Children’s Home supdt suspended

Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, March 6

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Two days after a minor girl ran away from the city-based Children’s Home at the Gandhi Vanita Ashram, superintendent of the home Manjit Kaur has been suspended by the state government.

While the 16-year-old girl had gone missing from the Children’s Home on Monday morning, she resurfaced from Jalalabad and returned to the home early on Tuesday morning. The orders for the suspension of the superintendent also came on the same day.

Manjit Kaur has been suspended for ‘gross negligence’, ironically, for a different case.

An inquiry has also been ordered into how the minor escaped.

Riddled with controversies and cases of runaway minors, the superintendent’s suspension has been ordered in a previous case where a minor from Patiala had escaped from the home several times in the past year. An FIR was also lodged in the case.

Reena Uppal, Superintendent of the Children’s Home for Girls, has been given the additional charge of the children’s home.

The superintendent, who joined the children’s home about eight months ago, has had a tenure riddled with at least four cases of minor inmates escaping and a suicide which happened in February this year while the entire staff was attending the reception of the superintendent’s son, without having applied for leave.

While it’s been over two months since the Patiala girl had escaped, the continued presence of the Superintendent at the Children’s Home cost the home a suicide and another runaway.

While a three-member enquiry committee had been instituted to look into the Patiala girl’s escape, sources told The Tribune despite strong recommendations of the superintendent’s dismissal months ago, it took months for her suspension orders to be issued.

Notably, the minor’s escape on March 4 was the fifth case of a girl going missing from the home in a year. Her uncle Radheshyam also alleged that she had called her family on March 27 and 28, despite phones not being available with inmates at the home.

On September 16 last year – the Patiala resident, 14-year-old girl, had also gone missing from the home - who was brought back on October 5 by the police. She went missing again on the same day. FIRs regarding her being missing was lodged on October 6 and a DDR was lodged again on December 14 after she ran away again.

On February 22, the housekeeper of the home and outsourced worker, Bhupinder Kaur, was dismissed by the Additional Director, Social Security, for gross negligence. Based on these cases, security had recently been upped and CCTV cameras were installed on the ashram premises. An attendant had also been transferred after recent missing/suicide case. However, no action has been taken against the superintendent of the home – under whom all these incidents took place.

Last month, an Assamese girl also committed suicide at the State Protective Home, which was also under the same Superintendent.

Reacting on why it took over two months for the state to suspend the controversial superintendent, Principal Secretary, Social Security and Development of Women and Children, Raji P Srivastava, said: “We suspended the Superintendent as soon as we received the result of the report against her. Inmates had also been borrowing phones from staff and calling certain people at times which added to the problem. Reena Uppal has for now been deputed as a replacement but another replacement will be sought. Meanwhile, we are also ensuring that all steps are taken to ensure complete security and infrastructural upgrades at the home. The work on installation of CCTV cameras has already begun and additional security will also be provided to prevent such incidents in the future.”

Reena Uppal gets Additional charge

Reena Uppal, Superintendent of the Children’s Home for Girls, has been given the additional charge of the Children’s Home.