Plan for child dev centres in limbo

Lying unused for long, the buildings and lands of two former sub-jails at Delduar and Sakhipur upazilas in Tangail are decaying while a plan to set up child development centres by the Department of Social Service is yet to be implemented.

Construction of the sub-jails on about 2.5 acres of land each in the two upazila headquarters was completed in 1988, said sources at Tangail District Jail.

Those were used as upazila jails but their functioning stopped after three years when upazila court system was abolished in 1991.

Photo: Mirza Shakil

The unused premises of the two sub-jails virtually turned into habitats of wild animals, locals said.

The set-ups were handed over to the Department of Social Services on May 11, 2003.

At one stage, some people illegally occupied lands of Sakhipur jail by constructing different structures, including shops and clubs. The upazila administration evicted the grabbers several months ago.

The Department of Social Services on March 13, 2007 wrote to the executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) for estimates to renovate the structures at Sakhipur and Delduar for setting up a 50-seat child development centre and 50-bed Sarkari Shishu Paribar (government-run orphanage) respectively. But further steps could not be taken as the estimates were not given.

As per the decision taken on July 19, 2010, a proposal was sent to the Department of Social Services to set up training centres at the unused jails. But the matter did not proceed, said Md Shahidul Islam, deputy commissioner in Tangail. 

The Department of Social Services finally took decision to turn the unused jails to child development centres, officials said.

There are total 400 seats at the child development centre at Tongi in Gazipur but over 900 children (remain in custody for involving with different crimes) are living there.

Pressure on the centre at Tongi will be reduced if child development centres are set up on the premises of former sub-jails in Delduar and Sakhipur, they added.

Md Shah Alam, deputy director of the Department of Social Services in Tangail, said initiative was taken to prepare estimates to repair the structures of the jails but engineers opined that the structures had already turned unusable.

Processes are underway to construct new buildings to start children development centres at the two spots, he added.