Amid lockdown, 75 rescued kids in Mumbai wait to be reunited with families

took a mammoth effort from the government machinery to help migrant workers from Maharashtra to get back home. But, at the Children’s Home at Dongri unfolds another

took a mammoth effort from the government machinery to help migrant workers from Maharashtra to get back home. But, at the Children’s Home at Dongri unfolds another story of minor children whose loneliness, anxiety and cries, to be reunited with their families, remain confined to the four walls of the children’s home.

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There are 75 children, rescued from child labour and trafficking, waiting to be reunited with their families. Some of these children had also been missing or had run away from their homes.

“Usually once the children are rescued, their parents come and take custody. But the lockdown made it difficult for these poor families to obtain an e-pass for Mumbai. Only one family has managed to take custody of their child in the past three months,” said Rahul Kanthikar, superintendent, Dongri Children Home.

A man from Mumbai who frequently travelled to Uttar Pradesh had offered job to the teenage sons of a villager from Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh. He promised his sons aged 17 and 15 years that the job would fetch them ₹6,000 a month.

The brothers, however, were made to work in a bangle manufacturing unit at Malad. Within a few days, the 15-year-old could not cope up with 14-hour shift and he returned home. But the 17-year-old was forced to continue with his job at the unit.

In February this year, a team of police officials raided the bangle unit and rescued the 17-year-old, along with other children, and sent him to the Children’s Home in Dongri. The rescue was communicated to his family and they expected their son to come back home.

In another case, a 13-year-old boy was kidnapped from Mysore, Karnataka, and brought to Mumbai by a man who had sedated his drink. The man along with his accomplices had kept the child in a small room from where he managed to escape. He, then, went to a police station and narrated his ordeal.

Counsellors at the Children’s Home say that the child is bright and is worried about his studies. All these children, from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, West Bengal, are staring at an uncertain future now.

Uncertainty due to Covid-19 outbreak

The other arrangement made by the concerned authorities was to send these rescued kids to children’s home of their respective state.

Then, the Children’s Welfare Committee of that state would help these children reunite with their parents. But there was no approval from the respective states due to the spread of the Covid-19, said Kanthikar.

To make matter worse, a nurse and two kids at the Children’s Home tested positive for the virus. “Many kids were anxious, and faced sleep-related issues, loss of appetite, mood-swings, drop-in daily activities etc,” said Kadambari Dube, a counsellor at Dongri Children’s home.

“The kids are anxious about the uncertainty this pandemic has brought. They are anxious about their academic year, exam results, condition of their parents, etc. It is very difficult to make the kids understand what exactly Covid-19 is and why the lockdown was necessary,” Dube said.

Signs of anxiety and depression seen among children

While officials at the children’s home help the rescued children by enabling them to talk to their families over the phone, but counsellors say that longer stay of a child at the children’s home harms the child’s psyche. “We have observed signs of anxiety and depression among the children, and ask us about their families, and are adamant that they be reunited with their parents in the shortest possible time,” said Sachi Maniar, director of Ashiyana Foundation, that works with Dongri Children’s Home.

‘Home states are reluctant to accept rescued children’

Urmila Jadhav, one of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) members, Mumbai, said, other states are not willing to accept children back easily.

“It is a known fact that the CWCs of other states are reluctant to accept these rescued children and now they are giving an excuse of the spread of a contagious disease. We are ready to send the kids after conducting their Covid tests, but they are delaying the paperwork.”

Hrishikesh Yashod, commissioner of Women and Child Development, Maharashtra state, said, “It’s a stressful situation for everyone. Children are even more vulnerable, and they need care and protection. There is no denial to the fact that kids in Children Care Institutions [or children homes] are anxious, panicked and are in stress because of the lockdown. Usually other states approve, but because of the lockdown the procedure is affected.”

“One cannot deny the reluctant approach of administration of other states. Unavailability of a police escort party is also an issue. But the department is taking all possible measures to reunite the kids,” Yashod added.