Kochi: Lack of shelter home hits rehab

Kochi: The lack of a dedicated government-run shelter home for boys in the district is affecting rehabilitation of rescued children. A total of 154 minor children who ran away from their homes were rescued by the Railway Child Help Desk team at Ernakulam South railway station in the last six months. Among them were 130 boys and 24 females.

"In some cases, no one comes forward to claim the rescued children while in others, it takes some time for reuniting them with their parents as we've to do a proper verification and collect document proofs. Often this calls for their rehabilitation," said a CWC councillor on condition of anonymity.

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) also provides such children with educational opportunities.

"We're able to extend accommodation and educational facilities to the rescued girls, thanks to Girls' Home at Kakkanad. However, when it comes to boys, we're forced to send them to the shelter homes in Kottayam or Thrissur which are functioning with near full capacity," the official said.Almost half of the rescued children at the Ernakulam South railway station are from the state itself. In majority of cases, the children left their houses due to family issues.

At one instance, the Child Help Desk team rescued a three-month old toddler and her eight-year old sister from a train. "We rescued them from a drunkard man who claimed they were his children. However, no one came forward to take them back despite our efforts to find out their relatives. Now the baby and her sister are doing well at the shelter home," the official said.