Kerala State Human Rights Commission has directed the district collector to look into a
complaint that children in a charity home in the city suffered for being frequently engaged as fanfare troupe at public functions and ceremonies.
The order was issued by the SHRC taking note of complaints that the inmates of the Sree Chitra Poor Home, one of the oldest charity institutions in the state, are sent to perform band or line up in ceremonial attire to add glitter to public functions in and around the city. SHRC sources said the collector had been asked to probe whether children's education suffered because of this.
The home authorities said they had received an instruction from the district administration to stop the practice of engaging children for extra curricular acitivities.
They denied the charge that children are engaged for such work affecting their education. The home band and ballet troupe have been there for long and organised as extra curricular activity for children, who also enjoy them, an official of the home claimed adding these were not means of exploitation.
The money received through such activities was also a source of income for running the home since it was difficult to meet the expenses out of the government grant. Also, part of the money was given to members of the troupe as bonus.
Such income was used for the higher studies of the inmates and even for marriage expenses. The home has a total of 330 inmates of which 250 are students, he said.
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