Srinagar’s Juvenile Home is Anything But Home!

Srinagar’s Juvenile Home is Anything But Home!
Zeenat Zeeshan Fazil
Published on December 21, 2015

[Source: http://dailykashmirimages.com/Details/98961/srinagars-juvenile-home-is-anything-but-home]

Srinagar, Dec 20: From the fortified windows of the two-storey building, some children are seen watching the hustle outside. They wave at the people they see moving around freely. These children, undergoing imprisonment for diverse crimes, are locked behind the iron doors of this ‘Juvenile Observation Home’ in the outskirts of Srinagar city.

For a commoner, entering into this ‘home’ is quiet disturbing. The white-washed building, nestled among mountains, is highly fortified and fenced by mesh and concertina wires.

The compound wall is just three feet high -- thus the risk of inmates escaping is quite high!

Though supposed to be a ‘juvenile home’, but the place is no different from a jail.

In these winters, the building lacks proper heating arrangements. Marble floor is unfurnished, iron doors and windows are without curtains. So the chill comes in from one side and leaves from the other!

The building has 18 rooms for minors and every door and window is always locked. The ground floor houses the office of the Superintendent, a dining hall, recreation hall and a kitchen.

All the doors to the first floor, which house the minor prisoners, are made of iron, and remain locked. The keys are with the police personnel.

The floor has 18 rooms and each room has six beds with old, worn-out beddings.

Sitting on their beds in a room, the children looked quite scarred when this reporter tried to speak with some of them. First they were hesitant to talk, but later a few of them opened up.

“It pains us all to see young buds here, but we have no choice but to keep them like this,” says Afroza Irshad, Superintendent at the Juvenile Observatory Home.

 “I try to counsel these children to desist from their wrong acts. I cannot help them beyond this.”

Afrooza says she took charge of the home some 11 months ago and since then she is not only the Superintendent, but also works as a guard (‘Chokidar’) here.

As per her, there is immense dearth of the staff in this observatory home; the home doesn’t have any night guard (chokidar), store-keeper, caretakers, orderlies, case-workers, medical and nursing staff, etc.

“It’s me, one junior assistant and an orderly who look after an entire affair of this home,” Superintendent said, adding, “I have few (10) police guards from district police lines (DPL) to assist me, which is not enough.”

Though the  ‘daily routine’ or ‘time-table’ of these juveniles talks about the counseling sessions, group discussions, health education, group activities and singing et. al., but the Superintended admits that nothing is being done here.

“We don’t have teachers who could teach them.  Even the counselor, which is the main component to run any such home, is not available here. Whenever I (Superintended) get time after finishing routine office work, I conduct their counseling sessions,” she said.

This Juvenile home doesn’t have any vehicle. So in case of any emergency, they have to hire private vehicle from outside.

“Yes, we have no official vehicle; whenever there is any emergency ( in case any of them falls  ill or is hurt by other inmate ) and we have to him them to a doctor, we hire private vehicles and pay from our pockets as no funds for such purposes have been allotted to us  by the department, “ says Afrooza Irshad.

A visit to this juvenile home is enough to understand that how neglected it is. Though the authorities, particularly the Law and the Social Welfare departments make tall claims about the issue, fact of the matter is that this juvenile home is anything but a home.

Despite repeated attempts, Director Social Welfare, Kashmir, couldn’t be contacted for comments.

Meanwhile, Valley-based social activist and lawyer, Abdul Rashid Hanjoora told ‘Kashmir Images’ the home is against the spirit of theme on which it was set up. The purpose of home is reformation so that these juveniles don’t commit further offences.

However, he says “this home has nothing to offer them.  How do you expect them (inmates) to change? This way their mindset will be same, their behavior will be same, and this way their future activities will be same.”

“This home is simply a jail, nothing else,” he added.

Hanjoora says that the Social Welfare Department (under which the home functions) violates the directions of the High Court on how to keep these inmates. The rules are there, but they are not implemented on the ground.