Chingai MLA visits rescued children; says insurgency root cause of child trafficking

IMPHAL, April 2: Chingai MLA, MK Preshow Shimray today gifted dresses to the 23 rescued children including 14 girls and nine boys who were rescued from a children home at Jaipur in Rajasthan and brought safely to the state last month.

The children are presently lodged at the Children Home under the state Social Welfare Department which is being used as an observation home.

The MLA who was accompanied by representatives of the Western Students’ Union, Ukhrul; Tangkhul Katamnao Long and Zingtum Takanolong presented the gifts to the children during a visit to the observation home this evening around 6 pm in presence of media persons.

Speaking to media persons on the sideline of the visit, the MLA said that the issue of insurgency in the state is the main cause of child trafficking which has become a social issue in the state.

He elaborated that due to insurgency problems, government schools in the villages in the hills are unable to run properly.

"Parents owing to their poor economic condition are unable to send their wards to the private schools which are expensive," he said, before adding that whenever the traffickers approach the parents with promises of providing education to their wards outside the state at a cheap cost, they readily give in without even verifying the credentials of the individuals.

There is also a strong belief amongst the parents of the state that their wards will get better education if they can get admission anywhere outside the state, the MLA said.

"People of the state tend to forget and ignore the fact that the state government under the Central sponsored schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is providing free and compulsory education to the children," he said.

He appealed to the parents to verify the credentials of any individuals or people who come with promises of providing free and cheap education for their wards outside the state and fully utilize the free education provided under SSA in the state.

The education system in the state is not so bad when compared to other states, and as such parents should promote education in the state more by enrolling their wards in schools of the state, he said.

The MLA also said that process to hand over the rescued children to their families is underway.

It may be mentioned that the state Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had visited the children yesterday and announced that residential schools would be set up in all districts of the state to accommodate the children who have been rescued.

The rescued children include 19 from Ukhrul district, one from Chandel and three from Tamenglong district.