The shelter home run by the Delhi government for the mentally challenged people in the country’s capital has become such a torture center that 14 children died in a month. If we talk about the total number of deaths this year, then this number is 27. The shocking thing is that no review has been done so far. The condition inside this shelter home is very bad. Not only this, the children are given only half the food. The situation is such that Asha Kiran Home built for mentally challenged children is now becoming a death chamber for them.
Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena termed the deaths as a crime against the most disadvantaged. Meanwhile, opposition parties BJP and Congress accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government of negligence and also protested outside the shelter home. Atishi announced a magisterial inquiry into the deaths, following which Lieutenant Governor Saxena directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the condition of all the city-run shelter homes, including the deaths at Asha Kiran, and sought a report within a week.
Children were not being given full meals
The woman working here says that the facilities that were provided to the children here 4 years ago are not available now. Earlier, the children used to get milk, eggs, but now everything has been stopped and they only get dal roti. Not only this, about two dozen children have been diagnosed with TB. The reason behind this is that the children are not getting the right diet and a large number of people are being accommodated in it. According to sources in the SDM office, the capacity of the shelter home is about 500, but there are about 950 people inside.
Also read: ‘Stale food being served, not even a cooler…’, Rekha Sharma shared pictures of mismanagement at Asha Kiran Shelter Home
In such a situation, the question arises that Delhi, which is known and recognized as a world class city, has a crumbling infrastructure. The information that is being received shows that children are not being fed properly. If they fall ill, they are not given treatment. In such a situation, 14 deaths in a month raise questions on the functioning of the government.
Minister Atishi ordered a magisterial inquiry
Delhi minister Atishi has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the deaths at Asha Kiran. The documents that Aaj Tak has got hold of clearly mention how people died month after month. The most shocking thing is that in the month of July alone, 14 people died in just one month.
When Aaj Tak asked Minister Atishi whether these deaths did not come to the notice of the government because there is no head of the department. On this, Revenue Minister Atishi said, severely disabled persons also have serious physical morbidity. Death should be medically related to this. She said that those living in Asha Kiran Shelter Home are given continuous medical care not only in the Home Medical Center but also in various hospitals of Delhi. We have immediately ordered a magisterial inquiry. Officials of the concerned department are not involved in such investigation. Action will be taken after the magisterial report comes.
Stale food is being served at the centre: Rekha Sharma
Rekha Sharma has shared these pictures with fungus in the food. There are various items in the menu, nothing is available. The BMI of the people living in the shelter home is low. There has been a surge in deaths due to heat in the center and there is no cooler here. Stale food is being served. Rekha Sharma said that this institution has been running for so many days, its work should be audited and a review is also needed for this. She said that if needed after this, it is also necessary to close this institution, because the people who are there should be in the hospital and not in the shelter home. She said that I do not think that there are shelter homes for mental patients, rather they should be in hospitals.
Also read: Delhi: 13 children died in Asha Kiran Shelter Home in a month, fact finding team formed
Did this cause deaths?
The report of the person in charge of the medical care unit at the shelter home recorded three deaths in February, two each in March and April, one in May, three in June and 14 in July. The report said that 12 deaths occurred between July 12 and July 28. Death records since July 15 showed that many of the deceased suffered from “severe” or “profound” intellectual disability and were also being treated at other government hospitals. Three people, including two women, died on July 20.
Ashok Kumar, who is the chief medical officer of the shelter home, told PTI that the people living here were not getting proper drinking water during the summer and there is a possibility that the water may be contaminated. “They were suffering from diarrhoea. The people living here are supposed to be given eggs and milk, but it is considered a special diet. The administrator of the home comes once or twice, but he has other things to do as well,” he said. Kumar said 60 to 70 per cent of the people are taking medicines, but malnutrition cannot be treated with medicines.
Police filed a case
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Gur Iqbal Singh Sidhu said that the police have started an investigation under Section 196 of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNSS). The officer further said that only the administrator of the center can tell how many people are living inside, but the police have started the investigation. The DCP said, “We are waiting for the post-mortem report and the magistrate inquiry report. Further investigation and FIR will be filed as per the report.”
This is a horror home: Swati Maliwal
The facility, run by the Delhi government’s social welfare department, was set up in 1989 in Sector 1 of Rohini. Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP and former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal called the facility a “horror home”. “People who need special care are being treated like animals! This is a horror home! 14 people died, of which 8 were women. The case files of two deceased women clearly state that they were malnourished. The medical report also mentions dehydration, vomiting and bed sores,” she said.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)