KATHMANDU, APRIL 7

The parliamentary Women and Social Welfare Committee today passed its research report on Nepal Bal Sangathan (Nepal Children's Organisation), in Naxal, Kathmandu. The report was prepared after conducting on-site visits and study of the state of children in the state-run orphanage.

The report was prepared and endorsed following repeated field visits and monitoring under the coordination of the committee's Chair Nirudevi Pal after the committee received complaints regarding the ineffectiveness of the organisation that was established in 1964 to provide residential care to vulnerable children.

The organisation that was established to work for the welfare of children and protect their rights faced a slew of criticism and complaints for its inability to optimise its resources and safeguard the rights of the vulnerable children.

According to the report, the organisation currently houses a total of 85 children who were rendered orphans or abandoned by their parents.

A total of 10 children shelters are running across the country where 378 children are accommodated.

The organisation has its fixed assets in 76 districts across the country. However, those assets are being used by other government agencies due to lack of proper record and registration, the report said.

A seven member ad hoc committee led by Bidya Upadhyay Neupane was formed by the incumbent government last year to overhaul and reform the organisation.

The committee has been overseeing the management of the organisation. It has observed some good changes in food, accommodation, teaching-learning activities and childcare in the organisation.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 8, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.