Delhi gang-rape case: Is the juvenile home equipped to 'reform' the teen convict?

New Delhi: The process of reformation of the juvenile convicted in the Delhi gang-rape case will begin in a special home at Majnu Ka Tila in north Delhi. Following the order of the juvenile justice board, the 18-year-old, who was 17 during the horrific incident on December 16, was sent to the special home for two years and four months.

Details of the order will be made public tomorrow, the day the verdict on the four adult accused in the case is likely to be announced.

An individual care plan under rule 15 of the juvenile justice law is also awaited. It will cover the period the youth spends in the special home as well as post release.

The plan will seek to make him internalise a sense of wrongdoing, and integrate him into society after his release. It will rely on intensive counselling, vocational training and probation services.

The juvenile left his home at the age of 11, to live on the streets of Delhi as a child labour. The question is whether the special home is equipped to meet the challenge of reforming him.

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Child activist Anant Asthana, who is also convener of the supervisory panel on juvenile homes, said, "Our concern is that in the special home, the specialty of that home is that there is nothing. The juvenile justice system has to deliver some services to the children. Take for example, vocational training. Now what we see in the name of vocational training is a mockery. There is a lack of proper counselling services. Most of the children are frustrated in those institutions because there is no one to talk to. If I have a problem, if I am traumatised, if I am missing my family, I should have somebody in whom I could confide. Most of the time, the superintendents are not available. There is nobody except the security guards to handle the situation."

Shahbaz, a counselor, on the juvenile board in Delhi, said, "The counselling services or mental health services are in very bad shape in the home and even outside after the child is released.  We do not have many trained mental health professionals. Only recently one psychologist has been appointed, but he is busy with more paperwork than interacting with children. I think every child needs a mentor, a person who can help him in reflecting on what he has done and what was wrong about it."

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Last month's incident of vandalism by inmates at the special home drew attention to the lack of infrastructure and services.
A supervisory committee on homes for juveniles has been set up under orders of the Delhi High Court four years ago. It has suggested numerous reforms.

According to child activist Bharti Ali, who is a member of the supervisory committee, no one has paid any heed to those proposals. "It's three or four years now. The proposals are languishing in some files."

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Making matters worse is the lack of adequate staff, including caretakers, probationary officers and welfare officers.

"75 per cent of the welfare officers in the Department of Women and Child Development are hired against a contract. Only 25 per cent are permanent employees. Those on contract get their salary after 6 months and a lower pay. As a result, the welfare officer is bothered with his own problems," says Avneet Kumar, a former welfare officer.

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There are bureaucratic hindrances. While the Department of Women and Child Development provides the services in the homes, the Finance Department, another wing of the Delhi Government, has to give financial permission for hiring staff.

The Government agrees there are challenges.  The director of the Department of Women and Child Development, said, "There are five children staying with us now. Everyone is from a different age group, has a different level of competence, different level of education and a different social background. Now, that is a challenge. There are so many NGOs who are visiting this. They should come to us and say well this is the area you know where the child has an aptitude for or has an interest in. We are looking for partners, but seem to get only opponents."

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The challenges are clearly unresolved. Analysts say the Delhi gang-rape juvenile's is a test case and will show the priority given by the Delhi Government to making the juvenile justice law work and achieve its goal of reformation.