Urine Therapy

The allegation that the Class V student of Patha Bhavan school was forced to lick urine for bed-wetting is atrocious to say the least. The warden’s logic to the distraught mother that licking urine from the wet bed-sheet was the only treatment to stop her ‘bad habit’ betrays logic. This warden can even defeat the notorious character of Bumble the beadle from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in cruelty and “imagination”. However, the moot point is that most of the hostels in the country may be in the hands of such warden who are ill-equipped to look after the genuine needs of the inmates as well the hostels. Most of the Wardens demonstrate proforma disdain for the system or a criminal bend of mind in harassing the inmates. The government must not only order a high level inquiry into the matte but also implement remedial measures with a sincerity of purpose. In the meantime all the matrons or the rectors must be subjected to suitable psychological tests and aptitude test to assess their suitability for the sensitive job. Those found not conforming to the job profile must be shown pink-slip or re-settled to some other sinecure. The policy-makers should remember well that hostels are home away from homes for the inmates where their personality also made or marred depending upon their environments. So, the Shantiniketan shocker should serve both as an awakening call as well as an opportunity to cleanse the system.