The public along with the police may be relieved after finding the six girls who ran away from the government orphanage at Vellimadukunnu, Kozhikode. Authorities noticed the children leaving the area on Wednesday evening. Without wasting any time, the police started searching. On the basis of some clues, they were able to find one of the girls with two young men from a hotel in Bengaluru on Thursday morning. Another was found on a bus bound for Kozhikode. The four were nabbed by the investigation team from Edakkara in Nilambur on Friday. It is important to note that the police were able to find everyone safely before they fell into any problems. The efficiency and skill of the Kerala Police in such cases is highly commendable.

It is also an incident that calls out how things in the government kindergarten are. Children are handed over there considering the safety of a government institution. If there is an atmosphere in which one can run away easily, then why are children being kept in such institutions? Six children left the children's home at Vellimadukunu at the same time, but its management found out only hours later. There are no security guards in a place where girls are staying. It is learned that no such facility has been set up in the a time when even small vendors are installing CCTV facilities. Why not probe why such institutions do not mandate systems that can be put in place without huge investment? Most of the institutions like this are generally neglected and irresponsible. If there is proper supervision and inspection system, the officers assigned in such institutions will be more responsible.

The running of government institutions such as children's homes is often annoying to inmates. The occasional incidents like this can be considered as part of it. Five of those who left the Kozhikode institution begged the police not to send them back to the children's home. Only one expressed a desire to return to his own home. Their lives in such kindergartens can only be secured if there are people who can feel the pain and suffering in the minds of children. These should be taken into consideration when appointing officers to orphanages, children's homes and old age homes. In the light of the Kozhikode incident, an audit of all the kindergartens in the state has become necessary. The government should take necessary action for that.