Days after 58 children from Malda district were rescued from Kerala and brought to the district, parents of a majority of children, who are still lodged in different residential schools run by NGOs in the southern State, want their children back. According to government officials, there were 123 children from Malda district studying in these institutions.
The Child Welfare Committee of Malda district has received applications from 45 of the remaining 65 parents claiming that their wards are not being properly taken care of, committee chairperson Hasan Ali Shah told The Hindu on Monday.
“There is panic among the parents after the 58 children returned as there are different kinds of stories doing rounds. Since the parents want the children to return, we will now start the process of getting them back, which was earlier not possible,” Mr. Shah said.
The development comes at a time when a team from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Kerala police is arriving in Malda to probe the matter. As many as 58 children from the State, who were taken to Arawarul Huda Complex at Veetathur in Kerala’s Malappuram district, retuned on June 17. They have been handed over to their parents.
Missing LinksGovernment officials and the agencies overseeing the entire developments say they are ‘confused’ about the entire issue and there are still loose ends to tie up in the story. “All the children are from four blocks of Malda district located in border areas. The blocks are Harishchandrapur II, Chanchal II, Ratua II, and Manikchak. The children were taken to an orphanage, but none of them are orphans,” Arunayan Sharma, district child protection officer, told this correspondent.
Mr. Sharma, who had visited Kerala to rescue the first batch of children, said the CID team visiting from Kerala would look into that aspect. The CID team is likely to arrive late in the evening.
Meanwhile, the district authorities have come across at least two girls, who had studied in two of the institutions under scanner - Arawarul Huda Complex and AMUP School at Koduvathur in the same district. During their visit to Kerala, the officials of the West Bengal government were told that the orphanages house only boys. “Yes, we have come across reports of girls also studying in Kerala. We will ask the CID team visiting here to probe this issue too,” Mr. Shah said.
“I am still confused over the developments. We will try to ensure that the children who returned get adequate opportunities to study in the district itself,” he added.
