gnorance is no bliss when it comes to bringing up children. In the initial years, they are totally dependent on their parents, who are responsible for their well-being. While there is a clear-cut divide between the rich and the poor, the law does not spare anyone when it comes to accountability with regard to parenting and childcare.In this backdrop let us analyse two cases of children falling into deep bore wells. First it was four-year-old Prince in Ambala and, recently, a one-and-a-half-year-old boy in Katni in MP. Television channels did live coverage and print media devoted front pages to the plight of these children, and the relentless efforts by the Army, administration and the general public to save their lives. Everyone was praying for these children, holding their breath and heart in their mouth. On both occasions, when the boys were pulled out alive and safe, everyone felt an amazing sense of relief. But neither the protectors of the law nor the media completed their job.
In both the cases, the media overlooked any sense of reason, logic, responsibilities and duty on the part of the parents as well as the law. It was natural for the general public to get emotionally involved with rescue operations but the law-keepers and the media, which don the cap of objectivity, can ill-afford to get overburdened with emotional frenzy. Once Prince was saved, the most inevitable and relevant questions were never raised.
Who was accountable for such a blunder? Who left open the dangerous bore wells? Who were responsible for causing danger to the lives of children? Why did the parents of the two children let them play unattended far away from their homes? Why was no adult supervising or escorting them? Is it not the moral and legal duty of the parents to ensure the safety of their children? How could a one-year-old be allowed to go so far away from the vigilant eye of a mother that he could fall in a 55-foot-deep bore well?
The protectors of the law did not penalise anyone in both the cases. No cases were registered against those who left these bore wells unguarded. In the western countries, parents cannot leave children alone even at home till the age of 12 because they can unknowingly endanger their lives. Similarly, they cannot leave them unattended in cars or markets. If they do so, they are immediately arrested and charged with the offence of negligence.
Besides the issue of parental accountability, another issue that demanded attention was: the cost borne by the state to save the lives of these children. Neither the parents nor the people who left the bore wells uncovered were charged with criminal negligence. Both the parents as well as the diggers were allowed to go scotfree. In fact the parents of Prince were honoured with a cheque of Rs 2 lakh by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
To save Prince, the Western Command had deployed over 100 army personnel. Each army man costs about Rs 5000 per day when he is on any such duty, says a retired General. This includes the cost towards salary, ration, petrol, TA-DA, vehicles, cranes and other equipment that is used in such operations. Besides, the number of hours or days that army personnel spend on civil causes are seen as a loss to their defence training. To save Prince, it cost the Army nearly Rs 50 lakh and to save the Katni boy approximately Rs 15 lakh.
Looking up to the army in times of riots, and widespread violence is not only understandable but also a matter of faith of the nation in them. But using the Army to save the life of a Prince without holding anyone accountable for the threat to his life is nothing short of wasting the country’s precious resources. It also sends a signal that ignorance and negligence can not only get you a reward of Rs 2 lakh but it also can hold Rs 50 lakh of the nation to ransom. At Katni, the local MLA made political capital by holding the rescued boy in his arms. The local police and administration men also went home cheering each other. They did not pause to think that we could have such mishaps again. And, like prince and the little boy from Katni, not everybody might get saved. There should have been exemplary punishment for the parents as well as the people who left such deep bore wells uncovered, so that nobody’s life was endangered.
