KRISHNAGIRI: A 13-year-old boy, who was working as child labourer in a mango orchard in Andhra Pradesh, returned to his village and was enrolled in Class 8 at the Panchayat Union Middle School in Seemanoor village near Bargur, on Tuesday.
On June 26, TNIE published an article titled 'Kids rescued from bonded labour go off official radar', explaining how two Irula tribe kids from Kamatchipuram village, working as bonded labourers and rescued in 2022, had left the village and were out of officials’ purview.
In this case, a 13-year-old boy who migrated to Karnataka two years ago, returned to his village two weeks ago and again went to Andhra Pradesh to work in a mango orchard, returned last week. Following his return, PUPS headmistress Rajeshwari informed TNIE on Tuesday and the issue was communicated to Krishnagiri Collector C Dinesh Kumar.
The collector sent a team of school education department officials to the village and the boy was enrolled in school.
During the visit, the officials found another 11-year-old boy who was never enrolled in a school and he was admitted to Class 6 in Seemanoor school.
When TNIE visited the village, a Class 7 boy studying in Anchoor-Jagadevi Government Higher Secondary School had dropped out. When contacted, the school’s BRTE Vijayalakshmi said a special drive will be conducted in Kamatchipuram to identify school dropouts and they will be enrolled back to school.