There are more than 600 child care centers across the country, with most of them in Kathmandu and Pokhara. The CCWB has said that it will soon cut down the number of such centers allowing only up to 300 of them to operate.A preliminary investigation conducted by the CCWB suggests that most of the child care centers operating in Nepal don't meet the government norms, while most of them maintain fake records on the children kept there. In such situation, children become quite vulnerable to trafficking.
President of the CCWB, Dilli Ram Giri, said that there was no need for such a large number of child care centers in Nepal.
"We have found that many child care centers don't have proper hostel or kitchen or toilet, while some lack enough children to justify their existence," said Giri, adding, "We even found that some centers using fake documents of the children for earning money."
He further explained that some centers were identifying children with both father and mother as orphans.
"We are planning to bring the number of child care centers almost to half the current number. Such centers will also be given the option of merger." According to the Child Care Center Law of Nepal, 2069, there should be at least 20 children in a center.
Giri even added that they are working on a system that will help maintain detailed record of every child staying at child care centers.
CCWB has stopped granting registration numbers to new child care centers and orphanages. The board said applications seeking registration for new centers would be deferred for another three months as it fears that children would be vulnerable to abuses in the post-disaster chaos.
According to a data provided by CCWB, since the earthquake of April 25, at least 10 cases of children being taken from a district to another without the knowledge of their parents, or permission from district office, police station or VDC.
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