The Indian Express                26.04.2013

Civic warmth for street children

Gharte project aims to bring street children into the mainstream of society.

PMC makes medical check-up must for them.

Mandatory annual medical check-up and police verification of each child besides a monitoring body are some add-on steps being taken by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to ensure benefits for street children under the Gharte project that private agencies carry out for the civic body.

The urban community development department of PMC had proposed to extend the contract with three of the four agencies — the contract with one has been scrapped — to continue the Gharte project that aims at bringing street children into the mainstream of society.

The children are provided with food, clothes and accommodation in select civic schools where social workers educate them and teach them proper social habits.

"There was no problem extending the contract of the agencies. However, there were some complaints about facilities given to street children and that needed to be addressed. We have included a few more clauses in the contract to be signed with the agencies," said Vishal Tambe, chairman of civic standing committee.

He said it has been made mandatory for agencies to carry out medical check-up of each child under the project. "The medical reports of children would help us in deciding physical improvement every year. Also, agencies have been asked to get the identity of each child verified by the police department," Tambe said.

Earlier, there was no monitoring body to look into the functioning of each Gharte centre, he said adding that a monitoring agency will be appointed to ensure all the benefits envisaged are passed on to street children.

The PMC had cancelled the contract of one of the agencies after finding it violating set rules. The applications of 10 new organisations that showed interest in the initiative were rejected for lack of experience.

"The agencies appointed for three years will not be given 100 per cent funding and will have to bear 25 per cent of the total expenditure but the demand of an increase in funds per group has been accepted," Tambe said.

The ambitious project was started in 2007 with four centres in different parts of the city where street children were provided food, clothing and education free of cost. At some places, the civic body had made arrangements for the stay of children. The civic body earlier provided 100 per cent funding and paid Rs 61,651 every month for a group of 20 children. Every centre was allowed to have a maximum of four groups and a minimum of two.