New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday directed the chief secretary to look into the horrific conditions and deaths at the Asha Kiran Home for the mentally-handicapped.
Earlier on Sunday, Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice to the secretary, department of social welfare, asking for details on leading causes of 11 deaths in the last two months. Following its overnight inspection the preceding day, the women’s panel had highlighted life-threatening and dehumanising conditions at the government-run mental asylum in Rohini. Mr Kejriwal asked the chief secretary M.M. Kutty to intervene immediately and set the situation right and file a report in a week. Expressing distress, he also hit out the secretary of social welfare department Dilraj Kaur and sought to know the reason behind her silence on the “11 deaths”.
“I am extremely disturbed by the prevailing conditions reported by DCW and in the media on the home. The chief secretary should personally ensure that all these deficiencies are removed within a week to the satisfaction of DCW,” Mr Kejriwal wrote in a note to chief secretary M.M. Kutty. He further asked Mr Kutty to fix responsibility and present a report by February 13 morning.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari visited the mental asylum on Monday. Mr Tiwari later said it is a matter of distress that such inhuman conditions prevail in the mental facility.
“The matter of deaths of 11 inmates at Asha Kiran Home becomes all the more shameful as the Kejriwal government has repeatedly claimed to be providing best health services in the country,” he said.
On Sunday, DCW chief Swati Maliwal slapped notices on the social welfare department secretary over the issue after spending a night at the home with her team. The women’s panel has also set up an inquiry committee in this regard.
In a statement, Ms Maliwal said she was shocked to find the gross violation of human rights at the home “where women were roaming naked in unhygienic surroundings”.
