During the review meeting held at Kirugoor on Monday it was resolved that under the Child Labour Act, stern action will be taken against certain identified influential people who have been indulging into kidnapping tribal children to employ them as labourers.
At the first Gram Panchayat level review meeting, the issue was raised by member Sara Chengappa and Taluk Panchayat member Addanda Kariappa who said that about five orphan tribal children were provided with free food and were being sent to school by the Gram Panchayat, of whom one tribal girl has been kidnapped by one of the plantation owners to employ her as a domestic maid.
He said that in the past one and half year, Gram Panchayat has been spending Rs 1,500 for taking care of these children and their responsibility was vested upon Anganwadi workers, librarians and Sakshara Cauvery workers.
“These kind of incidents keep happening in and around the taluk and it is the duty of the officers concerned to take legal action against those who indulge into such activities”, said Addanda Kariappa.
Rescued
A girl who was employed as domestic maid who escaped from her master’s house was successfully rescued by Addanda Kariappa and was brought to ‘Asha Kiran’ on Monday.
Jyothi (12) was said to have been working in the residence of a retired school teacher at Jodubeeti near Ponnampete. Sources said that she escaped from the residence at 6 am on Monday morning and came to Ponnampete bus stand. Addanda Kariappa and others on suspicion enquired the girl and got to know the truth from her.
Mr Kariappa along with CDPO Sheshadri, Tahshildar Shwetha and others took Jyothi to Police station and filed a case and then got her admitted to ‘Asha Kiran’, which has been opened under Government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyana.