Children awaiting adoption in the district will now have a safe home at the Child Protection Centre at Mayanad. The centre as well as Thanal, a help centre for children in distress run by the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, were opened by Minister for Labour and Excise T.P. Ramakrishnan on Saturday.
The Child Protection Centre will house children below five years of age who have been legally cleared for adoption. At present, the centre has a capacity of five, which may be filled soon as some children from the Malappuram Child Protection Centre are to be transferred here. The support staff including a nanny, security personnel and cook will be appointed soon.
Thanal addresses all forms of distress faced by children through the toll free number 1517. The State-wide helpline centre located in Thiruvananthapuram has addressed more than 12,000 calls from children in distress ever since it started functioning last November.
The regional centre of Thanal will directly deal with the children and provide the necessary help, including counselling, for them as well as their parents. The centre aims at making regular interventions to solve the problems faced by children.
‘Ammathottil’ soon
The Council plans to open an ‘ammathottil’ in Kozhikode within three months. A. Pradeep Kumar, MLA, said that land would be made available near the Government General Hospital on Kozhikode Beach for the electronic ‘ammathottil’.
The Minister in his address said it was the duty of the society to protect children from violence, negligence, insult and exploitation, and to ensure that they grow up in a safe environment.