Odisha caste row ends; children return to anganwadi centre, consume food cooked by Dalit helper
Kendrapara (Odisha) (PTI): A three-month-long caste row at an anganwadi centre in a village in Odisha's Kendrapara district ended on Monday as upper caste children returned to the facility and consumed food cooked by a Dalit woman helper.
Of the 20 children on the roll, 16 came to the anganwadi centre in Nuagaon village under Ghalimala gram panchayat with their parents and accepted the food cooked by the helper, with the absentees reporting ill.
The anganwadi centre remained shut since November 21 last year, following the appointment of Sharmistha Sethy, a Dalit woman, as a helper, with several upper caste families refusing to send their wards to the facility or even accept nutritious food items supplied by the government for pregnant women and lactating mothers.
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The caste row triggered nationwide outrage, and the matter was even raised in Parliament, with Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, voicing concern over caste discrimination in the workplace.
On Monday, Kendrapara Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) Dipali Mishra and Rajnagar MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo were present at the anganwadi centre to welcome the children.
"I served ragi ladoos to the children. Later, I cooked rice and 'dalma' (vegetable curry) and served the children. Seeing them eat the meals made me overjoyed. They also played with toys, bringing back life to the centre, which was left deserted for around three months," Sethy said.
"I hope caste discrimination will not lurk its ugly head in the village anymore," she added.
CDPO Mishra said the children, flanked by their guardians, had joyous moments at the centre.
"The centre functioned sans the children for almost three months due to some villagers' disagreement over the appointment of Sharmistha Sethy as the anganwadi centre helper. Now, the vibrancy is back," Mishra said.
On the absentees, the CDPO said they could not join as they are not well.
"We hope the absentee children will come to the centre on Tuesday as the dispute has been resolved. People have decided to relegate the differences to the background. This is heartening," she added.
Rajnagar MLA Dhurba Charan Sahoo said, "The issue is now a thing of the past. I hope the camaraderie among the villagers will remain intact."
Taking to X, Kendrapara MP and BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda said, "Delighted at children having a nutritious meal today at the Nuagaon anganwadi which I had reviewed yesterday and had a wonderful lunch along with local leaders and villagers. It was heartening to see the community coming together to ensure great beginnings for their children."
Panda, who hails from the Brahmin community, and other upper caste villagers joined a feast where Sethy served food to the guests on Sunday.
State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) member Sujata Nayak hailed the children's return to the centre and said the commission will launch an awareness drive aimed at safeguarding the rights of the children.
Kendrapara district sub-collector Arun Nayak had earlier said the matter was resolved in the presence of stakeholders, including members of the SCPCR and Odisha State Commission for Women, as the officials sensitised villagers on the matter.
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Over 17,000 people went missing in Delhi in 2024: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 23,058 people, comprising 9,482 men and 13,576 women, were reported missing in Delhi in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total, 5,491 were children below the age of 18 — 1,571 boys, 3,920 girls.
The city recorded 17,567 fresh adult missing persons cases in 2024, comprising 7,911 men and 9,656 women.
According to the NCRB data, released on Wednesday, 14,637 men, 18,238 women and six transgender persons were still missing from previous years.
At the latest count, in 2024, Delhi had a total of 55,939 missing persons cases — 24,119 men, 31,814 women and six transgender persons.
In 2024, police traced or collected 28,392 missing persons, including 12,182 men, 16,208 women and two transgender persons.
Only half of the men and half of the women who went missing could be traced.
A total of 27,547 missing persons – 11,937 men, 15,606 women, four transgender persons — were yet to be untraced by the end of the year, the data showed.
The data also revealed that 5,352 children from previous years remained untraced at the beginning of 2024.
The number of still missing boys was 1,621, and the number of missing girls was 3,729. Two transgender children were yet to be found.
After adding the pending cases from previous years, the total number of missing children cases handled in 2024 rose to 10,843.
The police traced or recovered 6,762 missing children — 2,030 boys, 4,732 girls.
The recovery rate stood at 63.6 per cent for boys and 61.9 per cent for girls, while no transgender child was traced.
By the end of 2024, a total of 4,081 children remained untraced, 1,162 of them boys, 2,917 girls, and two transgender children.
