The Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice on Thursday to the Delhi government’s Women and Child Development Department, seeking a detailed report on the condition of shelter homes housing women and girls in Delhi.
The shelter homes’ infrastructure, services, rehabilitation and restoration efforts will be closely observed, said the commission.
The commission asked the Department to inform whether cases of sexual assault and harassment were reported from the shelter homes since January 2020 and if any action was taken against the culprits. It also asked whether any staff of the shelter homes was suspended for any reason.
Recently, an incident of ill-treatment of women at Adhyatmik Vidhyalaya, a north Delhi-based ashram, came to the fore when the Delhi High Court took notice of the “shocking” conditions of the women inmates there. After inspecting the ashram in 2017, a court-appointed team had found “over 100 girls being housed in animal-like conditions with no privacy”.
“The poorest of the poor and the underprivileged end up in shelter homes, it is the first and foremost duty of all governments to look after those living there, whether they are privately run or by the State,” said Swati Maliwal DCW chairperson. She added that the commission continues to monitor the well being of those living in shelter homes and shall work with the government to improve their condition.
The commission has been frequently raising the shortcomings in the city’s shelter homes. In 2018-20, the commission had roped in an independent agency ‘Koshish’ by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to conduct a social audit of all the shelter homes in Delhi housing girls and women. The TISS team visited 83 government and private run homes and audited them on various aspects including the infrastructure, services provided, rehabilitation and restoration efforts, the commission said in a statement.
