Child trafficking issue: Orphanage details are manipulated, says Kerala Human Rights Commission

"There are many orphanages that manipulate the number of inmates with photographs and no departmental inquiries are held in these institutions to verify the facts presented in the papers," charges J B Koshy, chairman of the Kerala Human Rights Commission. Orphanages forge documents to show that they have more inmates so that they can avail of larger government funds.

Reacting to the ongoing controversy on the child trafficking issue, Mr Koshy told Deccan Chronicle that no government agency knows what is going on in the state run orphanages and homes for the destitute. The Orphanage Control Board, which is supposed to have details of all the orphanages and their inmates has no such details, he says.

The SHRC's nodal officer DIG S Sreejith had asked for details of the source of funding and the number of inmates, but a majority of orphanages refused to provide these details.

"There was an organised attempt to prevent his entry into the orphanages," Mr Koshy said. He added that the SHRC is not allowed to visit the orphanages to collect the details, which will only be supplied through the revenue department.

"Only on a few occasions has DIG Sreejith visited an orphanage in person, that too only to attend to serious issues as in the case of the Mukkam orphanage where he perused details the other day," Mr Koshy said. "None of the state agencies maintain any records on the inmates of the orphanages. Attempts by SHRC to collect details of student inmates from the education department have also proved futile."

He dismisses as totally unjustified allegations that the drive to gather information is aimed at targeting a particular community. It's a legal initiative to bring orphanages under the legal framework and do away with the anarchy that exists.

"I fear these controversies have cropped up over such well intentioned steps because there are crimes involved," he points out. "We need a mechanism to track the growth and development of an orphan till death. We can't allow them to end up as criminals or worse," he says.

Six months ago, the commission had sent a form to all village offices with orphanages to ensure that the institutions submit all details. The institutions were intimated and a copy of the form was also uploaded on the website of the SHRC. But only half the orphanages furnished details.

The commission is of the opinion that once the state government issues a destitute certificate to a child, the child is the responsibility of the state. Every police station should know if there is a new entrant in an orphanage in its jurisdiction and also should be informed when the orphan moves out of the institution. When moving out to another place the concerned head of the police station should be informed to ensure protection and safety of the orphan.