Judges visit Bal Niketan, interact with children

Panchkula, January 18

Panchkula District and Sessions Judge, Ritu Tagore, who is also the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) chairperson and Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM)-cum-DLSA Secretary, Nidhi Bansal today visited Bal Niketan in Sector 2 here and interacted with the inmates. A total of 46 children, including 13 girls and 33 boys, were admitted at the orphanage.

Bal Niketan manager Mehar Singh told the judges that of the total 46 children, 13 were missing children and seven were orphans. He further told them that at present, they were getting grant of Rs 1,800 per child whereas the requirement was about Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per child. He further said that they have a staff of 17 persons and the expenditure of their salary was about Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh per month but were not receiving any grant from the government for these expenses. All the expenses were being borne by the donations given by the donors.

The children were being sent to various private schools in the city, besides engaging a tutor who comes in the evening to teach them at Bal Niketan for two hours daily. A team of doctors from the Sector 4 civil dispensary visits quarterly for the medical check-up of the children. In case of any emergency, they take the children to the nearby dispensary or hospital. Vocational courses of tailoring and beautician were run at the home for free.—TNS