Out of the 160 children housed at a Government shelter by Kerala’s Palakkad district administration after a rescue operation on May 24, 157 have been verified from Jharkhand. A five-member team of Jharkhand Government confirmed this on Sunday.
According to the official records, overall 455 children from Bihar and Jharkhand were found packed in three unreserved compartments of Patna-Ernakulum Express. Following the tips off Railway Police, Palakkad district officials along with the local cops rescued these children.“The children, including girls and boys, were being brought to this region for free education and food through namesake orphanages,” said Palakkad Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Father Jose.
The five-member Jharkhand team which reached the district on Saturday began verifying the children from Sunday morning. “The number of Jharkhand children between five and 14 years seems the most compared to such children of Bihar. Majority belong to Godda district. We are hopeful to find more numbers in the remaining ones who are yet to be verified,” Bhartiya Kisan Sangh member Pramod Kumar Verma said.
Verma was shocked to see the Aadhaar cards of these children mentioning them a resident of Kerala. “It clearly indicates a matter of trafficking as the children can neither understand Malayalam nor English. They are convenient only in Hindi,” he added.
Also, the team visited shelter homes neighbouring Palakkad where unidentified children among this rescued cadre were kept. “We are in process of calculating the exact number of Jharkhand children except those staying in our government home,” Palakkad District Social Justice Officer Mrithyunjayan said.
Meanwhile, Palakkad District Collector K Ramachandran informed that the children were escorted by 43 individuals (10 were women who had 10 infants with them). “We have arrested around eight persons but are still not sure on whether these children were being brought to orphanage or for the purpose of trafficking. Our cops have filed an FIR under Juvenile Justice Act and are investigating the matter,” Ramachandran said.
Speaking further he said that the children were travelling in a pitiable condition. He added, “Half of the children were found without train tickets. Observing the Hindi dialect we approached the authorities of Jharkhand and Bihar. Some children have been taken away by their parents.”Jharkhand labour Commissioner is likely to reach Kerala by Tuesday and hold discussion with local government departments here regarding this issue. Verma is mulling to request the Kerala government officials for reserving atleast two bogies so that these rescued children can be accommodated to Jharkhand by the end of this week. Hearing this Ramachandran assured to provide all possible facilities from his side.