Consultations on Oliver Twists of India

HYDERABAD: According to a recent report of the United Nations Children’s Fund, orphans comprise as much as five per cent of the country’s population. If it’s any indicator, the social welfare schemes are not either percolating to the unfortunate ones or they are just not enough.Acknowledging it, Minister for Backward Castes’ Welfare Basavaraju Saraiah, who inagurated the National Consultation for Orphan Rights here on Thursday, promised to put forward the recommendations of the two-day conference before a Cabinet sub-committee and take up the issue with the Centre as well.The conference, jointly organised by Prajadharma Social Welfare Society, MV Foundation and Child Rights Advocacy Foundation, will deliberate upon the plight of orphaned children and suggest measures for their welfare.Addressing the gathering, Luv Verma, Secretary, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), expressed his disappointment over the drastic fall in donations from international organisations of late as India was being projected as an emerging economic powerhouse in the West. He suggested that orphans be called children without parents instead of beating around the bush and saying they are children in need of care and protection. He expressed the hope that the NCPCR will have a roadmap by the end of the consultation programme.BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, who was also present, hoped that the conference would bring out a charter of demands and urged all the political parties to join hands to take the cause forward. Earlier, M R Vikram of MV Foundation and G Inna Reddy of Prajadharana Social Welfare Society stressed the need for a monitoring mechanism to ensure the welfare and dignity of orphaned children.The conference, whose theme is orphaned children is not my identity, I am so much more than that, will have seven sessions on issues like orphan care and protection in different states, government policies and implementation, role of judiciary, role of political parties, role of media etc. Over 200 children from the Warangal Prajadharana Social Welfare Society volunteered and took part in the event.