the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa may soon have an integrated children’s home doing away with several smaller child care institutions (CCIs) which house sometimes even as few as five children.
The plans for an integrated children’s home which will include a schooling facility have already been drawn up. The integrated home has been conceptualised by Women and Child Development Minister Vishwajit Rane who held a meeting some time ago with various people working with children in need of care
and protection.
A source told ‘The Goan’ that the need for such type of an integrated home was discussed, and most stakeholders were in favour of such type of facility as currently, Apna Ghar does not have a schooling facility linked to it.
In a post on social media, Rane said that he had met up with Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday to discuss the setting up of this integrated home.
Meanwhile Adv Nishigandha Shet, member of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in North Goa welcomed Rane’s decision to have an integrated home.
She explained that even though the number of children in CCIs in Goa is above 2000, this is not an accurate figure as many children in CCIs are not children in need of care and protection, but children who have been sent there by parents, who are still their guardians. This view has been reiterated several times by Adv Sushma Mandrekar, chairperson of the Goa State Commission For Child Protection. Stakeholders also feel that once an integrated home is built, it will be easier to manage children in need of care and protection.
