NHRC issues notice for Delhi govt, police on deaths at Rohini shelter home

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Saturday said it has issued notices to the Delhi government and the city’s police chief over reports that highlighted a series of deaths through July at a Delhi government-run shelter home for the intellectually challenged in Rohini.
The death of inmates, in such a large number within a short period, indicates “negligence on the part of the authorities”, NHRC said in a statement.
NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of the case were inmates died at a Delhi government-run shelter home — Asha Kiran — for people with mental impairment between July 15 and July 31, it said. Of the 14 who died in July, 13 people were adults and one was a minor. Their symptoms were similar – diarrhoea and vomiting. Several other inmates are reportedly undergoing treatment at a hospital, the commission said.
According to data of the medical care unit of the shelter home, in July, 54 inmates were sent outside the facility for treatment. This has “caused alarm and revived allegations of neglect and poor living conditions” at the shelter home, it added.
The commission has observed that the content of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of violations of human rights of inmates at the reportedly overcrowded shelter home.
Accordingly, it issued notices to the chief secretary of the Delhi government and the commissioner of police, seeking a detailed report in four weeks, the statement said.
“It is expected to include the status of the FIR in the matter, action taken against officials or officers responsible, and steps taken or proposed by authorities to ensure that such incidents do not recur”, it said.
The shelter home has a capacity of 500 inmates, but now over 1,000 are allegedly residing in it resulting in overcrowding, it said.
“Reportedly, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had red flagged the functioning of this shelter home in its 2015 report,” it said.
It was observed that the facility was over-burdened, ill-equipped for medical emergencies and short on staff. The report highlighted that a total of 148 deaths had occurred during 2009-14,” Commission said.
It had also found slackness on the part of the department towards decongestion of the Asha Kiran complex. In 2017, the Delhi Commission for Women also submitted a report stating that the facility was in a poor condition, the statement said.
The move comes a day after the Delhi government ordered a magisterial inquiry into the case, while lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena directed chief secretary Naresh Kumar to initiate action against the administrator of the facility and bring out a white paper on the running of all homes by the social welfare, and women and child departments and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, within three weeks.