Kochi: Chairman of Janaseva Sisubhavan Jose Maveli on Friday staged a hunger strike to pre-empt the move by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to repatriate migrant children accommodated in the Aluva-based institution. “Such a move will adversely affect the future of 61 boys and 44 girls pursuing their studies in various schools across the state,” Mr Maveli said. However, CWC chairperson Padmaja Nair said the committee is yet to arrive at a final decision in the matter. “The verification of the background of the children is still underway and we are still assessing what to do about them. A decision would be taken by next week,” she said.
CWC has launched a survey to identify children illegally transported to orphanages here from other states amidst growing concerns over child trafficking and its alleged links with orphanages. It was in this connection that CWC started verification of the details of inmates at the Sisubhavan. A preliminary verification by the authorities suggested that most children were brought from Tamil Nadu while there were also a few from north Indian States. The main objective of the verification was to check whether they were transported here without the consent of their parents or without the requisite nod from the local CWCs and the police. The verification also includes interaction with each of the children and their parents to identify if they have been forcefully kept as inmates. CWC’s earlier interventions in similar cases suggested that a majority of the children brought from other states were not orphans but were members of economically backward families in rural India.
