Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment P. Geetha Jeevan inspected the Government Home for Boys in Ranipet on Friday, and gave assurance that better basic facilities, including adequate beds, cots, new uniforms and nutritious food, would be provided to the children there. Friday’s inspection comes a day after the Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, made a surprise visit to the home the previous day before inaugurating various welfare projects, including the new Collectorate. During his visit, the Chief Minister found that the Superintendent of the Home, G. Vijayakumar, was not present. The Headmistress of the school, Gomathi, was also not there at the time of his visit.
Subsequently, the Chief Minister directed the Department of Social Welfare to submit a detailed report on the condition of the home. “I visited the dormitory, checked the food prepared for the children in the home and also spoke to a few children. Better facilities will be provided to the Home soon,” Ms. Geetha Jeevan said. Accompanied by Handlooms and Textiles Minister R. Gandhi and Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian, Ms. Jeevan said that strict warning has been issued to staff and teachers in the home. Absence of many staff, including the Superintendent in-charge and the headmistress of the school, from the campus when the Chief Minister was in town was completely unacceptable. Periodic report on the functioning of the home is also being sought from the authorities, she said. Spread over 37 acres on the outskirts of Ranipet town, the Government Home for Boys, maintained by the Department of Social Welfare, has a total of 46 boys in the age group of 6 - 18 years. They reside in a common dormitory inside the campus, which also houses a middle school. The armed reserve (AR) wing of the district police is also stationed inside the premises. The Government Home has been in existence since June 1924. Detailing the steps taken to curb child marriages in the State since the government came to power in May last, the Minister said that 17,240 child marriages have been stopped between 2008 and April 2022. Likewise, 866 cases on child marriages have been registered in the State from May 2021 to April 2022. Coimbatore, Salem, Krishnagiri, Permbalur and Dindugal are the districts where most child marriage cases have been reported in the State, the Minister said.
