Curse of poverty made worse : Deafening silence of the Govt
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 19, 2013 -

The curse of poverty made worse by an indifferent and insensitive Government and its agencies.

This about sums up the plight of more than 30 of the 51 children rescued from two children’s home at Jaipur in Rajasthan some days back.

What has the State Government done ?

Where have the Social Welfare Department and the Child Welfare Committee disappeared ?

These are the questions raised by the president of the Tangkhul Shanao Long, Delhi and there is no reason not to take cognizance of the circumstances under which these questions have been raised.

Certain points need to be put in perspectives to understand how sensitive and delicate the case is.

Poverty, the desire to ensure a better future for their children and naivety are the common threads that come together to script the story that has unfolded from Jaipur and so many similar cases earlier.

No parents or family elders would willingly send their children to some distant places, if not for some compelling reasons, thereby making the observation that the children may not exactly have been kidnapped in the conventional understanding of the term relevant.

This however should not mean that the people behind the network of luring children from their parents with promises of a better future should not be tried under the relevant laws of the land.

And this is where the role of the State Government and its agencies becomes all that more crucial.

This important point however seems to have flown over the heads of the people who matter, if the outbursts from the president of the Tangkhul Shanao Long, Delhi are anything to go by.

Of the 51 children rescued from the two children’s home 30 are from Ukhrul, is the report that has been received. There are some more from other district such as Chandel.

Should have been more than enough to get the machinery of the State Government working to see what steps can be taken up to bring back the children and see how they can be rehabilitated under the relevant schemes worked out by its agencies, such as the Social Welfare Department and the Child Welfare Committee.

So far there is nothing to indicate that the State Government has taken up the issue with the seriousness it deserves.

In as much as the carting away of the children to a distant, strange place is unacceptable, the mute silence maintained by the Government is equally, if not more, hard to digest.

This is the time for the Chief Minister to reach out to parents and families of the children and convey the message that the Government is here to protect them.

This is the time to show empathy with the ordeals that families who come lower down in the economic and financial profile are forced to undergo from time to time.

Invoke the relevant provisions of the law and see if something concrete can be done and also convey the message that something is being done.

Such cases should also serve as the eye opener to the people in positions of power and responsibility that despite the numerous flagship programmes taken up by the Government, despite the numerous welfare schemes announced from time to time, some people are forced to send their children away to a distant place, in the hope that it would pave the way for a better future for their kids.

Says something significant about how a large number of people in Manipur continue to lead a hand to mouth existence.

Says something profound about how the much vaunted economic boom the country has witnessed after liberalisation continues to give the slip to quite a number of people who exist on the fringe, physically and metaphorically speaking.

The silence should be broken and proactive steps should be taken up for the children.