Hyderabad: Peeved ayahs stage protest at Shishuvihar

Yousufguda: Caretakers (ayah) of Shishuvihar protest against the apathetic attitude of higher authorities at the government-run home for orphans here on Monday. They demanded hiring of more staffers as the workload has gone up due to more number of children joining in each month.

They pointed out that orphans at Shishuvihar were suffering for a variety of reasons. They don't have enough caretakers to care for them. Moreover, children of 1 to 7 years age find self-care quite difficult. "As many as 25 children are crammed in one single room, which as per the norms should only accommodate only 10 children. We feel helpless for them, hence we demand that the government take measures for the sake of children and help us relieve the heavy burden by hiring a few more caretakers," says Sujatha, Caretaker, Shishuvihar.

"The washrooms at the Shishuvihar also are not enough. To serve 10 children in each room three caretakers are needed, taking shifts of 8 hours. But we have 25 kids in each room and has only three caretakers. Moreover, salaries are also not sufficient. They hardly pay us Rs 7,500 per month and we want at least 12,000 to 15,000 for this workload," said another caretaker E Tara, Shishuvihar.

Around 120 caretakers from government-run Shishuvihar protested. Over all, at the Shishuvihar, 230 kids are residing in which 80 are newborns and rest of them are children aged up to 7 years, besides 25 specially-abled children.