Lure of UN funds drives NGO to 'rescue' kids
How NGOs serve up plain lie and a weave a web of deceit to further their own cause. None too different from thousand of those paper-tiger NGOs in Orissa and elsewhere who don't mind doing that photo-ops with the helpless victims so that some fatcat international funding agency would loosen their purse strings. The media should also be put in the dock for cosying up to these charltan bodies, who are out and out unscruplous and cheats.
Lure of UN funds drives NGO to 'rescue' kids
Sidharth Mishra / Rajesh Kumar / New Delhi
PIONEER INVESTIGATION------- This could well be described as the fate of children rescued from a cage and incarcerated in a pigeonhole.
The 477 children who were rescued during raids conducted on Monday last amid much publicity by foreign-funded NGO Pratham are now faced with an even more uncertain future. No one knows what to do with them. As a matter of fact, investigations by The Pioneer revealed that rather than concern for the rehabilitation of the children, utilisation of funds under a UN-funded scheme prompted the raids.
Since their rescue, the children have been parked at a Raen Basera, a night shelter for beggars at August Kranti Bhawan at Bhikaji Cama Place. From the close confines of the zari-embroidery factories of Shahadra and Ghonda in trans-Yamuna, the 477 children have been packed into three rooms, each measuring not more than 30'x 20'.
Neither the Government, nor the NGO, which carried-out the operation has an answer about their future. Joint Labour Commissioner Piyush Sharma, when confronted, said, "They would be rehabilitated under education for all programme of the Central Government and the district magistrates of their home districts would be made responsible." This would mean sending the children back to the same homes they had fled to escape hunger and disease.
When asked about the next step on the children's future, an NGO functionary said, "We are in contact with the Child Welfare Committee of Bihar Government for their rehabilitation."
When he was told that most government committees in Bihar were in a dilapidated state, Junaid Khan, a coordinator with the NGO, said they have a report of their (Bihar Government's) good governance. Asked for a copy of the report, he evaded an answer, saying they had left it behind at their head office in Mumbai. However, he did not forget to add that a probing media unnecessarily created doubts about their 'noble efforts'.
Investigations by The Pioneer revealed that the raids were carried out to facilitate utilisation of funds received by the Labour Department from the International Labour Organisation, a UN body, for carrying out programmes to eradicate child labour. Sources in the Delhi Government said that such raids are planned with a lot of media hype and positive media reports are submitted to ILO to embellish the application for the release of more funds. In the case of the Shahadra raids too, a pre-event briefing was organised where mediapersons were invited to join the operations. Extensive Press notes followed the raids.
The NGO by its own admission has so far already raised a bill of over Rs two lakh for getting the children released and providing them two meals for two days. It is another matter that the children are being served watery-daal, and leathery chapattis. The kids have also been denied all access to the public, including media persons.
'Incidentally, there is no provision for rehabilitation of children rescued under the Child Labour Act. The NGO's and the Delhi Government's claim that they would help rehabilitate children is hogwash,' said a Delhi Government official stating that the Labour Department has coordinated (a politically correct usage for contract) with the NGO only to the extent of rescuing and deporting these children from Delhi.
Interestingly, the Labour Department has not registered a case against any factory owner till date. The raids were conducted on Monday. Joint Labour Commissioner Piyush Sharma, however, denied that the entire exercise was done to show the expenditure of fund received by the government. On the role of NGO, he said, "They were involved because they had provided information on the child labour."
Lure of UN funds drives NGO to 'rescue' kids
Sidharth Mishra / Rajesh Kumar / New Delhi
PIONEER INVESTIGATION------- This could well be described as the fate of children rescued from a cage and incarcerated in a pigeonhole.
The 477 children who were rescued during raids conducted on Monday last amid much publicity by foreign-funded NGO Pratham are now faced with an even more uncertain future. No one knows what to do with them. As a matter of fact, investigations by The Pioneer revealed that rather than concern for the rehabilitation of the children, utilisation of funds under a UN-funded scheme prompted the raids.
Since their rescue, the children have been parked at a Raen Basera, a night shelter for beggars at August Kranti Bhawan at Bhikaji Cama Place. From the close confines of the zari-embroidery factories of Shahadra and Ghonda in trans-Yamuna, the 477 children have been packed into three rooms, each measuring not more than 30'x 20'.
Neither the Government, nor the NGO, which carried-out the operation has an answer about their future. Joint Labour Commissioner Piyush Sharma, when confronted, said, "They would be rehabilitated under education for all programme of the Central Government and the district magistrates of their home districts would be made responsible." This would mean sending the children back to the same homes they had fled to escape hunger and disease.
When asked about the next step on the children's future, an NGO functionary said, "We are in contact with the Child Welfare Committee of Bihar Government for their rehabilitation."
When he was told that most government committees in Bihar were in a dilapidated state, Junaid Khan, a coordinator with the NGO, said they have a report of their (Bihar Government's) good governance. Asked for a copy of the report, he evaded an answer, saying they had left it behind at their head office in Mumbai. However, he did not forget to add that a probing media unnecessarily created doubts about their 'noble efforts'.
Investigations by The Pioneer revealed that the raids were carried out to facilitate utilisation of funds received by the Labour Department from the International Labour Organisation, a UN body, for carrying out programmes to eradicate child labour. Sources in the Delhi Government said that such raids are planned with a lot of media hype and positive media reports are submitted to ILO to embellish the application for the release of more funds. In the case of the Shahadra raids too, a pre-event briefing was organised where mediapersons were invited to join the operations. Extensive Press notes followed the raids.
The NGO by its own admission has so far already raised a bill of over Rs two lakh for getting the children released and providing them two meals for two days. It is another matter that the children are being served watery-daal, and leathery chapattis. The kids have also been denied all access to the public, including media persons.
'Incidentally, there is no provision for rehabilitation of children rescued under the Child Labour Act. The NGO's and the Delhi Government's claim that they would help rehabilitate children is hogwash,' said a Delhi Government official stating that the Labour Department has coordinated (a politically correct usage for contract) with the NGO only to the extent of rescuing and deporting these children from Delhi.
Interestingly, the Labour Department has not registered a case against any factory owner till date. The raids were conducted on Monday. Joint Labour Commissioner Piyush Sharma, however, denied that the entire exercise was done to show the expenditure of fund received by the government. On the role of NGO, he said, "They were involved because they had provided information on the child labour."
posted by Debabrata @ 7:49 PM
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