Sarana Balyam, the Women and Child Development Department’s project to crack down on child labour and beggary, exploitation of children, and life on the streets, has got the Union government approval.
Minister for Women and Child Development K.K. Shylaja, in a statement here on Thursday, said the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had recognised Sarana Balyam as a novel project and selected it for the innovation grant.
Childcare institutions in the State too had been allowed grants. Children’s homes in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Kottayam had been given construction grant, while observation homes in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur and a children’s home in Palakkad had been sanctioned renovation grant.
Sarana Balyam was launched by the government on a pilot basis in Pathanamthitta in 2017 after it had been found that children were being brought from other States for work and beggary during the Sabarimala pilgrimage.
It aimed at identifying children forced to do labour, those wandering the streets and seeking alms, trafficked children, school dropouts and absentees and ensuring their protection.
Besides Pathanamthitta, the project was implemented in Kottayam, Alappuzha, and Kollam districts in the first phase. It was extended across the State in 2018.
272 children rescued
Till now, 272 children had been rescued and rehabilitated. The department had also entered into an agreement with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in August last for conducting DNA tests to reunite the rescued children with their parents.
