ALAPPUZHA: It is a virtual knife-edge life that two minor boys are leading at Kavunkal, Mannancherry panchayat here. They sell curry knives to make a living and support their two minor sisters and mother, who originally belong to Andhra Pradesh. Their father, Ramesh, died three years ago due to illness and mother Santhi, is a palmist. But her meagre income is not enough to make both ends meet. Therefore the two boys, Mahesh, class VIII student of Aryakkara Bhagavathi Vilasam higher secondary school, Muhamma, and Sumesh, class VI student of KP memorial UP school, Kavunkal, have turned to trading knives which they get them from the Kudumbasree unit. They earn Rs 1,000 per day by selling each piece for Rs 60.
The boys stay in a shed erected in four cents of land allotted by the panchayat to their grandmother Sarasu, who lives in a panchayat-funded house (under construction) in the same land along with the other family members. For the last three months, the boys have been doing door-to-door sales on holidays in areas like Muhamma, Punnapra, Alappuzha and Thaneermukom. Ramya, their sister, studies in Mahesh’s class, and Rema Devi, the second sister, is a class III student of panchayat LP school, Kavunkal. Minimol, member, ward- II of the panchayat, said the kids’ parents had migrated from Andhra Pradesh to Alappuzha before they were born.
“A few years ago, the panchayat gave land to Sarasu and I helped her get a house. The kids and their mother have no right over Sarasu’s property as it’s registered in her name. That’s why they are staying in a separate shed. Once Sarasu had tried to evict them out of the land, but we had intervened and allowed Santhi to make the shed. They are landless right now. I had once informed Childline about the children, but Santhi didn’t allow the Childline officials to take custody of the children,” she said. Ajithakumari, class teacher of Mahesh and Ramya, told DC that they are irregular in the school as they go for selling the knives. “We have included them in the list of beneficiaries of the school’s charity,” she said.
