3,410 inspections of child-care homes carried out through govt's MASI app

About 3,410 inspections of child-care homes have so far been carried out across the country through the government's MASI (Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection) since its launch in 2021, officials said on Monday.

The portal was launched in January 2021 with the first inspection in Chennai but then, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the inspections could not be carried out, a senior official said, adding that they were resumed again after the curbs were lifted.

Explaining the functioning of the MASI portal, a senior official at the women and child development ministry said there was a need for a monitoring mechanism for the child-care institutions in the country and hence, the app was developed.

"Through this, the children's home database has been synced with an app and the authorities in districts or child welfare committee (CWC) members are on this app.... They can choose a child home randomly on the system to ensure that the inspection of child-care homes is carried out periodically