The home for hearing and speech impaired in Raiganj. Picture by Nantu Dey

Raiganj, Nov. 18: The problem of plenty plagues Suryodaya, the state-run residential school for the hearing impaired here.

The institution set up exclusively for the hearing impaired was crowded with minors having criminal records or even mentally-challenged ones rescued by police.

The district juvenile justice board and child welfare committee have been sending the wrongdoers to the school after a Supreme Court order but without improving the infrastructure.

The apex court had directed all the states to set up the board and the committee in every district.

The authorities of Suryodaya apprehended that the cohabitation of the hearing impaired with the minors having criminal records could result in serious consequences including psychological trauma for the physically challenged.

Partho Sarothi Das, the principal of the school, said the institution was exclusively set up for the hearing impaired. “The facilities here deal with the teaching and handicraft training for children with hearing and speech deficiencies. We have boys and girls here from many parts of the state and we keep them here till they turn 18 years.” But recently, the social welfare department had set up the board and the committee in the district and send the minors with criminal records or even mentally-challenged to stay in the school.

“We have been observing that the hearing impaired are developing inferiority complexes with the introduction of those who can both speak and hear as well as those who are mentally unstable. They have started feeling insecure as they communicate with us in sign language while the other children directly speak to the staff and that is why they have become wary and withdrawn,” Das said.

The principal recalled how problems had cropped up recently after seven mentally-challenged children were sent to the school by the court. “The chief judicial magistrate of Raiganj has sent us a letter saying that we shall have to take in juveniles who had criminal cases pending against them. But we have no infrastructure to keep them. These children who have a criminal background are bound to have an effect on the others,” he said.

The deputy director of the child welfare department, Pratima Das, said the Suryodaya authorities had expressed their inability to accommodate other than the hearing impaired. “We are aware of their helplessness and there is a need for a separate home for the juvenile wrongdoers. However, we have had little time to set up special homes as ordered by Supreme Court. We are planning to build a special home for the purpose.”