Guwahati, May 7: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to submit an affidavit specifying the measures taken or proposed to take to “cure the deficiencies” pointed by the District Legal Services Authorities regarding different categories of shelter homes in the state.
The order was made by a division bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam recently while hearing a suo moto public interest litigation (PIL/2/23) in regard to the “plight of children in temporary shelter homes of Assam”.
An affidavit was filed in the PIL on behalf of the member secretary of the Assam State Legal Services Authority (ASLSA) along with the data collected by the respective District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) regarding the condition of children homes situated in the state.
In the said reports submitted by the respective District Legal Services Authorities, the facilities available with the shelter homes for the children, elderly people and other category persons have been mentioned along with the deficiencies.
The High Court stated that “the counsel for the state of Assam may file an affidavit detailing the measures which the state government has taken or proposed to take to cure the deficiencies pointed out by the District Legal Services Authorities in respect of the shelter homes of different categories.”
The court further directed the counsel appearing for the respondents to submit his response to the affidavit filed on behalf of the ASLSA member secretary by the next date of hearing.