Shillong, Mar 20: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has demanded an investigation to find out the number of young boys and girls taken by various organisations for providing free education outside the state.
The HYC raised the demand following incident of food poisoning in a residential school in Karnataka where two young boys from Meghalaya died and 22 others from the state are undergoing treatment.
In a letter to chief minister Conrad K Sangma, the HYC also demanded prompt legal action against those responsible for the tragedy.
“There is an urgent need of a thorough investigation by the State Fact Finding Team to find out the number of young boys and girls taken by such groups or organisations for providing free education outside the State,” it said.
The HYC also underscored the need for a database of such organisations and the children taken to destination schools.
Meanwhile, the HYC mentioned about a 2009 report in “Tehelka” magazine titled “A Strange And Bitter Crop” that revealed some “hard facts” about the condition of children taken by RSS and its affiliates to Karnataka.
Claiming that over a 1000 children from various districts of Meghalaya are being provided free education in different parts of India by the same organisation, the HYC said, “Their safety and wellbeing should be of topmost priority for the state government.”
The HYC also urged the government to ensure safe return of students whose parents want to bring them back home but cannot do so due to financial reasons.