Kerala: None cares as welfare kids go missing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It looks like orphans and destitutes are vanishing from government-run children’s homes, and no one seems to care. It has been a longstanding complaint that incidents of missing inmates are going unreported. A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, too, had confirmed the phenomenon. The audit, as part of a random check, had found that 47 children from children’s homes at Kozhikode, Thrissur and Alappuzha left the homes without permission during 2010-15.

These included street children and children having behavioural problems. Similarly, eight juveniles in conflict with law, or children accused in criminal cases, escaped from observation homes and special homes in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram during the period 2010-15.

The presumed reason is that they could not adjust to the daily routine of the institution and the calm atmosphere and were interested in roaming around. None of these missing children have been traced. Sources said that escape from homes is rampant in the State. Unofficially it is said that, on an average, there are five instances of inmates, either individually or in groups, escaping from the Children’s Home every month.

Juvenile Justice Rules stipulate that in the event of a child missing from any of the homes, the officer in charge of the institution, besides conducting immediate search for the missing children, has to furnish a report to the police and the family. The officer also has to file a report detailing the circumstances and the efforts made to trace the child to the concerned Child Welfare Committee or Juvenile Justice Board.

The superintendents of these homes attribute the escape of children to the absence of proper counselling by professional counsellors, and non-preparation of Individual Care Plan by qualified counsellors or psychologists. They also cite behavioural problems, family problem, criminal background and lack of security in the Homes as the other factors. A top Social Justice official said that effective steps were being taken to strengthen surveillance system of the child care institutions, including the appointment of ex-service men in every Home.