Santoshi from Chattisgarh shows the copy of the ration card outside the Child Welfare Committee at Purasawalkam, Chennai on January 27, 2012. Photo: S.S. Kumar
Santoshi and Gubbar from Chhattisgarh wait outside to meet their child. Santoshi is a migrant labourer from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. She and her husband Gabbar came to Chennai about one and a half months ago. According to the couple, their eldest daugher Lakshmi "was taken away” on Pongal day. Photo: S.S.Kumar
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC), functioning under the Department of Social Defence, has the primary function of caring for “neglected” or “abandoned” children. Here, parents wait outside the CWC to meet their children at Pursawalkam in Chennai. Photo: S.S. Kumar
Personnel from the Juvenile Aid Protection Unit rescue "abandoned" or "neglected" children and bring them to the CWC, in addition to NGOs and other citizens contacting the child helpline. The CWC follows a detailed procedure, involving enquiries on the child’s parents and background and whether he/she was going to school. Photo: S.S. Kumar
Pullamma from Andhra, shows the study certificate of her daughter outside the Child Welfare Committee at Pursawalkam, Chennai. The CWC decides to rehabilitate the child by putting them in a school, offering medical and psychological support, or, give the child back to the parents, in cases where the Committee is sure of the parents’ identity and of their ability to send the child to school once returned. Photo: S.S.Kumar
Pullamma and Venkateswarulu from Machilipatnam, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, wait for an update on their 10-year-old-daughter Sandya Priyanka at the Child Welare Committee, Purasawalkam. Photo:S.S. Kumar
According to P. Manorama, chairperson, CWC, language is often an issue. When it is a Hindi or Telugu-speaking family, they manage with volunteers. “But sometimes, we find it hard communicating with families that speak Oriya or Manipuri.” Here, parents wait outside the Child Welfare Committee in Chennai. Photo: S.S. Kumar
According to S. Kannayiram, former field officer of the Social Welfare Department, it is the duty of the Probation Officer assigned to the child to talk try and speak to the child and get information, by all possible means -- identify their vernacular language with the help of a translator or understanding the situation of the child by spending time with him or her. Here Santoshi and Gubbar from Chhattisgarh wait outside the CWC to meet their child. Photo: S.S. Kumar