THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ’Kaaval', the ambitious project of the Kerala Government aiming at psychosocial rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law, will be replicated by four other states. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Jharkhand are the four states which have come forward to adopt the project in their states.
Currently, there are around 1,234 children in the state under the project, of which 1,032 are first time offenders. The project was launched in 9 districts in the state by the Social Justice Department in October 2018 with the technical support of NIMHANS, Bangalore.
Project coordinator of 'Kaaval' Dr Kavitha P of NIMHANS said that reintegrating these children into the society is not an easy task. She said that the majority of the children fall in trouble because of pure family and social backgrounds.
"They are just children and they cannot be blamed. Building a support system is the only way to rehabilitate them back in the society. NGOs play a crucial role in integrating such children to family and the community. Majority of the families abandon them which is not the right thing to do. Many dropout students have been taken back by some schools and they are doing really well," said Kavitha. She said that teachers have been sensitised to help them deal with such children.
An official said that only around 200 of them are repeat offenders. Around 500 of them are students while 203 were non-working. The official said that it's a proud moment for our state. "Other states' coming forward to replicate our project is recognition for the state. Following the intervention, we were able to mainstream 63.33 percent of the children in just five months.
Around 26 NGOs in the state have been roped in for the implementation of the project. The state government has initiated steps to implement the scheme in five more districts in the state.
