The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : They now go to classes, play

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

They now go to classes, play

Swathi Shivanand

We love it here and don't want to go home, say rescued children

A NEW LIFE: Children, who were rescued from their workplaces, playing in a classroom at the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

Bangalore: Ameena and Sultana, two children rescued from working as domestic help, love their newfound freedom. They now go to classes and play with children their age. For hundreds of children rescued from employment, the future beckons.

After their rescue, the children are placed at the homes run by the Government for a day or two. They are then produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), a quasi-judicial body that decides the compensation amount that the employers must provide the children.

"We put the compensation in a bank account that the child can use once s/he has attained 18 years of age," says Venkatesh of Paraspara trust.

The children are then referred to one of the three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working for the rehabilitation of under-aged working children — Paraspara, Bangalore Oniyavara Seva Coota (BOSCO) or the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA). The organisations then contact the parents. In case the parents cannot provide for children's education, they take up the responsibility.

"We receive many children who have been badly abused. We counsel them and try to help them emotionally. But some children are so scarred that we send them to professional counsellors at NIMHANS," says Usha, a counsellor at APSA.

Children can reside in these organisations and are given informal education. "When a child comes to us, we assess her knowledge and teach her accordingly. We conduct bridge classes, informal in nature, that help the child reach the level of her counterparts in other schools," says Helen, a teacher at APSA.

APSA and BOSCO register their children as private candidates and this allows them to give seventh and tenth standard examinations.

The organisations provide them with vocational training in skills such as tailoring, screen printing, making of electronic equipment and computers. "We have 100 per cent job placement every year," says Sheila Devaraj of APSA. Father Edward Thomas of BOSCO reiterates that about the placement centre at his organisation. The organisations continue to constantly monitor the children even after they have a job. "We help them find accommodation and place about eight girls in three-bedroom flats. We have people who keep in touch with these girls and help them out if they have minor fights within their groups," says Ms. Devaraj.

"When a child is loved, it shows", reads a poster at APSA. "We don't want to go back home. We love it here." This assertion by Ameena and Sultana's statement stands testimony to this belief.

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