THRISSUR: There has been a growing concern in society regarding the number of children being abandoned every day. The number is rising in the state year after year. Last year, 182 children were abandoned in hospitals alone in the state, says a Kerala Social Welfare Department official on condition of anonymity. In 2009, it was 147 and in 2008 it was 102.The official says: “We have received around 182 children comprising 77 boys and 105 girls. These kids were received from various hospitals. But the truth is that we have the record of the children being abandoned in the hospitals alone. There are a large number of children being abandoned on roadsides, in front of temples, orphanages and other organisations. But we have no record of that.” Most of the abandoned kids are newborns. Thrissur Child Welfare Committee Chairman P O George says: “These children belong to unwed mothers. Lack of sex education is the main problem. Many times, girls and boys get into a physical relationship without knowing the consequences. People think that it will be a stigma in society if they bring up the children who are born to unwed mothers.”The absence of comprehensive data makes matters worse. He was critical of the fact that there was no comprehensive data on abandoned children in Kerala until now. “Nobody is concerned about the abandoned children. The government is not taking any initiative to have a comprehensive data on children.” Although all the cases related to children come under Juvenile Justice Act 2000, the embarrassing fact was the absence of compiled data about the children, he added. Even as there were social welfare offices, child welfare committees and childline activists in each district, it was necessary to have a coordinated effort on the part of these offices to compile a data on abandoned children, he said. “Sometimes police would report the case of abandoned children with the Child Welfare Committee or District Social Welfare Offices or in Child Line or would directly refer to nearby orphanages.
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