BHUBANESWAR: In a bizarre incident, a child care institution (CCI) of Khurda, which was asked to shelter a distressed minor boy, ended up employing him in a grocery shop in gross violation of child rights norms.
Though the Khurda Child Welfare Committee (CWC) ordered legal actions against the shelter home and transfer of all its inmates to another CCI, the district administration is yet to initiate any measure.
The 13-year-old boy, who belongs to Sambalpur, was studying in Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar High School of Khurda and was deserted by his mother. He was left at Bhairabi Club Open Shelter last year.
Since the CCI requested the CWC that the child should be allowed to stay as he was studying in Class X, the panel passed an order stating that the boy must remain in the shelter till he completes his study.
Surprisingly, in January, the District Child Protection Officer rescued the child and produced him before the CWC with a complaint that the victim had been taken out of the CCI and employed in a grocery shop by an outsider.
As per the inquiry report, the attendance register of the CCI and other records showed that the child was continuing his study. But in reality, the boy was working in the grocery shop for a monthly remuneration of `700. He had worked for at least 10 months but was paid a measly `2,800.
The CWC, in its order, observed that the CCI manipulated records to show that the child was staying in the shelter but was forcibly taken away which amounted to trafficking and violation of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006.
As per the panel’s orders, the child was taken to another CCI and enrolled in school since he could not complete Class X.
The committee also directed the district administration to initiate legal action against the violators and report the matter to Women and Child Development Department but no action has been taken so far.