Amid deaths of mentally challenged inmates reported at Asha Kiran shelter home with more than a dozen dead in July alone, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday directed the Chief Secretary to furnish a white paper on the running of all shelters homes by the Delhi Government in three weeks and initiate action against the administrator immediately. On her part, Minister Atishi ordered the Revenue Department to initiate a magisterial enquiry and submit a report within 48 hours.
Asha Kiran is a Delhi Government-run facility for the “mentally challenged” and comes under its Social Welfare Department. The department is currently without a head following the resignation of Raaj Kumar Anand. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail, has not assigned the charge of the department to any minister.
According to reports, 28 mentally ill inmates have died this year so far. Out of the total 14 deaths reported in July, 10 happened in the last half of the month including the death of a 14-year-old boy. According to the Medical Care Unit of the shelter home, most of the deceased had complaints of difficulty in breathing and loose motions.
The L-G ordered a comprehensive enquiry into the state of affairs of all shelter homes being run by the Delhi Government and a report fixing responsibility is presented within one week.
Atishi wrote a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue Department and stated that these deaths reportedly occurred due to health issues and malnutrition and indicate the lack of availability of requisite facilities to the inmates.
National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma blamed the AAP Government for the death.
She demanded responsibility from Delhi Minister Atishi in the matter.
A team from NCW visited the shelter home following which Sharma said, “The shelters run by the Delhi government have become death traps for innocent people. In the capacity for 250 people, Asha Kiran has 450 people staying without proper food, water and medication. Atishi should be made responsible for contaminated water they have been provided,” she said, adding that most of the women who died were under 40 years old.
Apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) called on Friday called for immediate action in the matter and submission of a fact-finding report within 48 hours. Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav demanded thorough probe into the deaths of inmates of the AAP government while raising question whether a responsible government exists in the Capital, as the AAP ministers were only blaming others for their own lapses and incompetence in effectively administering their Ministries.
BJP Northwest MP Yogendra Chandolia raised the issue in the Parliament following his visit to the shelter home. “There is no proper ventilation in the dormitory where the inmates live that they have more than the capacity of the shelter. The nurses and women that take care of them are getting paid pennies for working so hard. I demand magisterial inquiry in the matter,” he said, adding that the Delhi Jal Board has stopped the supply of water for three months in the shelter.
All India BJP Mahila Morcha Vice President Rekha Gupta, BJP Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta and the party’s North West district president Satyanarain Gautam tried to enter the shelter home but the gates were not opened for them, following which they staged a protest.
