Eleven children, starving for the last three days, were rescued by Chandragiri police from a children’s home on Friday. The children including three girls are in the age group of six to 13.
A narrow, abandoned house was converted into the children’s home which became operational two months back. As the authorities of the children’s home assured good food and education at a nominal price, poor tribals in the area admitted their wards to the home.
While the home functioned normally for over a month, its caretaker John Majhi left the institution without informing anyone on last Friday.
The children’s home authorities managed the institution till Monday when a woman was arranged to cook food for children. But she too left on Tuesday morning.
One Teresa Nayak of Gandaguda village, who had left her child there, reached the institution on Friday to find all the children in a starved condition. They told her that they were starving since Tuesday and none of the authorities of the children’s home came to their rescue.
Teresa informed the police who rushed to the spot, rescued the children and informed their parents. None of the children’s home authorities has been arrested.
Meanwhile, Gajapati administration has called for an inquiry into the incident.
Taking advantage of the callous administration, many private children’s homes have mushroomed in Gajapati district.