Belgaum: 335 girls went missing from DK in 3 years: Legislature committee

Belgaum, Nov 27 (DHNS): The Legislature Committee on Women and Child Welfare in its report has sought a high-level inquiry into the large number of girls going missing from Dakshina Kannada district during the last three years.

The report of the committee headed by Congress MLA T Shakuntala Shetty was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. The report reveals that as many as 335 girls went missing from Dakshina Kannada district alone during the last three years and the local police had failed to investigate the matter.

The committee said all the incidents of suicide, murder, rape, kidnapping and atrocities committed against women in the district should be probed.  A toll-free helpline facility for women and senior citizens should be extended throughout the State, it has recommended.

The panel has taken exception to funds remaining unutilised in various labour welfare boards, including the Karnataka State Labour Welfare Board, Karnataka Construction Workers’ Labour Welfare Board, among others. It has stated that the Labour department has not put in any efforts to get members registered to the welfare boards.

Lapses in the functioning of the department had been pointed out by a previous legislature committee. However, the department had taken no steps to rectify the lapses, the panel stated. It has also suggested amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act for effective implementation of the legislation.

The Committee has recommended that licences of drug stores selling substandard medicines should be cancelled and criminal cases be booked against their owners. The committee, in an inspection drive, found poor quality medicines in several shops in 10 districts, the report stated.