Residential school children found hungry

ROURKELA: Even as the State Government has taken cognizance of the plight of children in the Child Care Institutions (CCIs), including orphanages and residential schools, there is no sign of improvement in living condition of the inmates.   Blame it on the insensitivity of the Women and Child Development Department (W&CD) and the Sundargarh administration, they are lacking in infrastructure to accommodate the children. The Nirmal Munda Vidyapeeth (NMV), a residential school run by a NGO at Chhend Colony here, was caught on the wrong foot after members of the Child Welfare Committee conducted a surprise visit on Sunday. They found the children hungry and crammed in a small room and the verandah. There was little water facility in the school.Panposh Sub-Collector Roopak Patnaik rushed to the spot only to be detained by the locals demanding immediate remedial  measures.  CWC member Abdul Kalam Azad wanted the administration to accommodate the children in a government residential school. Kalam alleged that the Chhend police station did not have a woman and child desk to receive complaints. Rourkela ADM PC Pathi said the authorities of NMV had been given two days to improve the situation or face the music. He added that if needed, the children would be shifted elsewhere.  Sources said there was no dearth of funds to rehabilitate the orphans, street and destitute children and rag-pickers under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme, CWC fund and even the Periphery Development Fund. However, what is lacking is sensitivity towards bailing out these hapless children and awareness among police and administrative authorities over the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. While the illegally-run orphanage Global Village at Birmitrapur was closed recently and all children shifted to other areas, it has allegedly brought in three more children.