36 children vanish into thin air at orphanage

Seen eating in a room by social workers two days ago, kids nowhere to be found on day of raid on illegal ashram

36 children vanish into thin air at orphanage

Seen eating in a room by social workers two days ago, kids nowhere to be found on day of raid on illegal ashram

It is unbelievable but true. Thirty-six children between the ages of one and 18 have vanished into thin air from the Niradhar Balsangopan Anath Ashram at Gulab Kate chawl in Dapodi. The District Women and Child Development Officer and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) members raided the ashram on a tip-off from social workers from Childline, who had alleged the existence of an illegal orphanage in Ward Number 5 in Dapodi.
When officers of the Women and Child Welfare Department went to take a look, the children were nowhere to be found at the orphanage.

No child's play: Raiding officials found clothes and schoolbags were
hurriedly stashed away in corners to cover up any signs that the rooms
were quartered by children. Pic/Himanshu Dixit

Second time
A similar case had been reported at the orphanage last year when CWC members checked on it after a tip-off.
This year, it happened just two days after the Dnyanadevi-Childline social workers found all 36 children eating together in a single room on the ground floor of the two-storey structure, the construction of which is still incomplete. Anuradha Saharsrabudhhe, director of Childline and a Juvenile Justice Board member, said, "After this information from field social workers, I called Malan Tulwe on her cell phone posing as a donor who was ready to give a hefty sum. She told me she had 36 children between one and 18 years of age and said she was ready to accept the sum." After Childline gave the tip-off to CWC members, they informed the District Women and Child Development Officer, who then decided to do a check.

MiD DAY findings
A MiD DAY reporter also visited the orphanage posing as a donor, and Malan Tulwe, who runs the ashram, said the orphanage was shut down following a notice from the Women And Child Development Department last year. But she added that her proposal to get the sanction was pending. MiD DAY was shocked to see the children were nowhere to be found and it appeared they had been removed from the ashram after authorities there got to know about the likely raid. The ashram bore the look of a place where people had tried to hide things like schoolbags and clothes that could have revealed the existence of children at the orphanage.

In the two-storey construction, there were single rooms on each floor and these were full of school stationery and school bags. On the second floor, children's clothes were strewn around in disarray; the balcony had toys and clothes stacked in a corner. There was no sign of toilets on both the floors. Two girls between the ages of three and five were seen playing. Tulwe was quick to say that one girl was her daughter and other her friend.

When CWC members demanded to see the birth certificate, Tulwe said the certificate was with her son. When the MiD DAY reporter enquired with residents of the chawl, they claimed that some 35 children were being kept in the two-storey structure by Tulwe and at the time of raid the children were out.

Another ashram violates rule
Women and Child Development officers visited another ashram, Saraswati Anath Shikshan Ashram in Pilaji Kate Chawl, which has sanction to house 35 children between the ages of six and 18 years. MiD DAY noticed that while the infrastructure was in place, important rules were being violated. At least three underage children were found in the ashram and only one had proper documents in place. A Std V girl said there were four more girls but there was not a single woman caretaker. The caretaker said that the staff consisted of six people, who were taking care of 15 children. Children claimed that there were 40 children and that the older children cooked for everyone at the ashram. The condition of the bunk beds and the clothes that the children were wearing was not good. The caretakers also seemed to lack the necessary training for the job.

Officialspeak
When MiD DAY contacted District Women and Child Officer Suvarna Pawar, she said they were yet to get the necessary proof that children were indeed being kept at the Niradhar Balsangopan Anath Ashram. "We will keep a tab on the ashram till we get proof and then file a case," she said. On her visit to the Saraswati ashram, she said that a notice would be issued to it for gross violation of rules. "The underage children will be taken in custody and will be placed in orphanages which have permission to keep smaller children," she said. Pawar added that illegal orphanages would be made to shut down and violation of rules would not be tolerated.