Minister dedicates houses to shelter tsunami-affected children

Puducherry, Jan 9 (UNI) Puducherry Welfare Minister M Kandasamy today dedicated 15 houses constructed by the S O S Children's Village to shelter tsunami-affected children at Moorthipudukuppam near here.

Nine of the houses were occupied immediately with the children orphaned by the killer wave and by other means. Presently 90 children with ten in each house were accomodated.

They would be brought up as a family under the guardianship of a woman who would act as their mother. This exercise was to instil feeling in the minds of children that they were one family and not orphans, SOS Children's Village (India) sources said.

The orphaned children, under the care of NGOs would also be brought and sheltered in other houses later.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kandasamy said some NGOs, which were getting funds from various parts of the country and abroad and from the Puducherry administration were misusing it and there was an urgent need to regulate such NGOs.

He said 75 per cent of the fund allocation was being spent towards salary to the government employees and sops.

Several other schemes were being delayed due to free schemes, he said adding people should not expect everything free of cost.

Mr Helmet Kutin, President, SOS Kinderdorf International, Sandilya, President SOS Children's Village (India), Mr Pradeep Singh, Director SOS Children's Village (India), Ms Jollie Rayat Consul-General of France in Puducherry, were among those present on the occasion.

UNI PAB ROY AE RS1459