15 helpless children in Gumudumaha: OSCPCR

Phulbani: The Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), which visited Gumudumaha village in Kandhamal district last evening to probe the death of a two-year old child and the women who were killed during an anti-Maoist operation in Malapanga forest in the night of July 8, has said there are 15 helpless children in the village.

“We interacted with the families of the deceased and asked them about the steps the administration has taken to rehabilitate their children. We also interacted with the children. We found that there are 15 helpless children, who have lost their parents in the anti-Maoist operation”, member of the Commission Sandhyarani Pradhan told media persons after returning from the village.

Pradhan further said two women and a man of the village, who were seriously injured in the incident, are undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital.

The two-member Commission, led by Rajalaxmi Das, later had a meeting with district collector Raghu G, District Welfare Officer (DWO), District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman and discussed the rehabilitation of these helpless children in Gumudumaha village.

“Acting on our directive, the district administration has taken steps to rehabilitate these 15 children. Of the 15 children, arrangements have been made to keep 14 (all in the 10-year age group) in the Welfare hostels while a 14-month-old child has been kept in the Banabasi Ashram at Baliguda,” Pradhan said, adding that the Commission will ask the state government to meet the other requirements of these children they may need in future.