The recent escape of a teenage girl from the Vadodara women protection home
(WPH) twice in as many days has raised serious questions over security
arrangements at WPHs in the region with authorities blaming it on the shortage
of staff.
Arti Yadav, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, and Poornima Thakor of Valsad had
ran away from the WPH by jumping over the compound wall on June 3. Police had
managed to trace Arti on the same day and sent her back to the Home. However,
the teenager escaped again from the Home the next morning by breaking open
window grills of her room.
WPH superintendent Kamal Pandor holds staff crunch responsible for the
escapes. The Home, which currently accommodates 57 inmates, faces shortage of
custody staff to look after them.
Against the sanctioned strength of three security guards, it has only two,
one of them being outsourced from the District Water Supply and Sanitation
Board (DWSSB) and the other slated to retire this month. The post of a woman
guard remains vacant for months.
“We have been asked to fill the posts on fixed-salary basis with monthly pay
of around Rs 3,000. We have made every effort but no woman is ready to take up
this responsibility against that amount,” Pandor told The Indian Express.
The situation is similar at other WPHs in the region, which have also been
witnesses to such incidents in recent past.
The Godhra WPH does not have a guard of its own to do duty during the night.
“The guard of children’s home provides us security at night. The post of a
craft teacher is also vacant. We have written to higher authorities several
times about the shortage of staff, but to no avail,” said Reunka Meda,
superintendent of Godhra WPH that houses 21 inmates.
A few inmates had escaped from this Home around two years ago.
The WPH at Bharuch does not even have a superintendent for the last one and
a half years. There is no security guard during the day time, leading to two
teenage girls escaping early this year. The posts of a nurse and a clerk also
remain vacant.
“It is very difficult to tend to the 33 inmates, a few of them mentally
retarded, with the limited staff we have,” said Chhaya Bhatiya, in-charge
superintendent of the Home.
However, WPH in Dahod is an exception as it has three women security guards
and only the post of a medical attendant is lying vacant.
Lakshmikant Patel, Social Defence Officer (SDO) of Vadodara who also holds
charge of the Panchmahals district, admitted that manpower was a problem at
these protection homes.
Director of Social Defence Rajnikant Patle said, “The department is short of
women staff members and since these are women institutes, only women can be
appointed on certain posts. So we are appointing a lot of in-charge officers.
As far as vacant posts of security guards are concerned, we have asked them to
fill up the posts on fixed-salary basis.”
