Two Standard X girls found to be pregnant in Odisha's Kandhamal
'We have informed police about pregnancy of two girls. In the complaint we have requested police to investigate into the matter,' said Rabi Narayan Mishra, District Welfare Officer of Kandhamal.
As per practice, grown up girls in residential schools run by the State government undergo medical tests soon after they return from long vacation.
'Our employees found two girls having unusual symptom. Subsequently, they were sent to sub-divisional hospital where their pregnancy was confirmed,' said Mr. Mishra.
This year the schools reopened on June 21 after summer vacation. However, the two girls returned to school in the first week of July.
The ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department has acknowledged that 22 tribal girl students were subjected to sexual assault, with 34 individuals accused of these crimes— within just 188 residential schools meant exclusively for tribal girls. Disturbingly, 12 of the victims were found to have given birth between 2018 and 2023.
These 188 schools collectively enroll 62,385 girls. Overall, the department runs 1,737 residential schools across the State, educating a total of 4,26,903 students, the vast majority of whom belong to tribal communities.
In 2018, the government-run Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) conducted a study titled 'Impact of Preventive Intervention on Incidences of Sexual Abuse in Residential Schools of Odisha.' The study reviewed several incidents of sexual violence reported from residential schools and found that, in most cases, the allegations were substantiated.
Specifically, researchers analyzed 29 cases of sexual abuse reported between 2011 and 2016 across five districts— Koraput, Balasore, Nayagarh, Mayurbhanj, and Sundargarh. Alarmingly, 13 headmasters and four teachers were identified as the accused in these cases.
After it was found that some teaching and non-teaching staff were involved in the abuse, the government introduced guidelines to closely monitor the health of girl students. Post-vacation health check-ups were mandated to determine whether any pregnancies had occurred during their stay at home, rather than in the residential schools.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Govt. fixes time schedule for inquiry into disciplinary cases against employees
The State Government has issued time schedule for expediting the process of disciplinary cases against employees at various levels fulfilling the long pending demand of employees' unions. Quoting various provisions laid down under the Telangana Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1991 (Telangana Adaption Orders, 2016) and the Andhra Pradesh Revised Pension Rules, 1980 (Telangana Adaption Orders, 2016), the Government said that whenever considered necessary, criminal action is also being initiated by filing charge sheets in a Court of Law. Time and again instructions were issued for expeditious completions of inquiries where departmental action is initiated in order to punish the guilty. However, it has been noticed that considerable time is being consumed in processing the files relating to disciplinary cases at various levels. It has been observed that this process is so delayed that the 'Charged Officer', in many cases, retired from service or the charges are framed at the verge of retirement thereby sometimes resulting in the government servant escaping from punishment. 'It is therefore felt necessary to ensure prompt action is taken in dealing with disciplinary cases at all levels of administration following due procedure to avoid delays,' Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao said. There should not be undue delay between the actual occurrence of offence / irregularity and framing of charges. Accordingly, it has been decided to fix timelines at various levels to expedite action into such cases. Two weeks deadline According to the new rules, two weeks deadline from the date of appointment of the inquiry authority has been fixed for hearing inspection of listed documents, submission of the list of defence documents and nomination of a defence assistant. Examination of the relevancy of the documents or witnesses, procuring additional documents and submission of certificates and confirming inspection of additional documents by accused officer or defence assistant should be completed in two weeks. This would be followed by the issue of summons to witnesses, fixing date for regular hearings and arrangements for participation of witnesses in the regular hearing. 'Regular hearings will be conducted on a day to day basis,' the order said. Thereafter, there would be submission of written briefs by presenting officer and by accused officer/defence assistant to inquiring authority and submission of report by the inquiring authority with deadline of two weeks set for each. Examination of the report by disciplinary authority in consultation with the vigilance commission should be completed within a week allowing the charged official to submit a written representation or submission to the disciplinary authority within 15 days. The disciplinary authority should pass final order in a disciplinary case in consultation with the vigilance commission, if necessary, at the earliest. The orders fulfil one of the major demands of the employees' unions, which had been insisting that the government appoint a committee to speed up inquiry into the cases in a time bound manner so that they could be absorbed into duties at the earliest.
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Assam will stop issuing Aadhaar to adults, says Himanta, citing ‘saturation' and ‘Bangladeshis'
The Assam Cabinet on Thursday decided that it will stop issuing Aadhaar cards to adults in the state, except for members of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and tea garden communities, who will be given a window of another year. This decision was announced by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma following the cabinet meeting in the afternoon. He said that this decision has been taken in light of the state achieving Aadhaar saturation and as a 'safeguard' against illegal immigrants accessing the document. Sarma said that Assam has 103% Aadhaar saturation, but that this is at 96% among the SC, ST and tea garden communities. 'We have taken this decision because, particularly in the last year, we are continuously apprehending Bangladeshis entering the country at the border. Yesterday, too, we pushed back seven of them. But we are not sure if we have been able to catch all of them. So we want to create a protection so that no one can enter Assam illegally and take an Aadhaar and live as Indian citizens. We want to completely close that door,' he said. He said this will become operational from October 1, and that members of SC, ST and tea garden communities will have an additional window for a year to apply for and receive Aadhaar cards. Once this window is closed, he said, Aadhaar cards will only be issued to people aged over 18 years in 'rarest of rare cases', and will only be issued by Deputy Commissioners after seeking reports from the district police and Foreigners' Tribunals. 'If someone is left behind for whatever reason even after one year, they will have to apply to the relevant DC, and the DC will consult all stakeholders, like the Superintendent of Police, Foreigners Tribunal and will be able to give it in the rarest of rare cases,' he said. Last month, following another cabinet meeting, Sarma had said that the cabinet was discussing a policy for new Aadhaar cards for adults in the state to be issued only by Deputy Commissioners. This, he said, was to prevent 'infiltrators' from availing the document. The existing process is that applications are made at Aadhaar centres, and a verification is done at the district level by ADCs or Circle Officers to check whether the applicant resides in the particular district.
New Indian Express
9 hours ago
- New Indian Express
CM Rekha Gupta suffered serious injuries, working from her residence: Kapil Mishra
NEW DELHI: Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra on Thursday said Chief Minister Rekha Gupta suffered serious physical injuries and was in a state of "shock" after the attack but had been working from her residence. He reiterated that the attack on Gupta was carried out in a "planned manner" as part of a "well-planned conspiracy", adding that the accused is a "professional criminal" with a history of serious offences. He met Gupta at her residence on Thursday morning. Following his meeting, Mishra said the chief minister had serious physical injuries and requires rest. However, he added that she has been seeing files since Wednesday at her residence. "She has been actively working, but she requires rest. Her physical injuries are serious, and she is in a state of shock," Mishra told reporters. The minister claimed the accused has nine criminal cases registered against him, including charges of attempt to murder and smuggling. "The attack was carried out in a planned manner. The accused had conducted a recce of her residence and two videos recovered from his phone prove this," he said. The chief minister was attacked on Wednesday during a 'Jan Sunwai' programme at her residence in north Delhi's Civil Lines.
