Little Anil Kumar is still missing the warmth of his mom and home, almost three months after being rescued from the clutches of his employer.

The child welfare committee on Tuesday prolonged the 10-year-old child's agony, postponing the hearing on him to Thursday. The panel attributed the postponement to the failure of Anil's family members to turn up for the hearing. The kin of the child, on the other hand, said they were not even informed about the hearing till Monday.

Anil was rescued from the clutches of his employer near Shastri Nagar police station on April 9. Since then, he is living in a special home - Apna Ghar - run by the social welfare department.

The child welfare committee, in several hearings in the past, decided against allowing the boy to go back to his home. The panel skipped few hearings related to the case, too.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act states that no child should be retained in any special home for a long period. In fact, the child should be allowed to go back to his/her family as soon as it has been identified beyond any doubt.

On why the child welfare committee did not hold the hearing on Anil on Tuesday, Apna Ghar's superintendent Ravishankar said: "The boy's family did not turn up today (on Tuesday). So, we decided to hold the hearing on Thursday. His family members, including his mother, would be called up. Only then the final decision on whether he would be allowed to go home or not would be taken."

The boy's family members, on the other hand, told The Telegraph over phone that they were not informed about the proceedings. "We were not asked to go there today (on Tuesday). It is completely false if the Apna Ghar officials are claiming that we did not turn up. In fact, Anil's mother went to Apna Ghar 10 days ago to meet him. She was allowed to meet the child only after repeated requests. A family is not being allowed to take home its child. What kind of justice is this?" asked Manoj Mehto, the maternal uncle of Anil.

The child welfare committee's chairperson, Manju Sharma, did not divulge the reason behind keeping the boy at the special home for a few more days.

A senior official of the social welfare department, who did not wish to be quoted, said he would look into why the child was not being allowed to go back home.

"The child welfare committee does not retain any child intentionally for a long period. After all, why would we want to keep any child at the special homes when we are overburdened? In March this year, as many as 265 child labourers hailing from the state were rescued from Telangana. So, many kids are living at our special homes. At present, we are in the process of completing the verification of the family members of the children rescued from Telangana. This might take time. But usually, it takes us 15-30 days to send back a child to his/her home. I shall check why the child is not being allowed to go back home in this case," said the official.

He said the child welfare committee conducts hearings thrice a week and he would ensure the hearing on Anil was conducted soon.

Experts had said earlier that keeping the boy in a special home for long was against the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. Daisy Narayan, who held the committee chairperson's post for seven years, had said the boy should be handed over to his family.