Children as part of the human barricade at Dhinkia on Saturday. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Nov. 5: The outfit spearheading the resistance movement against the proposed Posco steel plant has again brought children to be part of a human barricade at the proposed project site, in spite of drawing flak from various quarters.

Children were back in the spotlight as protesters went on dharna under the banner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity (PPSS) at the border of Dhinkia village to protest against the resumption of project-related work.

The agitators put up a human barricade to thwart officials’ entry into Dhinkia, the nerve-centre of the movement against the Posco steel project. Children and women formed the front of the human barricade.

A few months ago, during its visit villages in the project site the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had taken strong exception to using children as human shields by resistance movement activists. It had asked the local administration to take steps to ensure that children were kept away from the human barricades. The national commission’s directives have apparently failed to yield the desired results.

“The people’s movement against Posco will be intensified as the government has announced that it will resume project work shortly. The mission of all the families here is to stall the work by peaceful demonstration,” said Abhaya Sahu, president of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, the outfit that has been spearheading the anti-displacement agitation.

“There is nothing wrong in children taking part in the movement. Like their parents, they are losing everything because of the project. Adult members of the family are spontaneously involved in the movement, how can children be left alone in their houses? That’s why they are bringing children to the agitation spot,” Sahu said.

Jagatsinghpur collector Narayan Chandra Jena disapproved using children as human shields. “As directed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, we had cautioned the agitators to keep children away from the human barricades,” said Jena.

The administration had also undertaken a drive to educate the parents on the downside of involving their wards in the resistance movement in places such as Dhinkia and Gobindpur. The administration believes that parents were bringing their children to the dharna site under orders from the resistance movement leaders.

“If the resistance movement leaders do not mend their ways and continue to use children as human shields, the administration will take legal action against them under the juvenile justice act and child rights’ protection law,” cautioned the collector.

On Friday, leaders from six Opposition parties — the CPI, CPM, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Forward Block — had visited the agitation spot to express solidarity with people who will lose their livelihood because of the project.

Security has been stepped up in and around the proposed project sites with about 20 platoons of armed policemen deployed at various places. Indications are that project work will be kickstarted in a day or two.