Not sent to school: says orphans

BAREILLY: A three-member team which has been inspecting shelter homes in Bareilly after receiving reports of several irregularities were shocked to learn from inmates of Arya Samaj Orphanage about the their dismal living conditions.
The children at the orphanage claimed that they had virtually no access to education or food. The said though their school fee has been submitted, the orphanage staff did not let them go to school.The children went on to add that as there was no cook, they have to make meals food on their own and often end up bruising themselves.
One of the three-member team who came for the inspection, Rajendra Gangwar, told TOI, “A social worker, Dr VK Yadav, has enrolled four girls and a boy to Shishu Mandir School and deposited their fee. However, these children informed us that the officials of the orphanage did not let them go to school. The children have not attended school for the past few days.”
Gangwar added, “Things are no different with other children of the shelter home. Though other children are enrolled in a government school, they hardly go to school. The senior inmates, who are in Class VIII and above, claimed that they teach their juniors.”
The team members added that the inmates of the orphanage did not follow any schedule and loitered about. “The inmates — both girls and boys — complained to us that they are forced to cook for themselves. In the process, few of the inmates sustained burns. Though the officials of the orphanage claimed that they pay a monthly sum of Rs 2,000 to a 16-year-old boy to cook, the other inmates alleged that they still have to help him in cooking,” said Gangwar.
When contacted, Amrat Lal Nagar, orphanage manager, denied the allegations leveled by inmates. “All the children regularly go to school and we have received no complaints in this connection from them. They are given proper diet and inmates have no problem with the living conditions here,” said Nagar.
After the Arya Prathinidhi Sabha, Lucknow, received complaints about irregularities in the functioning of the Arya Samaj orphanage here, it sent a three-member team to inspect the institution on Sunday. “We are preparing the report after interacting with children on Monday. We will submit our report to the authorities at Arya Prathinidhi Sabha, Lucknow, who will take appropriate action in this matter,” said Gangwar.
The orphanage, set up in the city in 1883 by Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati, reportedly has no cook and no one to clean the premises. There are different buildings for housing 14 girls and 42 boys at the orphanage. Twenty-three of them had allegedly taken ill a few months ago and six of them were admitted to a private hospital. “The root cause behind children regularly falling ill is lack of nutritious meals and unhygienic conditions,” said Dr VK Yadav, a child specialist treating the kids at the orphanage.