Exposure of Nari Niketan through RTI

[R K Garg]

RTI exposes Nari Niketan mismanagement 1 Jul 2009, 0131 hrs IST, Saurabh Prashar, TNN

CHANDIGARH: Currently mired in controversy over the alleged rape of an inmate, Nari Niketan in Sector 26 could find itself on sticky wicket with some worrisome facts being exposed in response to an RTI query. On May 25, RTI activist RK Garg had posed 14 questions regarding the working of the institute through an RTI application. He was handed over a 155-page reply by the social welfare department on June 23. According to the document, Nari Niketan officials had not conducted the IQ test of the rape victim since April 1. She had been staying there for three years. Only six inmates were asked to take the test, and this did not include the mentally challenged 19-year-old who was allegedly violated. Another discrepancy relating to the number of persons working at the Sector-26 centre was also highlighted in the reply. The data provided did not match the information posted on UT administration’s official website. A copy of visitor’s register maintained at Nari Niketan since April 1, 2008 also showed the apparent negligence of its staff in maintaining it. For instance, while a woman named Anuradha had taken five children with her on December 26, 2008 to celebrate Diwali, promising to send them back within three days, the diary failed to mention anything about their return. There are more instances where the register does not include such entries. Besides this, two inmates named Girija and Champa reportedly shifted to home for mentally unfit - Aashreya - in Sector 46 on February 24. However, the attendance register did not have their names for that entire month. Another significant fact highlighted by the reply was that from April 1, 2008 UT home secretary Ram Niwas, who is the secretary of UT social welfare department that heads Nari Niketan, visited the institute only twice - one September 27, 2008 and April 20, 2009. Piqued by the alleged contradictory information provided by the CPIO , Garg would now file an appeal with Central Information Commission at New Delhi. After a mentally challenged inmate of the shelter was found pregnant in May, a security guard, Bhupinder Singh, was held for allegedly raping her. This was followed by more arrests, including that of an attendant and a nurse. Though a final decision is pending in the shocking case, RTI applicationreveals some glaring loopholes in the functioning of Nari Niketan that could have allowed some wily individuals some elbow room.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/4722094.cms