Unauthorised children’s home in Delhi: 27 Tharu girls from Tharu girls rescued, handed over to parents
The girls, reported to be between 10 and 17 years age group, belonged to the tribal area along the Indo-Nepal border in Palia tehsil
The Delhi child welfare committee (CWC) team rescued 27 teenaged Kheri girls from an unauthorised children’s home in Delhi, recently. They have since been handed over to their parents, but questions remain about how these girls landed in an unauthorised children’s home.
The girls, reported to be between 10 and 17 years age group, belonged to the tribal area along the Indo-Nepal border in Palia tehsil. They had been sent to Delhi by their parents for schooling.
SP Singh, chairman, Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Lakhimpur, said, “A CWC team rescued these 27 Tharu girls following a complaint against the unauthorised children’s home. The team from Delhi escorted the girls to Lakhimpur on June 12 and handed them over to their parents along with their documents.A ll the girls were kept at the One Stop Center in Lakhimpur where their statements were recorded. Their parents were also called to the centre.
“In their statements, all the girls said that they went to Delhi for education and none of them made a complaint about any mistreatment. Their parents also admitted to have sent their wards to Delhi on their own for schooling.”
Singh said that the girls were later handed over to their parents.
Kheri DM Mahendra Bahadur Singh also confirmed that the 27 girls from Delhi arrived in Lakhimpur on June 12 and were handed over to their parents the same day through the CWC Lakhimpur officials.
Singh said that “the matter came to his knowledge about a month back when his counterpart in CWC Delhi informed him about rescuing 42 tribal girls of Kheri residing in an unauthorised children’s home in Delhi and asked him to verify their whereabouts in Kheri.”
Singh said, “Barring five girls, whose houses were found locked, parents of all other girls were contacted, and they admitted having sent them to Delhi for education.”
Singh said that “15 other tribal girls of Kheri were still in Delhi and had been moved to a government-approved children’s home as their examinations were in progress.”
Though no complaint has been made by any of these rescued girls or their parents, the authorities are still concerned about how so many of the girls reached an unauthorised non-government organization (NGO) of Delhi for education, particularly when the UP government has made elaborate educational arrangements for tribal children in Kheri.
UK Singh, project officer, tribal development programme in Kheri, said, “Special arrangements for tribal students are in place in Kheri, including Eklavya College, two residential schools, apart from the existing basic school set up. It is surprising that despite this, why did the guardians opted to send their children to an unauthorised outfit in Delhi,” he added.
Singh underlined the need for awareness programmes among the tribal populace about these and said it was very hard to monitor each and every child, particularly when their parents themselves send their children to other cities for education.
DEO KANT PANDEY