All is not hunky dory for orphans

​Hyderabad: “We do not want sympathy or alms from anyone. What we need is a level playing field,” says Aruna an orphan from Warangal. Equipped with a degree in Commerce and adept at computers, she is, however, unable to procure a passport that would ensure a ticket to a successful career but thanks to the rules of the land, she is still battling to wade her way through the bureaucracy.

In Telangana, there are about 16.5 lakh orphans and 3,200 orphanages and the number of students who make it to degree and PG courses is growing but like Aruna, they are unable to climb the social ladder. There is a provision to categorise orphans as casteless which would enable them to apply for a passport, avail educational loans, get through police verifications and get government jobs.

GO 34 passed in 2008, GO 47 in 2010, GO 452 in 2012 clearly mandate several provisions but have not been implemented. In spite of government orphanage in every district barring Medak and Ranga Reddy district it is from the privately run orphanages that bright students emerge but are left stranded for want of a caste certificate or to prove nativity.

Rajitha 25, who is presently pursuing MSW, is a gold medalist in Math. After completing M Sc, she applied for a passport to study in a foreign university. After running from pillar to post, she finally gave in. Another girl Poojitha who is studying Journalism in Telugu University too applied for a passport but could not get one.

Gade Inna Reddy, founder of Maa Ilu Prajadharna Ashramam in Ghanpur station near Warangal says, “Eighteen students completed PG and about 50 did degree courses from the Home. Though they are well equipped with education, they are unable to get jobs or avail benefits such as loans as they need to fill forms that ask for caste, religion, nativity, identity and parents’ income.”

Rajitha says, “There is no effort from the government to look into the issue of orphans and officials go by the letter. It is absurd to ask an orphan for parent’s income and nativity.” She further adds, “We are stumped at every level right from the gram panchayat level.”

If a person is to be certified as an orphan, the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), Mandal Parishad Development Officer (MDPO) and Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) need to certify. Vice president, Hope Trust Srisail Reddy, says, “Even after getting signatures from all the officials.

The educational institutions feign ignorance and do not process the files.” Ironically, according to a 2011 survey conducted by UNICEF on orphans in India there were above 3 crore orphans out of which 36.28 lakh belong to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Gade Inna Reddy says, “They need an identity, you could call them socially challenged or by any other name. Until they get rid of the stigma of the word ‘orphan’ their lives will not get any better.”