Orissa govt demands probe into 'misuse' of women, kids in Posco protests

The Orissa government today claimed that children were being “misused” in agitation against the proposed steel plant by Korean company Posco and directed the Jagatsinghpur district administration to submit a report by tomorrow.

The use of women and children as human shield by the protestors to halt land acquisition work at the project site had evoked sharp reaction from Women and Child Development Minister Anjali Behera, who had asked the administration to probe the matter and submit a report by tomorrow.

The District Child Welfare Committee led by Chairman Ramnrayan Das visited the area and found thin attendance in schools, as a majority of the students were busy opposing the land acquisition along with other protestors.

The parents had allowed their children to participate in the protests and they should be penalised as rights of the children had been violated, Das said. Nearly 500 children have been mobilised by the anti-Posco brigade to form a barricade on the outskirts of Gobindpur village and bar the entry of officials to carry on land acquisition.

Four government run schools in the Dhinkia panchayat — Dhinkia High School, Dhinkia Primary school, Patana Primary School and Gobindpur High School — wore a deserted look due to the absence of children.

Another team led by District Social Welfare Officer Kumuduni Sahu also visited Gobindpur today to conduct an inquiry into this matter.

Sahu also said hundreds of children had been staging agitation in Gobindpur for the past 15 days to prevent police and other officials from resuming land acquisition.

Sahu said his team would submit the report to the district administration and the department of women and child development to conduct an inquiry against errant people for use of children on this movement.