The district administration in a positive tone responded at breakneck speed when a caller informed through 1098 service to CHILDLINE, Brahmapur that, a few migrant families with children were unable to return to their native State Chhattisgarh due to Covid-19 lockdown.
After receiving the message, the same was brought to the notice of the Director Sudhir Sabat and the centre coordinator Sai Prasad Samal who rushed to the spot.
After reaching the spot, the officials found that there were 12 families, out of which 37 were children and 22 adults. They were staying at an open field near Kalam Institute of Technology under Laxmipur GP, Chamakhandi PS, Ganjam.
During interaction of rescue team with the PRI member, the team came to know that the Banjara community had been staying for more than two months and were getting two time cooked food from the local Sarpanch. The ICDS, Chhatrapur was providing egg, flattened rice, corn powder, oil packet and Chatua (mixed cereals) to 22 children through the local Anganwadi Centre.
The team also noticed that there was one pregnant and another lactating mother in the group. Samal requested to Ambika Prasad Dash, BDO, Chatrapur to shift the 12 nomadic families at the earliest to a safe building in view of the incidences of lightning and thunder in the area. They were soon provided shelter.
In an another incident under Golonthara PS, a 17 years old child who came to Ganjam a month ago was found moving aimlessly at Randha market. The CHILDLINE team found that the child belongs to Dhenkanal district and was staying in a quarantine centre at NIST. On April 30, he ran away from the centre for some reason and was traced after 10 days.