Bhubaneswar: The state Congress Tuesday slammed the state government for its alleged failure to trace 13 girls who went missing from an ashram school in Ganjam Monday night.
Speaking to the media here, state Congress spokesperson Satyaprakash Nayak attacked the state government over the skewed protection system for minor girls studying at government schools, orphanages and shelter homes. The leader also demanded formation of a high-level committee to monitor the orphanages and shelter homes across the state.
He said, “The vanishing of 13 minor girls from Ganjam Balashram speaks volumes of the security for children. This is unprecedented. Odisha Congress is taking up the matter with utmost seriousness. The sudden disappearance of girls despite security system at place hints at a racket of human trafficking without which such activities cannot take place.”
He also said, “We want that the state government takes up the matter seriously. The government should not only solve this mysterious case of absconding minor girls but it also needs to tackle the menace in its entirety. The state should form a high-level committee to look into the matter of registered and unregistered orphanages and shelter homes.”
Earlier in the day, the Congress party submitted a memorandum to the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) in the city in this regard. “The OSCPCR chairperson, during her visit to Ganjam two days ago, had said all was well. But after her return to Bhubaneswar the girls vanished. The whole district administration is clueless about the issue. There is no tracking system for the children in the ashrams which ought to be there,” Nayak said.
“The roles of government officials have now come under scanner. It is expected that some government officials are in hand in gloves with the traffickers. As per data, more than 6,000 minor girls and boys were found to be missing of whom majority are girls. Government data claims that more than half of them are still not traced,” Nayak said.