Thiruvananthapuram : Children’s Homes in the state shall will be upgraded to make them more child-friendly, said Minister for Women and Child Development, Veena George. The government aims for welfare of children at these Homes with goal to bringing them into the society’s mainstream. There are 16 Children’s Home under the Women & Child Development meant for children needing care and protection. For children who might have had run-ins with the law there are 8 Observation Homes, 2 Special Homes and 1 Place of Safety under the department. All these institutions will undergo phase-by-phase upgradation to render them more child-friendly. Activities for the purpose will commence at Homes in Malappuram and Pathanamthitta in the first phase, said the minister.
The Minister was speaking at the inaugural of upgraded Children’s Home for boys in Poojapura - a reinnovation that came at a total cost of Rs 84 lakhs meant for greater mental and physical wellbeing of the child inmates there. The Home has been chosen as part of first-phase upgradation of all such Homes in the state, the minister said.
Education Minister V Sivankutty presided over the function. Women and Child Development Department Principal Secretary Rani George and Women & Child Development Director TV Anupama too spoke at the function. Also in attendance were Juvenile Justice Board(JJB) member Prof. VM Sunandakumari, Child Welfare Council(CWC) member Seethamma, ICPS Program Manager VS Venu, District Women and Child Development Officer Sabeena Begum and District Child Development Officer Chithralekha.
