweets for Pari next time”.