Panaji: The Child Welfare Committee, North Goa, has passed orders saying that 22 children lodged at a childcare institution at Assagao do not require institutionalisation as their parents are gainfully employed.
The parents of the children, hailing from Karnataka and Maharashtra, presently work in Goa.
The orders were passed after the committee found that their parents have steady incomes and fixed places of accommodation, the high court of Bombay at Goa was told.
The high court is hearing a suo motu petition based on a letter from the CWC that 34 children were illegally housed in the institution at Assagao with no records with the committee or with the state directorate of women and child development.
The CWC held that five other children require care and protection, and can remain in the institution. In the case of seven other children, social investigation reports are still being collected.
Advocate Neehal Vernekar, representing the state and the CWC, told the high court that children cannot be institutionalised just because their parents say they are unable to give care. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, institutionalisation is the last resort, he told the court, adding that children have a right to a family and parents’ convenience is not of concern.
Vernekar said children have a right to the emotional and personal care of their parents and that children should not grow up away from their families. Parents cannot say they are not capable of looking after their children merely because they are getting care for free, he told the high court.
Advocate Parag Rao, representing the childcare institution, told the high court that it has been seeking deregistration as a childcare institution.
