Priyank Kanoongo, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) lashed out at the dilapidated condition of the unlicensed orphanage run by the Gandhi family in Anand Bhawan complex in Pragraj city of Uttar Pradesh.
He posted, “There are no doors in the restrooms of the adolescent orphan girls in the unlicensed orphanage maintained by the Gandhi family in Prayagraj’s Anand Bhawan complex where your leader Rahul Gandhi used to repose during his stay in Allahabad and gather strength amid the election campaign. Orphan girls were not adopted by families and the orphanage also received foreign funds. All of this was discovered during an inspection conducted by me and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and an FIR was launched.”
He added, “This did not bring national disgrace but rather showed the truth about your party and the Gandhi family. As a well-respected member of parliament, please quit referring to the Gandhi family as “country.” India is a very great country.” Furthermore, he included a link to a news story about a news report on the aforementioned orphanage and attached a picture of a tweet by Rahul Gandhi in which he is seen with the children present there.
प्रयागराज में आनंद भवन परिसर में जहां आपके नेता राहुल गांधी इलाहबाद प्रवास के दौरान रेस्ट करते थे और चुनाव अभियान के दौरान ऊर्जा ग्रहण करते थे,वहीं गांधी परिवार द्वारा चलाए जा रहे बग़ैर लायसेंस के अनाथ आश्रम में किशोर वय अनाथ लड़कियों के बाथरूम में दरवाज़े नहीं लगाए गए थे,अनाथ… https://t.co/8GqfXgAbdp pic.twitter.com/RsBOzrP49K
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) January 7, 2024
The development came hours after Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Krishna Tankha accused NCPCR of ‘sensationalism’. The Congress leader tweeted that the Central Government must exercise control over organisations such as the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
He directed the Modi government to prevent NCPCR from becoming “wayward and sensational” if it wanted India to become a multitrillion-dollar global power.
If India wants to become a global power & a multi trillion eco the Central Govt will have to rein in & control organisations like @NCPCR_ ( National Commission f Protection f Child Rights ) fr getting way ward & sensational. Gives a bad image to t Govt. @PMOIndia @AmitShah
— Vivek Tankha (@VTankha) January 7, 2024
Notably, The Uttar Pradesh government was asked to relocate the inmates of the Children National Institute, a shelter home for girls in Allahabad’s Anand Bhawan, the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi family immediately “till their living conditions are improved,” by India’s highest child rights body which exposed serious irregularities and illegalities in the institution’s operations in 2020.
The NCPCR conducted an inspection after a social audit it commissioned which revealed the state of the girls residing in the orphanage Jawaharlal Nehru established in 1947 as a temporary home for children who had lost their parents during Partition. The shelter house is operated by a trust and is housed in the Swaraj Bhawan neighbourhood of Anand Bhawan.
In a letter to the state, the Commission referred to the place as “one of the most premier and oldest in India established by the first Prime Minister” but noted that “the physical condition of the home was so pathetic that it was difficult to believe.” Its basic maintenance was far from adequate and its bathrooms lacked doors. It was recommended that girls stay in other accommodations until the shelter home’s condition is rectified.
They learned that the girls are only given one meal each day by the institute and for further meals they must rely on outside donations. According to a senior Commission official, “There is not enough staff to look after the girls, not enough beds for them to sleep in and not enough documentation about their backgrounds. After the inquiry as part of an independent agency’s social audit, Priyank Kanoongo remarked that he was “shocked at the serious violations of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and irregularities in the running of the institute.”
