As many as 20 Schedule Tribe children from Bihar were rescued from a home on the city outskirts on Tuesday.
They were later handed over to their parents.
“The children, who were brought to the State a few months ago, had been admitted to a private home without obtaining permission from the government. The inmates were all natives of Bihar and Odisha,” Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Chairman B. Nagesh Rao said.
On receiving information, District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Ch. Vijay Kumar and District Probation Officer (DPO) of the Juvenile Welfare Department K. Bhaskar, along with CWC members, raided the home at Nidamarru village in Krishna district. “More than 70 children were found in the home, and 35 of them are tribals,” said Mr. Rao.
The inmates, complaining of poor facilities at the home, urged the team to send them back to their homes. Subsequently, the Krishna District CWC summoned the parents of the children, all daily wage labourers in Jarkhand, Odisha and Bihar, said CWC member S. Bala Showry.
Mediators’ role
“During inquiry it was revealed that mediators had played a vital role in identifying and shifting the children to Andhra Pradesh. Moreover, middlemen, who frequented shelter homes, brought the children to the State,” Mr. Showry said.
“The home managements had admitted the children without obtaining permission from the CWC, which is a must. Under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, detaining children is a crime. We appeal to home managements not to admit children, until they were referred by the CWC,” the Chairman said.
“When we visited the home, my son, who is studying in Class II, hugged me and pleaded with me to take him home. The facilities at the home are not good, and we requested the Juvenile Welfare Department, CWC and the Integrated Child Protection Scheme officials to allow us to take our children,” said Supal Marandi, father of an inmate and a native of Kishangunj district in Bihar.
“The CWC counselled the parents as well as home managements not to let the children suffer and explained to them the consequences of violating child rights,” said another CWC member J. Jayaraj.
