The last week has been tormenting for Santoshi. The migrant labourer from Chhattisgarh was at the Marina on Pongal day when her eight year old-daughter Lakshmi, who went to buy a sweet at a nearby stall, was suddenly taken away by the police who possibly thought she was abandoned.
Even as Norway's child welfare system is in the news for its contentious decision to take two Indian children into custody, the process adopted by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), a similar government agency here, to identify the rightful custodian of “neglected” or “abandoned” children in the city is painfully insensitive to the needs of the child or the parents.
"I was right there near the sweet stall, but they took my child away,” she said on Friday, waiting on the CWC premises in Purasawalkam to meet her daughter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Migrant labourers like Santoshi and her husband Gabbar get a rather raw deal. After running around for “relevant documents” and proof of ID during the last week, they are helpless, still waiting for a reassuring response from the CWC. Theirs is an experience marked by indefinite waits, inadequate information and language barriers.
If this is the plight of parents, it is an intimidating experience for some children, as they struggle to come to terms with the new environment, food and language, while in the CWC's custody.
ADVERTISEMENT
The CWC does have a great responsibility in ensuring that the children are handed over to the right custodian, but the rather complex procedure and lack of transparency put children and parents in a fix, note experts.
Nurturing hopes of being reunited with her child, Santoshi says: “We came here only in search of a job. Once I get back my daughter, we will go back home for sure. We will not stay here anymore.”