The children of the Naxal-hit areas in lohardaga, presently taking shelter at the police picket under their protection, will soon be shifted to the nearby Government residential schools. As many as 28 children, including the six runaway kids, were shifted to the police picket in lohardaga after their parents brought them to the police seeking their help following a threat given by the rebel outfits that they will take them away to recruit them as their cadres. “We have talked to nearby residential schools and by the next academic year, all of them taking shelter at ‘Bal police lodge’ will be shifted to one or the other school accordingly,” said SP Manoj Ratan Chothe.
Presently, they have been provided the food, lodging as well educational facilities by the police, keeping them at a police picket on temporary basis, Chothe added. The SP further added that a meeting was held at the DC and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) level where schools have also been identified for those children studying in Class V to IX — who are likely to get admitted to their respective schools by March end. “We are trying to provide them best possible facilities here out of a fund generated by interest earned from a fixed fund of Truck Owners Association in lohardaga of which the SP happens to be the de-facto Chairman,” said the SP.
According to the SP, Rs850-900 are being spent per month on each of the children also involving at least 5 police personnel fully dedicated towards them providing all facilities to make them feel at home. Admitting the fact that the rebel groups have been demanding their children from the villagers on gunpoint in order to expand their cadre base, taking a fresh initiative, lohardaga Police had started a hostel — ‘Bal police lodge’ for the children who succeeded in running away from the clutches of the rebels. The hostel, from where the children are taken to schools in police protection, is completely run by the district police on donations.
This initiative, however, has been opposed time to time by some of the child rights organisations putting a question mark over keeping the children in a police picket, away from their parents, demanding to shift those kids either to their homes or some patronage houses. Member of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Sanjay Mishra had even sent a letter to the SP questioning the decision to put the children in Bal police lodge, and demoralising the police officials, who are arguably doing a noble job.
The children in Jharkhand have been used as a soft target by the rebel groups in order to strengthen their numbers and to use them as human shields. Rebel outfits, by sticking posters in Peshrar village of lohardaga had demanded one child from each household also threatening them to be ready to face the consequences if they did not follow their instructions.
These children are also exploited by the rebels as human shields against the security forces and also use them as couriers to carry their consignments from one place to another. This is being done in the left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected districts of Gumla, lohardaga, Simdega and Palamu.