Government terminates Alappuzha Child Welfare Committee

ALAPPUZHA: The government has terminated the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Alappuzha, citing lack of quorum. At present there are only two members in place of  the 5-member committee in the district. The order, issued by the secretary, social justice department, has entrusted Kollam CWC to handle the Alappuzha affairs also. Mr K.K. Joseph, member of the terminated committee, said that the government had not  informed the CWC of its plan.

“The order says the term of the committee was over. But the terms of the  committees in  other districts are also over.    The government should have filled the vacant posts  if there was no quorum. Giving additional charge to the other district will not work.   Kollam CWC is handling an overwhelming number of cases.  It will take at least 4 to 5 months for a new committee to come into being,” he said.                  A tug of war between the Child Welfare Council and CWC was going on over the recent cases of handling newborn babies received in the district through Ammathottil. The CWC’s decision to send  newborns to a private foundling home in Ernakulam was questioned by the council.

The council functioning under chairmanship of district collector had decided to send the newborns to foster care centres in Thiruvananthapuram run by the state child welfare council. Four newborns  were received in the district this year. The CWC was formed under the Juvenile Justice Act for handling children’s issues in the respective districts. Each CWC should consist of a chairperson and four members.  Out of five members in Alappuzha CWC, one died and the other voluntarily resigned. As per  JJ Act, at least three members should sign to pass an  order. But Alappuzha CWC was being run with two members for the last several months.