Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | A home that launched many lives now needs care-Rana Siddiqui Zaman

A home that launched many lives now needs care-Rana Siddiqui Zaman

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Apr 15, 2014   modified Modified on Apr 15, 2014
-The Hindu

 

Bachchon Ka Ghar, the oldest orphanage in Delhi, is in desperate need of funds

New Delhi: While a few children are busy playing hide and seek, others are glued to computers and some get ready for the evening (asr) prayers. This is a usual scene at Bachchon Ka Ghar - a home for orphans at Darya Ganj. However, the oldest orphanage in the Capital, built in 1891 by acclaimed Unani medicine practitioner and freedom fighter Hakim Ajmal Khan, needs urgent attention.

The home shelters 200 children -130 boys (5 to 17 years old) and 70 girls who live at Matia Mahal. These children are taken care by a staff of 20 members, with 80-year-old Tejpal Bharti and 70-year old Khalil Ahmad being its ‘pillars'.

They supervise its daily functioning and arrange funds. While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi pays Rs.500 per month for every child, the rest of the funding comes through donors.

Bachchon Ka Ghar is housed in a sprawling, old-world style haveli. It also has two computer centres by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu (NCPUL), a dispensary, two parks, a library and a mosque.

But now, the orphanage is in desperate need of more funds. The signsare all too obvious. The boys' section has filthy, tattered bedsheets scattered around with unclean washrooms. "They are going to be cleaned tomorrow," said Mr. Bharti, but his words sound hollow.

"Much of my time goes in writing to the Delhi Government to give land for building a girls' Bachchon Ka Ghar. I had applied in 2000, but to no avail."

Due to government apathy, Mr. Bharti said, "Girls are living in a bad condition. The area is teeming with anti-social elements. I wish the government grants a plot for the girls' orphanage soon"

Incidentally, this year, 15 children will pass Class XII from the boys' orphanage. "Those who want a job in Delhi will be taught computer courses and will be sponsored till they get one," said Mr. Bharti.

Mr. Ahmad said the organisation has been "looking after Muslim orphan children who are eight years and above. The definition of yateem (orphan) in Islam is that the child is fatherless. If the mother is alive then also he/she is a yateem."

"But while the orphanage was initially called Yateem Khana Moidul Islam, Dr. Zakir Hussain changed its name in the late 1960s reasoning that the words yateem khana will make children grow up with an inferiority complex," Mr. Bharti recalled.


The Hindu, 14 April, 2014, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/a-home-that-launched-many-lives-now-needs-care/article5910579.ece?homepage=true


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close