A team of officials from Jharkhand that reached Palakkad on Sunday in connection with the detaining of 589 children from West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar at the Palakkad Railway Junction station last week has termed it a case of child trafficking.
Talking to The Hindu after visiting the children sheltered at two children’s homes in the district, Jharkhand’s Labour Enforcement Officer Maneesh Sinha said the children were taken to Kerala without completing due procedures and violating key provisions of the child rights Act.
Recommending an investigation, he said the children indicated that they were “purchased” by agents paying about Rs.1,500 to each parent exploiting their poverty.
The team from Jharkhand included three assistant development officers and two labour welfare officers.
Mr. Sinha said Jharkhand Labour Commissioner Maneesh Rangan would reach Palakkad on Monday for consultations with district authorities, police, and child welfare activists on the future of the detained children.
The team left for Kozhikode in the evening to meet children handed over to the District Child Welfare Committee there.
Mr. Sinha said Jharkhand provided free and compulsory education to all along with free food in its schools and shelters.
He said no orphanage in Kerala had contacted the State government to get children through legal process to ensure their overall development.
The delegation also held talks with the railway police, district authorities, and members of district child welfare committee.
The Kerala Minority Commission and the Indian Union Muslim league had claimed that poor children from the minority communities outside the State were being brought to Kerala in an attempt to provide better education and nutritious food.
