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After outrage, Maneka steps in to save Maharashtra orphanages

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Jul 04 2016 | 8:57 PM IST
After an online petition called for saving orphanages run by an NGO in Maharashtra which face closure due to lack of registration, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has stepped in to "examine" the issue and asked the state government to "intervene".
The orphanages, run by an NGO of Sindhutai Sapkal, have rescued thousands of children, the petition claimed and appealed to Gandhi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to look into the matter.
Responding to the petition, Gandhi today tweeted, "Examining the issue of orphanages run by Smt. Sindhutai Sapkal. Have asked the Maharashtra Govt. To intervene."
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, makes it mandatory for all orphanages and children's homes to be registered under it even if they have a licence under any other law.
A senior ministry official said "as per the JJ Act, all childcare institutions are supposed to register themselves and this wasn't done (in this case). We have intervened and told them to file their registration form afresh, which they have done. They will be subjected to whatever checks and balances are there (before they are registered)."
The petition by journalist Sucheta Dalal on Change.Org reads, "Sindhutai Sapkal is called Mai by 1000s of children who she has helped raise through her numerous orphanages across Maharashtra. Today she is being asked to shut down her orphanages by the state government."
Dalal claimed that Maharashtra government did not cooperate with Sindhutai who has been trying to get her NGO registered since 2011.
"She has been honoured with numerous awards, including the prestigious Holkar Award by the government of Maharashtra. Now the same government is targeting her, sabotaging her incredible work," the petition alleged.

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First Published: Jul 04 2016 | 8:57 PM IST

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