Unseen Passage: Research by SATHI

Reading Comprehension

A research conducted by SATHI says that it is a misconception that children living on platforms are abandoned or are wrecked from homes. In reality, most of the children are those that flee from their homes without a thought and cannot retract their actions, either because they have no money or are too frightened to go back. “We rescue 50 children daily from the platforms across the country. Some of these children get lost even as their parents search for them desperately,” said Anjali, project officer, SATHI.

Life on the platform is not easy. The longer a child lives on the platform, the more he falls prey to addictions, abuse, petty thefts and odd jobs for survival. There is no place like home for a child, therefore, in extreme cases of abuse and poverty the organization’s first course of action is ‘home placement’.

As SATHI’s secretary Pramod Kulkarni says, ‘A child on the platform never grows up, he just ages. Early intervention not only saves the child from the dangers of platform life but, also makes repatriation easier as the child is more willing to go back home’. But, it is not an easy task. The organisation’s staff search the platforms across the country from morning till night. Children are rescued from the platforms and are placed within the safe limits of the SATHI shelters. They are counselled and those who are willing to go back home are taken to their families as soon as possible.

Others who are reluctant to go back home are enrolled in “home orientation camps”. Love, guidance and care provided, it paves the way for effective development of problem-solving and social skills needed to build selfesteem and renew family ties. Children addicted to substance abuse are sent to de-addiction camps.

Q. Answer the following questions:

1. What has the research conducted by SATHI revealed?
2. What does the phrase ‘Life on the platform is not easy’ mean?
3. What is the aim of the organization working for the welfare of these children?
4. Which is the most important step in saving the lives of children?

Answer

1. The research has conducted by SATHI revealed that it is a misconception that children living on platforms are abandoned or are wrecked from homes.
2. This phrase means that the longer a child lives on the platform, the more he falls prey to addictions, abuse, petty thefts and odd jobs for survival.
3. Home placement is the main aim of the organization working for the welfare of these children.
4. Early intervention is the most important step in saving the lives of children.

Q. Choose the correct alternatives:

1. Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘exhausted’.
   1. abandoned
   2. wrecked
   3. addicted
   4. counselled
2. After the child is in the safe limits, how is he helped further?
   1. counselled
   2. home placement
   3. home orientation camps
   4. rescued
3. The organization’s first course of action is
   1. home orientation camps
   2. home placement
   3. SATHI shelters
   4. None of the above
4. How are the addicted children helped?
   1. counselled
   2. SATHI shelters
   3. de-addiction camps
   4. taken to their families

Answer

1. wrecked
2. counselled
3. home placement
4. de-addiction camps