Authorities have closed down three children’s shelters in Kathmandu after they were found sheltering non-orphan children as orphans.

A recent inspection of the children’s shelters in Kathmandu conducted by the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) and the Kathmandu District Administration Office had found Purna Jaanma Child Home of Jorpati, Pabitra Samaj Sewa of Tokha, and Sahara Asahaya Bal Sundar Association of Boharatar keeping children whose parents are alive and well, officials said. 

Children from places like Humla and Mugu had been living at these shelters. They were moved to a government-run children’s shelter. 

According to a CCWB report published last year, 76 percent of the children’s shelters in the country are in Kathmandu.

 “We have more children’s shelters than necessary and we suspect some of them are being used as a place to promote religious activities. Besides, there are also cases of children being sexually exploited,” said Dilli Ram Giri, the chairperson of Central Child Welfare Body.

 “We plan to inspect the children’s shelters throughout the country and close the ones that do not meet the minimum standard.”

Giri added that a lot of children’s shelters were found making the Gorkha Earthquake as an excuse to shelter non-orphan children.

The CCWB started inspecting the children’s shelters in the Capital after discovering that a lot of them did not meet the set standards concerning hygiene, nutrition and financial transparency, among others. Some children’s shelters were also found admitting children without sufficient documents and identification papers.