U.P. Cabinet approves construction of 10 new children’s shelters

The UP Cabinet has approved a budget of Rs. 100 crores, for the establishment of new children’s shelter homes in the state, as proposed by the Women and Child Development Department. The first phase of the scheme will see the construction of 10 such protection homes for destitute children in conflict with the law.
According to a press statement by Leena Jauhari, principal secretary of the WCD, Uttar Pradesh, each of these shelter homes will have the capacity for at least 100 children, and they are slated to be constructed in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Amethi, Mathura, Firozabad, Basti, Jhansi and Kanpur Dehat. Among these ten new establishments yet to come up – one of them will be a government home for boys, and another for girls, seven observation homes for juveniles as under the Juvenile Justice Board, and one safe house for those children whose cases are under process.
For this, the state has approved Rs. 100 crores for the financial year 2024-25, also noting that this amount may increase or decrease with time. Following the completion of their construction, the centre and state will be sharing the cost of operation of these homes following a 60:40 (centre:state) ratio, with the state bearing 40% of the costs of running these shelters, as per the Centre’s Mission Vatsalya Scheme.