HIS words were full of anguish. "We wonder why these miniprison are called homes. There is no warmth, love or concern for us here," said Khursheed, a street child, about the observation home where he lived.
Children like him were rounded up by the police from railway stations and bus terminals. The younger ones were brought to these observation homes and the older ones were sent to jail on some charge or other. Complaints of harrassment, torture and sexual abuse were frequent against the caretakers and other staff of the homes.
THE WEEK was refused entry into the children's home at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi, from where nearly a dozen children escaped recently. Most of them were caught and brought back by policemen within a few hours. Reportedly they were beaten mercilessly.

This home was run jointly by the Delhi government's department of social welfare and Prayas, an NGO. Following the adverse reports about the caretakers and probationary officers, the government was reportedly thinking of handing over the administration of the home to NGOs like Prayas.
Children were normally kept in the observation homes for about three months, till it was decided whether to restore them to their families or to send them to juvenile centres.
There was no shelter where the children could take refuge at night; most NGOs only had centres where they could come during the day for the non-formal education sessions. The children were discouraged from staying in the rein basera (night shelters) of the Delhi Development Authority's slum wing because of the risk of sexual abuse by the adults who shared these facilities.

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