Give Free Education July 2011 Issue Beyond Class Eight RTE Act has also generated a debate on the...

In the one year of enforcement of the Right to Education Act we have seen a tremen-dous fervour for education from poor parents of all communities. Many of them aremaking great sacrifices and others are questioning why free and compulsory educa-tion should stop at class eight. Even girls studying in the Kasturba Gandhi BalikaVidyalayas (KGBV) have demanded that they go beyond class eight to study furtherand realize their dreams. We will need more infrastructure and hostels to achieve this.

Empowered by the RTE Act, parents and children are saying no to school fees anddemanding timely distribution of text books, clean toilets and drinking water andquality education. At the same time they are asking for equality, non-discriminationand respect. It is their right. In fact, this demand for quality education can be seen allover the country—in the North East, in tribal communities, in areas of civil unrest andamong the scheduled castes and minorities. For all of us engaged in making RTE areality, it is a challenge to respond to their hopes and aspirations.

The RTE Act has also generated a debate on the role of private schools in democ-ratising education.

A lot still remains to be done to make the RTE Act effective. Often there is a mis-match between official figures and ground reality. We need an honest count of out ofschool children. Children engaged as labour, girls who don’t go to school, the physi-cally and mentally challenged children and school dropouts, all need to be enrolledand retained in schools. Gram panchayats and School Management Committees haveto be the eyes and ears of society. They have to speak to parents, track every child whois out of school and give them confidence to join schools. They have also to ensure thatchildren who are already attending schools enjoy all their entitlements in schools.

At the same time we need to build public trust and respect for school teachers. Thecapacities of teachers have to be built to address the diversity of children in the class-room. They have to be creative and think out of the box to cater to every child. Therehas to be a system of support to the school teachers to respond to their interventionsin improving the quality of education.

An environment in the society has to be created and sustained which would ener-gise every functionary of the education department to become a change agent. Therehas to be commitment from both government and NGOs.

Schools play a radical role in breaking inter-generational poverty and disparity.They stand for equity and social justice and resolve class and caste issues, ensuringgreater harmony in society. They bring children out of hidden spaces to become vis-ible and facilitate their struggle for dignity and growth. So, in addition to gettingevery child into school, let us make the schools strong and vibrant pillars of our democracy. n

Shantha Sinha

Give Free Education Beyond Class Eight

Infocus | National Commission for Protection of Child Rights | Vol 4 No 3

July 2011 Issue

INSIGHTRescuing Children in Areas 2of Civil Unrest

SPOTLIGHTRenewing Pledges to 6End Child Labour

RTE NEWSCivil Society to Audit RTE 8

REPORTChildren Should Bloom 11in Anganwadis

SPECIAL REPORTEarly Childhood Care, 14Education Critical

COMMISSION NEWS 16

REDRESSING COMPLAINTSMonetary Compensation for 21Bonded Child

Commission Rescues 21Tortured Juvenile

Saving Circus Children 21

Nearly 2000 children had been brought to school underthe Right to Education Scheme in areas of civil unrestin five states till April this year and a number of

defunct anganwadi centres revived, Dr Shantha Sinha,Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of ChildRights, pointed out at the conclusion of a three day consulta-tion on ‘Child Rights In Areas Of Civil Unrest.’

Participating in the Hyderabad consultation wereCommisson’s Member Secretary, Mr Lov Verma, Member, MsDipa Dixit, Bal Bandhu National Coordinator, Mr S.K. Ravi inaddition to resource persons implementing the Bal Bandhuintervention in the five states. Also present at the meetingwere Dr Sucheta Mahajan and Dr Bodh Prakash ofJawaharlal Nehru University and consultants Dr RakeshBatbayal, Dr Rekha Abel and Mr Azizuddin. Mr R. VenkatReddy, facilitator, said that the resource persons had donewell in identifying 20 Bal Bandhus in each district. The nextstep was to link the community to the government.

To understand the problems in the disturbed areas, sur-veys were conducted in five states as the first step towardsensuring the rights of children. These were in Sibli block,Chirang district and Kachugaon block, Kokhrajhar district ofAssam; Dhanora block, Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra;Sukma block, Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh; CharlaBlock, Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh; and Rohtasblock, Rohtas district, Khaira block, Jamui district, Thariyaniblock, Sheohar district and East Champaran in Bihar.

SURVEY FINDINGS

Assessing AssamSibli block, Chirang DistrictSome 50 to 70 families have been living in six relief camps inSibli block for 8 to 13 years and have not received any com-pensation, resource persons pointed out. Though the 672 vil-lages of Sibli block are under 37 Village Council DevelopmentCommittees (VCDC), most out of school children pluck betelleaves, graze goats, work in hotels and are engaged in child-care. The 20 middle elementary schools and 20 EducationGuarantee Scheme centres lack toilets and drinking waterfacilities and have no compound walls. Access to healthcarefacilities is poor in most villages. A number of anganwadicentres operate from schools, temples and the workers’homes. They are linked to schools and the children areshown as belonging to a separate class in the school. Further,most anganwadi workers are relatives of local politicians.

At a meeting in Dhadgari VCDC it was pointed out thatthe nearest middle elementary and high schools were 15 to30 kms away and children often commuted to school sitting

on the roof of the bus. About 150 to 400 children drop out ofschool every year. The dropout rate for girls was high, mostquitting after class 4 or 5. A school had merely 12 girlsagainst 80 boys. Teacher’s attendance was poor with somehaving to commute 35 kms. Even providing midday mealswas difficult. Though rations had been released after a year,there was no way their movement could be tracked.

With the assistance of the local NGO ANT, resource per-sons identified 20 Bal Bandhus from the local communityand a school enrolment drive has begun in seven panchay-ats. Thirty dropouts were brought back to school through theenrolment drive. Head teachers were initially reluctant toenrol them but were convinced by the Bal Bandhus.

Resource person Mohammed Jaffar, who had been post-ed in North Kachar Hills, narrated his encounter with mili-tants who threatened to kill him if he did not pay them Rs 1lakh, and thus relocated to Chirang district. Teachers whowere not aware of the RTE Act became active after orienta-tion. Those hesitant to attend the meetings held by theresource persons have also been won over and seven of themare now cooperating. The chair of the session Dr SuchetaMahajan concluded that the diversity of languages was a keyissue of concern in Assam and Dr Rakesh Batbayal appreci-ated the resource persons for their tenacity in working insuch difficult circumstances.

Kachugaon, KokhrajharIn Kachugaon block of Kokhrajhar district, according to thegovernment there are only 432 out of school children. Theblock has 7-8 major communities including Bengali Muslims,each of who have a distinct language/dialect. The farthest vil-lage in the block is just four kms from the border with Bhutan.The block has two relief camps consequent to an ethnic con-flict between the Bodo and Santhal communities in the past.Since, teachers were busy with the census operations, lack ofteachers became a cause of concern for several schools. Thelone teacher at the lower primary school in Batabari, whospeaks Bodo, teaches both in Bodo and Assamese medium tochildren. Though some EGS schools have been regularised onpaper, 36 of them lack buildings and 70 have no teachers. Outof school children fish, collect minor forest produce, work inautomobile service centres, rear pigs, work in hotels and huntrats to supplement the family income. Some of them alsomigrate to other places for employment.

Activities taken up include the identification of 20 BalBandhus at the VCDC level. Bal Bandhu Samitis have beenformed in the block and weekly meetings are held to trackthe regularity of school going children. Members of the dis-trict level Bodo students union invited to attend block level


INSIGHT

Rescuing Children in Areas of Civil Unrest

meetings convened by the resource persons have offered tomobilise children. However, members of the Santhali stu-dents union have not been very active, as they are known toremain isolated from other tribes. Their socioeconomic indi-cators are also quite poor. Based on petitions submitted tothe State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, twoResidential Bridge Courses (RBCs) were sanctioned after theChairperson spoke to the state officials. Some 250 studentunion members have been sensitised to child rights and havepledged to support the cause. Teachers too are respondingpositively to the RTE interventions.

Measuring Impact in MaharashtraDhanora, GadchiroliThe district collector advised the NCPCR to launch its inter-vention in Dhanora block of Gadchiroli as the governmenthad been implementing a number of interventions there.Computers had been distributed to all High Schools. He alsoprovided the RTE team a link to panchayat members.

The incidence of seasonal dropout was quite high in mostvillages. A survey of two panchayats revealed there were 105dropouts, most of them employed as agricultural labourers.The block had eight government run ashram schools and fourgovernment aided ashram schools. While the government runashram schools were getting Rs 12 per day per child, the aidedschools were receiving only Rs 6 per day per child. Teachershad not been paid salaries for the last six months.

Schools of the block were badly maintained and there were20 children crowded in one room in most ashram schools.Fearing Naxalite supporters, 13 panchayats had not electedtheir sarpanches and the same gram panchayat offices hadbeen burnt down. In Sawargaon, the ashram school had been

hit by a rocket killing an attendant and two children. SomeNaxalite supporters had been asking the parents of schooldropouts aged 15-18 to permit their wards to join their forces.

The package of interventions has now reached out to 62panchayats wherein Bal Bandhus were recruited through pub-lic meetings; in 10 villages efforts were made to educate thecommunity on the RTE Act and to verify children’s physicalpresence, a headcount was carried out in schools of the block.

Checking ChhattisgarhSukma block, DantewadaIn Sukma block of Dantewada district, interventions are on in18 of 20 panchayats. There is a wide disparity in the teacher-pupil ratio with most schools having too many children andfew teachers. However, one school had six teachers for just11 students. Naxalite supporters have blown up one schoolbuilding and the community has agreed to bear the cost ofreconstructing it. Most out of school children collect forestproduce or migrate during the season. Police are suspicious


INSIGHT

Swaying into SchoolResource persons were informed that in MichgaonJhada, one of the teachers would invariably come toschool drunk because villagers would offer him liquor asa courtesy. Some young people from the village decidedto meet the Block Education Officer to get his help on theissue but found that the BEO was also in an inebriatedstate. The teacher, however, claimed he was a very dedi-cated officer and had been beaten by Naxalite supportersand suffered a bullet injury. n

of youth in the region and pick them up if they leave their vil-lage for a fortnight. Yet migration is significant among those18 years and above.

Sarpanches of two panchayats have been actively cam-paigning against child labour and migration and succeededin checking 200 children from migrating from one of thepanchayats. The labour contractor was also warned that apenalty of Rs 5,000 would be imposed on him and the chil-dren’s parents were told that they would forfeit their rationcards if they sent their children to work. In all districts whereinterventions have been launched, consultants and resourcepersons made it a point to speak on all developmental issuesof the block rather than restrict their focus to children alone.

Naxalite supporters have been watching and questioningthe interventions on the right to education. Some attended ameeting held by resource persons in Guphdi panchayat andquestioned them about their agenda. When told they werefighting for children’s rights, village level committee mem-bers asked the Bal Bandhu to inform them whenever a meet-ing was held However, there has been no problem from themso far. In one incident, Naxalite supporters insisted that thelocal Bal Bandhu stay behind for a few hours and watch acultural performance by their cadre.

Consultant, Dr Rekha Abel, pointed out that communitymobilisation was crucial for the campaign. The Bal Bandhuhad to be a representative of the government as well as people.

Appraising Andhra PradeshCharla block, Khammam districtWith 70 villages under 14 panchayats, the education officerof Charla block informed resource persons that there wereonly 283 out of school children in the block but the surveyrevealed there were 2,438 out of school children. Two of thepanchayats, Purnapally and Devarapally are located deepwithin the forest, 18-20 kms from a road. Tractors are theonly means of transport. ANMs posted in the area travel ingroups to the interior villages once a fortnight.Supplementary nutrition had not been supplied for twomonths, as the anganwadi workers were highly irregular. Setup on the main roads of the mandal headquarters, theSunday Bazaar is a major attraction. There is no telephoneconnection in five gram panchayats of the block and aware-ness on the RTE Act is limited, even among teachers.

Children are being used in the naxal supported cadre. Insome parts of the block, children account for 25-30 percentof the cadre. Five panchayats of the mandal are acutelyaffected and the police don’t enter the interior villages.Anganwadi workers in the block do not get their salariesand supplies regularly and four ashram schools of the man-dal are prone to submergence during the monsoons. Toearn money, children from ashram schools work as labour-ers on weekends.

An eight-day drive was launched in the block to identifyBal Bandhus. At youth meetings, participants were asked tosuggest suitable candidates. The selected Bal Bandhus thenmet sarpanches of all panchayats and sought their support.At village level public meeting the aims and objectives of theCommission and the role of the Bal Bandhus was spelt out.

An intensive mobilisation drive taken up in one ashramschool, led to 40 children who were not regular in attendancegiving their annual examinations.

Evaluating BiharRohtas block, Rohtas districtOfficials claimed that all 16,028 children in the block were inschool. Rohtasgarh panchayat is located at 1,000 metres ona hilltop and covers a radius of nearly 50 kms. It has 26 vil-lages under its jurisdiction. Thirtythree girls from the pan-chayat had quit studying after Class 8 in the Kasturba GandhiBalika Vidyalaya, as they had no access to higher education.The resource persons were advised by the District Magistrateto seek the help of the NCPCR for further schooling facilitiesfor the girls. Nearly half the children enrolled in governmentschools attend private tuitions, where they spend most of theday. Their names, however, continue to remain in the schoolregister. When questioned, the teachers told the resourcepersons that all but 20-30 children would appear for theexams. The Bal Bandhus were told that they should opposeprivate tuitions and activate teachers to perform

Based on the survey orientation sessions were planned forTola Sevaks and CRCCs in consultation with the BEO. At ablock orientation session for 150 youth, Bal Bandhus wereintroduced to the officials and a presentation was made on thevarious schemes available. A mukhia pointed out that a schoolhad 90 children but two teachers were highly irregular. Headteachers were oriented on the objectives of the intervention,the UN Child Rights Convention and the RTE Act. When teach-ers said that the midday meal scheme was a burden on them,disrupting their teaching schedules, resource persons clarifiedthat midday meals were a child’s entitlement.

In one panchayat where 401 out of school children wereidentified, houses of the panchayat were given unique codenumbers with a master register prefix. Some members of thecommunity with whom the information was shared offeredto mobilise children to school.

At meetings in all villages on International Women’s Day,following the discussions on child marriage and child rights,participants pledged not to perform or abet child marriage inthe presence of the BEO and the CDPO, ICDS. Apart frommonthly review meetings with the District Magistrate,10Balmitra Samuh and 12 women’s groups have been formedto ensure enforcement of child rights. Through the efforts ofthe Bal Bandhu 10 anganwadi centres that had remainedclosed for six months were reopened and an incompleteschool building in Rohtasgarh panchayat was completed.


INSIGHT

Sisters Out of School, Brothers Sell LiquorMost girls from Sundergunj were out of school and theirbrothers would sell the liquor brewed by their parents. Infact all households in the village brew liquor and since mencame to the houses to collect liquor, adolescent girls weremarried off to save them from danger of sexual attacks. n

The eight schools in Rohtasgarh did not have the necessaryinfrastructure. The roof of one school building was in a state itcould crumble at any time. Though funds had been releasedfour years ago, construction work had not commenced andthree teachers from the school were irregular. Naxalite sup-porters had blasted two of the school buildings in the past andvillagers complained that they had not been receiving benefitsof government schemes. At the behest of the resource personsthey petitioned the authorities for these benefits.

Similar situations and stories were recounted aboutKhaira block, Jamui district, Thariyani block, Sheohar districtand Pathahi block, East Champaran district. Villages arelocated deep in the interior of forested or hilly terrain with thenearest road 10 to15 kms away. In Khaira, 409 boys and 310girls were identified as out of school through a survey.Retention drives were taken up in all villages with the involve-ment of the community. Eight defunct schools have reopened.After an intensive drive to strengthen the anganwadi centres,the number of children attending them has gone up from1,038 in December last year to 1,732 this March and eightnon-operational centres have started functioning regularly.The number of regular school-going children has gone upfrom 14,408 in January to 18,238 in March.

At Thariyani block 17 primary schools have no buildingsof their own. Children in four schools study in the open underthe trees. With the tola sevak’s help Bal Bandhus were iden-tified and district level meetings were held with tola sevaksin Piprahi and Thariyani blocks respectively to introduce theintervention to them. A block level meet was held with 112teachers. A survey of Khulpatti panchayat revealed that 396children of 6-14 years were out of school. The BEO wasasked to link them to the 14 new RBCs being set up in theblock and 20 children were enrolled there.

There are wonderful anecdotes of how the Bal Bandhushave been countering pulls and pressures to get school build-

ings and anganwadi centres working. Spurning the offer ofthe mukhia of Rampur to construct a school building inreturn for villagers voting for him in the panchayat elections,a Bal Bandhu got the villagers to donate land for the school,and supported by resource persons is asking the district offi-cials to construct the building. When the worker of an angan-wadi centre in Pochia refused to come regularly and on timeto open the centre because she was related to the sarpanch,he mobilised 10 to 15 children to come and wait at the cen-tre for it to be opened. Embarrassed by the tenacity of thechildren, she now comes on duty regularly.

In Pathahi block of East Champaran, 116 anganwadicentres remained closed for more than six months and oneof them was being used as a granary. Further, the quality ofthe midday meal was poor in most schools and teachersreported late. The anganwadi worker was pulled up by theresource persons. After several meeting with teachers, tolasevaks and others three Balmitra Sanghatans were formedat the panchayat level and they assemble once a fortnightto review the progress of their activity and to plan for the future.

Akin to Independence StruggleDespite some pressure from the Naxalite supporters in alldistricts, the resource persons and Bal Bandhus have beenable to push projects and programmes. According to DrSucheta Mahajan the rural reconstruction process in thesedistricts is akin to the struggle for independence. A newhope has sprung. The social audit, the survey and the reviewprocess are strategies that can help strengthen the cam-paign. Dr Bodh Prakash said Bihar and Uttar Pradesh werethe real testing ground for community mobilisation in thecontext of child rights. He was glad that the project hadfinally been launched in Bihar and appreciated the willing-ness of the Bal Bandhus to accept risky assignments. n


INSIGHT

Flag Hoisted in SchoolAfter 5 YearsIn the last five years hardly any teacherfrom the Rohtasgarh block had hoisted thenational flag on Republic Day orIndependence Day but a teacher of theschool in Kachuhar was inspired by theresource persons to hoist the flag onRepublic Day. Supporters of Naxalites, whousually attend the flag hoisting ceremonyat another end of the panchayat intercept-ed the teacher on his way to the school thisyear and questioned him. When told thathe was the school teacher going to hoistthe flag they said they were glad that hehad at least turned up to hoist the flag butsaid it would be better if he also taught thechildren. The teacher has now become reg-ular in his duties. n

Aconference to commemorate World Day Against ChildLabour (June 12) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra,this year to focus attention on the extent of child

labour and action needed to do away with the practice.Over 650 people including representatives of the govern-

ment, child rights organizations, civil society, internationaland national non governmental organisations and the mediacame together to pledge their support for children’s right to

education and the elimination of child labour. Organised bythe National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in col-laboration with UNICEF and ILO, this is the fourth year ofthis partnership to commemorate the World Day AgainstChild Labour.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan, who wasthe chief guest, stressed the importance of education for allchildren in the light of the Right to Education (RTE) andexpressed commitment of his state government to promoteeducation for all and ensure elimination of child labour.

NCPCR Chairperson Shantha Sinha, said that millions ofchildren had rejected child labour in the last one decade tojoin schools. “They have got out of work on farms and con-struction sites, crowded little rooms making bangles, bindis,zari embroidery, jewellery, burning kilns baking bricks, glassand enslaved as domestic workers in houses of well to dofamilies and in thousands of other chores. Anchoring on theray of hope given by volunteers, NGOs, motivated officialsand the community, they freed themselves from labour andare in pursuit of education. They are the heroes and heroinesof modern India, who have fought the shackles of bondage,trafficking, exploitation and sheer abuse, thus paving theway for future generations of the country and showing that itis possible to be liberated and enjoy freedom through educa-tion,” she contended.

There was a ground swell of support to end child labourin the country today. Several employers had come forward torelease children and make their enterprises free of child


SPOTLIGHT

Renewing Pledges to End Child Labour

From Begging to CollegeDurga Mallu Gudilu lives in Sanjay Nagar, Jogeshwari east,Mumbai, with her sister and parents. The family belongs tothe Vaidu community, a nomadic and denotified tribe. The250 Vaidu families, living here since the past 30 years, earntheir living by recycling old tin boxes. The women sellassorted items like sewing needles, clips and bead jewellery.

Durga and her sister Govindi, like other children,would accompany their mothers to sell these goods eitherin local trains or in slum settlements of Mumbai. Sinceincome from this was very little, the children also beggedfor food. In fact, Durga says that as a child, she never sawfood cooked at home.

Since the entire community would travel to differentplaces to augment their earnings, there was no time forschool. Even if the children wanted to go to school, the eld-ers felt that education was not for them. “They thought wehad no use for education as we were dabba-batliwalas,”

remembers Durga.But their lives changed when YUVA, an NGO working on

child rights in Mumbai, took charge of their education.“Each day we would wait for our classes. However, our par-ents were not too happy. But we managed to convince themthat the education centre started by YUVA was helping us.When they saw our progress, they joined hands with YUVAto enrol us in the local municipal school,” says Durga.

Thanks to this intervention, Durga not only finishedClass 12, but is now preparing to go to college to studysocial work. She says education transformed her life. “Iwould have been married by the age of 14 had it not beenfor the fact that I was in school.”

Being a member of the children’s organisation initiatedby YUVA helped Durga to set up a youth organisation withher friends. “I feel proud that all the children of my neigh-bourhood are in school now. If this is possible for us, I amsure it can be done for other children in the country.” n

labour. Education was the best way to prevent child labourstated Dr Sinha.

According to Karin Hulshof, Country Representative,UNICEF, ensuring all children had a chance to go to schooland gain quality education and eliminating child labour weretwo sides of the same coin. “We need to match proactive leg-islations like RTE with action and change mindsets to viewall forms of child labour as violation of child rights so thatevery child irrespective of class, caste or culture can growand develop,” she said.

Ms Tine Staermose, Director, ILO, also reiterated theimportance of education in the elimination of child labour.She said free and compulsory education of good quality up toa minimum age was a key element not only in preventingchild labour but subsequently getting employment.

“As poverty, child labour and lack of schools underminelong term development it was important to address theseproblems in a coherent way. This approach required coordi-nation between different government departments like edu-cation, labour, finance and development,” she pointed out. n


SPOTLIGHT

Education is critical to prevent child labour, though it is notenough. Law enforcement, engagement with the privatesector, social mobilisation, challenging the social acceptanceof child labour and need for better social protection strate-gies for the family are crucial for elimination of child labour.

The realisation of RTE is crucial for reaching this goal.It is imperative that various provisions of RTE with itsvision of reaching out to the most marginalised and exclud-ed children be implemented and monitored. By mandatingquality, child centred learning, free from fear and discrimi-nation, RTE promises that children will be in school andlearning instead of being engaged in labour.

Universal access to education is important if India is torealise its objective of inclusive growth as envisioned in the12th Plan.

Child labour leads to reduced primary school enrolmentand negatively affects literacy rates among youth. There isstrong evidence that when children combine school and

work, as the number of hours in work increases, schoolattendance falls.

High levels of child labour are associated with lower per-formance on an Education Development Index which meas-ures a country’s performance on universal primary educa-tion, adult literacy, quality of education and gender parity.

There is a significant correlation between levels of chil-dren’s economic activity and primary school repetitionrates. Grade/class repetition often leads to children drop-ping out of school

Rural working children and girls tend to be amongst themost disadvantaged. Girls often carry the double burden ofwork inside and outside the home, putting schooling at risk.

Strong enforcement mechanisms should be set up at alllevels to ensure speedy and efficient enforcement of childlabour legislation. nJoint statement by NCPCR, UNICEF and ILO on June 12,2011

NCPCR, ILO and UNICEF pledge to continue working for children’s right toeducation and elimination of child labour


RTE NEWS

Eleven organisations representing civil society weretrained for social audit of the RTE in Assam this May.Since a social audit of RTE was being done for the first

time, a pilot was proposed in 10 states, with NCPCR enteringinto a Memorandum of Understanding with civil society part-ners to ground the social audit process in one district of eachstate chosen. Earlier, a training of trainers was held for ninestates in Amravati.

Organisations that came for training included the AllBodo Students’ Union (ABSU), The Action North East Trust(The ANT), Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA),All Assam Sarnia Kachari Students’ Union, All AssamStudents’ Union (AASU), All Koch Raj Bongshi Students’Union (AKRSU), All Assam Deori Students’ Union, All AssamGorkha Students’ Union (AAGSU), Sishur Adhikar SurakshaSamiti (SASS), Assam Mahila Samata Society, Bal Bandhu,NCPCR and North East Research and Social WorkNetworking (NERSWN) and resource persons from TamilNadu, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The training was to enable conduct of the social audit, tolearn monitoring process under the RTE, to identify thestrengths and gaps in the proposed methodology, to arrive ata monitoring methodology at the village, block and district

level and to develop a training module for social audit on RTE The training showed awareness about the Act was totally

lacking and there was no effort to spread information of theRTE among the people. Even teachers had only very basicinformation about the Act. School Management Committees(SMC) had not yet been formed and knowledge of roles andresponsibilities was absent. Even teachers were unaware ofthe new form that the SMCs had been given in RTE.Infrastructure too was appalling. Not a single school acrossall VCDCs had functional toilets and drinking water for chil-dren. Classrooms were few and there were no libraries inany school visited. Midday meals were not served regularlyand when served, it was only khichidi or tea and biscuits.Sometimes, rice was distributed or children were paid Rs 10per month in lieu of midday meals. In many schools, cookshadn’t been paid regularly and schools received ration oncein two to three months.

Teacher AbsenteeismCensus and election related work had kept teachers 45 daysout of school this year. In addition, administrative work tookup a lot of the teachers’ time. Quality of teaching wasextremely poor and children of class two and three could not

Civil Society to Audit RTE

read or write properly. They could neither identify alphabetsor numbers and notebooks hadn’t been checked for two tothree months in many schools. Teachers-pupil interactionwas minimal. Infrastructure in schools was poor and basicfacilities like water and toilets were not available.

Bodo Venture SchoolsThere are a number of ‘venture schools’ run by the Bodocommunity for two decades now. The venture schools areunique to Assam and are set up by the Bodo communitywhere there are no schools. Venture schools are run by thecommunity on a voluntary basis and many are not recog-nized. The medium of instruction in these schools is Bodo.The state government is reluctant to acknowledge the needfor more government schools in Bodo areas. Venture schoolsare completely dependent on funds donated by the commu-nity. Teachers are from the community and are paid as andwhen money is available.

Audit Recommendations The findings and concerns of the social audit were sharedwith the Deputy Commissioner, Chirang, who assured actionon spreading more awareness on RTE. Based on the socialaudit, the following recommendations were made:l Draft State Rules must be published immediately for feed-

back from the publicl A Board set up outside every school with the main fea-

tures of the Act written on itl District administration (DEO) must issue all RTE related

government orders to all schoolsl Head teachers and teachers must receive proper training

on provisions of RTEl SMCs must be formed through a process of election in a

VCDC meeting or other public meeting. SMCs must begiven rigorous training on their roles and responsibilities

l Efforts must be made to recognize venture schools

Expert Group Meeting on RTEThe RTE Division reported to the expert group about thesocial audit exercise and its impact so far, court mattersrelated to RTE and on the contribution of RTE StateRepresentatives in their respective states.l Post-facto Social Audit: The post facto social audit process

is near completion. Village level meetings were held forsharing and verifying the data collected during theprocess. The audit findings are currently being shared atthe block level with officials from the EducationDepartment for response and action.

l On the matter of screening procedures at the time ofadmission in Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV)Schools: The Delhi High Court directed the DelhiGovernment to ‘take a specific stand’ keeping in viewthe provisions of the RTE Act particularly section 13 andalso the policy guidelines issued by MHRD dated 23November 2010.

l In the six months since the appointment of the RTE Staterepresentatives, changes have been recommended toState Rules in Andhra Pradesh, ‘Shiksha Samvads’ have

been held with government officials, civil society organi-sations and community members on various issues ineducation delivery in the context of RTE and publicity ofRTE. State representatives are also involved in the socialaudit pilots in their respective divisions.

l Awareness generation on RTE: The NCPCR has developeda template on wall writings to publicise entitlements ofchildren under RTE and government responsibilities vis-à-vis them. The MHRD has agreed to put them up on allwalls of every government schools across the country inthe local languages.

Evolving a Methodology for Monitoring RTESocial audit so far has been post-facto, done intensely overa few months. However, issues in education such as corpo-ral punishment, monitoring children’s and teachers’ atten-dance, the quality and supply of midday meals, and cleanli-ness of the school premises are some issues which need tobe looked at on a regular basis throughout the year. A groupof experts from education and those with experience insocial audits were invited to develop a methodology for reg-ular monitoring of RTE entitlements by SMC members at thevillage level. Keeping the broad framework in place, eachstate will come up with its own methodology and prioritiseits issues for monitoring.

RTE Public Hearing in DelhiThe National Commission for Protection of Child Rights(NCPCR) and Joint Operation for Social Help (JOSH) jointlyconducted a public hearing on violations against theChildren’s Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act,2009, (RTE) at the Maharishi Valmiki Vishal Mandir,Trilokpuri, New Delhi, this April.

Over 25 cases were presented before a five-member jurychaired by NCPCR Chairperson Shantha Sinha. The panelincluded Farah Naqvi, Member NAC, Vinod Raina, President,BGVS, Yogesh Dubey, Member, NCPCR and Kiran Bhatty,National Coordinator, RTE Division, NCPCR.

The jury heard complaints on issues relating to negli-gence of school authorities leading to severe injury of child,corporal punishment, collection of fees/funds, denial ofadmissions/scholarships, quality of education, infrastructureand poor quality midday meals.

Over 1,400 people from Trilokpuri and neighbouringareas attended the hearing. In addition, government officialssuch as the Additional Director, School Education, Delhi,Deputy Director, Directorate of Education MCD, MedicalSuperintendent, Lal Bahadur Shastri and officials from theDelhi Jal Board summoned by the Commission specificallyfor the hearing were also present. Principals and teachersfrom the schools in Trilokpuri also attended.

Gross RTE ViolationsThe public hearing highlighted gross violations of the RTEAct. The issues of fee/fund collection, corporal punishmentand poor infrastructure in schools in particular, emerged asthe common problems.

Negligence by teachers was another area of concern.


RTE NEWS

Hemant, suffered a hand injury while playing in the absenceof teachers during class hours. His parents claimed the injurygot aggravated because the school delayed taking him to thehospital and Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital not providingtimely attention.

The jury was shocked to hear the vice principal of theschool justifying the incident by saying that ‘children keepfalling’ and his refusal to take the matter seriously. The juryrecommended detailed investigation by the Commission anddirected the school maintain records of such incidents.

Complaints of schools charging fees/funds of all kinds, aclear violation of Section 3 of the RTE Act., were also taken up.NCPCR Chairperson Shantha Sinha directed the AdditionalDirector, School Education, to ensure that money charged fora school outing was returned within 15 days and ensure thatmoney charged in any school be returned within three monthsand a copy of the action taken be sent to the Commission.

After hearing a number of cases on corporal punishmentwhere children were asked to sweep, clean and lift construc-tion material, jury member Farah Naqvi reiterated that there

would be zero tolerance towards corporal punishmentand discrimination and strict action would be taken.

Over 206 of the 800 complaints filed with the NCPCRwere about nonfunctional and dirty toilets. The jury askedthe administration to submit a report on the status of toiletsin all schools to the Commission.

In addition to issuing case wise directions, theCommission also issued a set of general recommendations tothe state on developing a school safety policy and a schoolhealth policy.

The jury remarked that it was overwhelmed with thecommunity response to the hearing and it was heartening to

see so many people depose asserting their rights althoughthe response of the administration was neither adequate nor convincing.

Significant Outcomes Public hearings on RTE have earlier been organised byNCPCR in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in August 2010, in Alwar,Rajasthan and Chennai, Tamil Nadu in November 2010.Complaints relating to corporal punishment, lack of infra-structure, admissions, charging of fees and funds emerged asthe most common violations against RTE.

The significant outcomes of the public hearings include:l The draft RTE State Rules being displayed on the govern-

ment website for public feedback in Tamil Nadul Orders for opening six residential schools for girls in

Alwar being issued. Requests for upgradation of schoolsin Isan ka Baas and Thos being considered

RTE Public Hearing in NagpurThe Commission also conducted a public hearing jointly with

the Apeksha Homeo Society onviolations against RTE in Aprilin Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Over 25 cases were present-ed before a five-member jurypanel chaired by NCPCRChairperson Shantha Sinha. Thepanel included Dr Yogesh Dube,Member, NCPCR, Mr Lov Verma,Member Secretary, NCPCR, MsKiran Bhatty, NationalCoordinator, Right to Education,Retd. Justice H. Suresh, MumbaiHigh Court, Mr Venkat Reddy,National Convener, MVFoundation.

The jury heard complaintson issues relating to corporalpunishment, alcoholism amongteachers, lack transport facili-ties, lack of infrastructure andneighbourhood schools, anddenial of admissions, inadequateteacher strength and absence ofshort stay homes for childrenfrom migrant families.

About 300 people attended the hearing where corporalpunishment, alcoholism among teachers and poor infrastruc-ture in schools emerged as the most problematic areas inrelation to RTE in Vidarbha.

In fact, teachers in Yewati village came to schools in aninebriated condition and inflicted corporal punishment onchildren. They also made children buy them liquor from ashop nearby. Despite several complaints filed against themwith the Block and District Office, no action had been taken.

The jury recommended suspension and legal actionagainst the teachers and disciplinary action against govern-ment officials for failing to respond. n


RTE NEWS

ANational Commission for Protection of Child Rights(NCPCR) team led by Dr Dinesh Laroia, member, visit-ed16 anganwadi centres (AWCs) in Delhi in April to

assess the utilisation of health and nutritional services by thepre-school children. The team, which also included Dr UCBajpai and Ms Shaifali Avasthi, consultants, NCPCR, visited akitchen under the Bhatti Mines project and the Hindu Raoand Kasturba Hospitals to check the referral system for theSeverely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children.

There are more than 14 lakh anganwadi centres (AWCs) inthe country providing health, nutrition, and education servicesfor pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children belowsix years through the Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS). So far, over 19,70,510 in the age group 0-6 have been

covered by the ICDS. Pre-school educa-tion is also provided to childrenbetween three to six years.

Yet, even after 36 years of exis-tence, the ICDS is catering to just 30per cent of the total population ofchildren in the 0-6 year group inDelhi. The AWCs are responsible forthe implementation of six major com-ponents of the ICDS. The team foundthat that except for the componentsof Nutrition/Supplementary Nutritionand Immunisation (both of whichwere reinforced because of commu-nity awareness and demand), theimplementation of the remainingfour components comprising healthcheck, referral services, pre-schoolnon-formal education and, nutritionand health education needed to berevamped to ensure effective utilisa-tion of resources.

Visit to MaharashtraThe same team also visited Mumbai,Maharashtra after taking suo motocognizance of reports in a daily news-paper on the death of 16 childrenunder six from malnutrition and relat-ed diseases in a slum in Mumbai. Theyalso took up a complaint related toAWCs that were endangering childrenby serving poisonous food. Althoughthe Maharashtra government wasasked to for information regarding the


REPORT

Children Should Bloom in Anganwadis

Total no. of beneficiaries Total no. of Total no. of

6 months- 6 years (as children left out

per the AWW Survey) enrolled children

North East Delhi

AWC 1 167 109 (65.26%) 58 (34.73%)

AWC 2 190 105 (55.26%) 85 (44.74%)

AWC 3 144 102 (70.83%) 42 (29.17%)

AWC 4 230 114 (49.57%) 116 (50.43%)

East Delhi

AWC 5 223 93 (41.70%) 130 (58.29%)

AWC 6 190 80 (42.11%) 110 (57.89%)

AWC 7 65 65 (100%) 0

AWC 8 172 95 (55.23%) 77 (44.77%)

AWC 9 150 102 (68%) 48 (32%)

West Delhi

AWC 10 150 123 (82%) 27 (18%)

AWC 11 145 89 (61.38%) 56 (38.62%)

AWC 12 106 79 (74.53%) 27 (25.47%)

South Delhi

AWC 13 149 93 (62.42%) 56 (37.58%)

AWC 14 160 99 (61.87%) 61 (38.12%)

AWC 15 154 99 (64.28%) 55 (35.71%)

AWC 16 145 101 (69.65%) 44 (30.34%)0

Total % age 2,540 1,548 (60.94%) 992 (39.05%)

Enrolment Profile of AWC Visited

Photo: UNICEF India/Purushotham

status of these children, the Commission team also visitedMumbai to enquire into the facts.

On the reported malnutrition deaths, the team found thatit was not possible to conclude that malnutrition was the solecause of deaths based on verbal autopsies, retrospectiveinspection of records and after talking with the parents.However, considering the wide prevalence of malnutrition inthese areas, the team felt it could be a reason for deathsespecially of the girl child.

The team also found that there were no chances of riceweevils in the food in the form of take home rations aftertalking to AWWs and other officials. They found that torn outtake home rations (THR) packets were not distributed and asthere is no provision of storing it at the AWC, it was not pos-sible for rice weevils to be present in the food.

Findings During their visit to AWCs in Delhi and Mumbai, the teamfound the following:

Infrastructure: In most of the AWCs, the space availablewas not enough to cater to all the children enrolled. Thespace for outdoor activities was also not enough. The overall

hygiene and sanita ry condition ofmany of these AWCs was not sat-isfactory.

Safe Drinking Water: At mostplaces the water was stored inearthen pots. However, the waterquality was not up to the mark.

Floor Carpets/Durris: At mostof the AWCs, children were sittingon the bare floor.

Availability of Toilets/Facilitiesfor Washing Hands: None of theAWCs had any provisions forwashing hands before meals.Though there were toilets, theywere not clean and the childrenwere rarely allowed to use them.

AWWs/Supervisors/CDPO:Most of the AWWs were qualifiedfor the job and were present atthe time of the visit. However, thededication and motivation levelwas very low at many places.Reasons given for their poor per-formance included administrativeand functional gaps, delays inprocuring the basic items, a lot ofpaper work and, poor promotion-al chances. Even the levels ofinvolvement of the Supervisor andCDPO were very low.

ICDS ComponentsSupplementary Nutrition: Theavailability of cooked food, itsquality, its timing and taste was

satisfactory in the AWCs visited. However, the process of dis-tribution of food among the kids varied. Food was being dis-tributed to all the beneficiaries including children, pregnantand lactating mothers. The children who were malnourishedwere being provided with the double ration.

Immunization: The immunisation services provided tothe AW beneficiaries was satisfactory. However, records wereavailable only at a few places.

Health Check: Not all AWCs maintain the necessaryrecords, especially related to the child’s age and weight. Thesystem of putting the children into various grades of nutri-tion was not according to the World Health Organization(WHO) grading system. Even a normal child was being grad-ed for malnutrition. None of the AWCs had the WHO growthcharts for boys and girls and were using the old standardsto plot graphs.

Nutrition and Health Education: Health and nutritioneducation was grossly lacking in most of the centres.

Referral system for SAM kids: Although malnourishedchildren were referred to the nearest dispensary on falling ill,not all the anganwadi workers (AWWs) had undergonerefresher training courses


REPORT

Infrastructure Growth Maintenance Referral Pre-Education

Monitoring of Records System School

AWC 1 s s s u u

AWC 2 s s s u u

AWC 3 s s s u u

AWC 4 s s s u u

AWC 5 s s s u u

AWC 6 s s s u u

AWC 7 n l n n n

AWC 8 n l n n n

AWC 9 l l n n n

AWC 10 l l l n n

AWC 11 l l l n n

AWC 12 l l l n n

AWC 13 l s n s s

AWC 14 n s s s s

AWC 15 s s s s s

AWC 16 n s s s s

u Very Poor

s Poor, Not approachable, Not accessible, Inadequate, Insufficient, Not available

n Fair

l Good, Approachable, Accessible, Adequate, Sufficient, Available

Status of AWC Visited

Pre-school Education: This existed only on paper. TheAWWs do not have time to provide pre-school education tothe children.

Referral Hospitals: Though 25 beds have been allotted in14 hospitals of Delhi and separate Infant and Young ChildFeeding (IYCF) clinics have been started in a child friendlymanner, there has not been optimal utilisation of services.There is no registration counter for children referred fromAWCs. However, facilities provided by the hospital and theteam of doctors were satisfactory as hospitals are equippedto provide tertiary care to these children and have a backupof specialist and diagnostic facilities.

Recommendationsl Supply of new WHO grade chart to every AWCl Provision of weighing machines in each AWC l Training of AWWs especially for proper recording of

weight and grading of child l Reduce paper work of AWW and increase reorientation

and refresher coursesl Ensure enough space for children when earmarking an

AWC and preferably on the ground floor of a building toavoid accidents

l Ensure AWC has all basic amenities like drinking water,electric fans, floor carpets, first aid kits

l THR which is supplied should have a label depicting the dateof manufacturing and expiry and description of the contents

l THR should be in leak proof, tamper proof packets, easyto handle and store

l THR should be weekly to facilitate more interactionbetween beneficiaries and AWWs. It will also increase thechances of early detection of major illnesses/deformitiesand malnutrition

l Establishing/designating beds especially for malnour-ished children

l Set up dedicated registration counters in referral hospi-tals for children referred from AWC

l Hospitals catering to SAM patients should have a sepa-rate cubicle or room and all measures should be taken toavoid hospital acquired infections

l Review statistical process so that there is clear distinctionbetween nomenclature of SAM, PEM, Grade III & IV

l Follow up of SAM kids should be done till they attain nor-malcy and AWW should be made responsible to ensuretheir follow up visit to the hospital

l AWC network should be broadened to include more ben-eficiaries and visibility of AWC should be enhanced andmade more child friendly n


REPORT

The Commission conducted a meeting with the officialsfrom the Department of Health and Family Welfare,Department of Social Welfare and WCD and the Director,Mission Convergence, Delhi in June in New Delhi to dis-cuss the findings of the team. Regarding the high numberof children who were still out of the ambit of the anganwa-di system, the Commission was informed that another4,000 centres had been approved. But it was felt that this would still not suffice for the entire 0-6 population in Delhi.

The officials said the AWCs were rented on a meagremonthly rent of Rs 750 according to the existing govern-ment provisions. The Commission felt that it would be diffi-cult to get reasonable space at this price.

During the discussion, the Commission was informedby the officers of the WCD Department that the weighingmachines were brought by the NRHM and were sent to theICDS. But as those weighing machines were faulty, they

were returned. Shortage of funds was stated as the mainreason by these officials for not procuring enough weigh-ing machines.

The Commission handed over a loose packet of panjiridistributed as THR at one of the AWCs to the officers ofWCD and Health and Family Welfare department. Thesample did not display date of manufacture etc and waspacked in loose polyethene bag and tied with rubber band.The officers promised to take urgent steps to ensure THRwas properly packed.

During discussions on the referral system, theDepartments of WCD and, Health and Family Welfare accept-ed that there was a total lack of coordination between thehealth delivery system and ICDS and better convergence wasrequired. They also expressed their inability to open dedicat-ed counters for AWC referrals in the hospitals. Shortage ofbeds and overcrowding were cited as reasons for inability toallot a separate cubicle or ward for SAM. n

Finding Solutions

Ameeting on early childhood care and education(ECCE), convened by the National Commission forProtection of Child Rights (NCPCR), has suggested

an action plan that would determine the age to begin pre-school.

Although there was no consensus on whether it should bethree years as suggested by Ms Mridula Bajaj, executivedirector of Mobile Creches, or four years as recommended byDr Shiva Kumar, advisor, UNICEF and member, NationalAdvisory Council, what the meeting could establish, however,was that pre-school should be till age six. This was seen as acrucial issue since RTE addresses the education of childrenfrom six years onwards—though in 23 states the age ofadmission to school is still five years.

Members who attended the meeting in June include ProfShantha Sinha, Chairperson, NCPCR, Ms Sukanya Bharatram,(Convenor) and Member, NCPCR, Mr Lov Verma, MemberSecretary, NCPCR, Mr A.K. Shiva Kumar, Prof Venita Kaul,Director, Centre for Early Childhood Education andDevelopment (CECED), Ambedkar University, Ms MridulaBajaj, Mr GC Upadhayay, Department of ElementaryEducation, NCERT, Ms Amita Tandon, senior UNICEF consult-

ant, Ministry of Women and Child Development and MsSameen Almas, consultant, NCPCR. The RTE is only about ayear old and there is no structured policy on early childhoodeducation so far.

Discrepancies in AgeAmong the issues discussed were advocacy to address par-ents’ aspirations; training of teachers as well as supervisorsand helpers to develop a good pool of human resource on theissue; development of age appropriate curriculum; definitionof preschool taking into account local culture, language andtraditions and a State of Early Childhood Report as suggest-ed by Dr Shiva Kumar.

Dr Sinha said there must be legal entitlements for pre-school, similar to that of a school as per the RTE rules. Thediscrepancies in age of admission to schools in differentstates must be resolved, she said.

Dr Shiva Kumar said in the NAC the 0 to 6 was bifurcat-ed into two age groups—0-2 years: the period for early child-hood care and 3-6 years: the period for preschool education.In effect, preschool education (PSE) should begin from fouryears, and could go until the age of six, following a structured


SPECIAL REPORT

Early Childhood Care,Education Critical

Photo: UNICEF India/Purushotham

curriculum. He also stressed on the need for national levelguidelines for pre-school education. However, there shouldespecially be the flexibility and innovativeness to accommo-date the varied approaches to preschool education beingimparted by NGOs and the private sector.

Citing the Mobile Crèches’ experience, Ms Bajaj men-tioned that there was a need to take a stand on the currentdebate of ECCE from the perspective of the child and herwell-being. It was important to be guided by the scientificevidence which proved what was best for the child, she said.During the NAC’s consultation, her recommendations were tobreak up children in the 0-6 age groups into three distinctsegments – 0-3 year olds, 3-5 year olds in anganwadi centres(AWC) and 5-6 year olds in more formal activity. The chal-lenge presently for professionals in ECCE was to look closelyat the curriculum, human resource, material support andstaff training for PSE, she remarked.

Child and Parental ExpectationsSubsequently, Ms Bharatram questioned the feasibility of hav-ing separate sitting areas for children in anganwadi centres toease preschool education. Ms Bajaj responded that MobileCrèches had successfully practiced multi-grade teaching andassured that multi-competency transactions were viable.

Prof Venita Kaul responded that an understanding nowexisted that the early childhood stage in fact goes up to eightyears. The idea that needs to be promoted was that thereshould be some kind of an “Early Learning Unit”. It shouldnot matter where the child was placed in an AWC or in aschool. The focus should be on what the child was learning,which was directly linked to the curriculum followed.

Another pertinent point raised was parental expectations.Given the present scenario in the country, parents of pre-school aged children are led to believe that pre-literacy andpre-numeracy must be mastered before the child joinedschool. This view, in turn is fed by the private pre-schools,which often teach children developmentally inappropriateconcepts. Prof Kaul said schools were in a better positionthan the anganwadis to provide teachers and materials.Anganwadi centres were still struggling to implement thetwo-worker model which suggests an exclusive worker/teacher for PSE.

Advocacy of the right kind of education was seen as vital.Ms Bajaj said that parents need to be sensitised to the nega-tive impact of burdening children.

Prof Sinha asked whether the solution lay in keeping chil-dren away from formal schooling. Prof Kaul shared herDistrict Primary Education Programme (DPEP) study experi-ence where attaching pre-primary classes to primary schoolsgave positive outcomes. With younger siblings attending in thesame premise, it was easier for older children to stay in school.

Learning from Mobile CrechesTo Dr Sinha’s inquiry about special courses available forthose aspiring to teach in pre-primary grades, Ms AmitaTandon from MWCD said that a variety of courses were avail-able, with the Nursery Teacher Training (NTT) course certi-fied by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)

being more popular.Prof Kaul shared her findings of a study on teacher edu-

cation institutes, which presented a dismal picture of theground reality. Unfortunately, institutions recognised byNCTE were found to be flouting the prescribed norms whilethe majority in the private sector did not have well qualifiedECCE staff.

Ms Bajaj said that the training at Mobile Crèches wasintensive with inputs on dealing with community and commu-nity expectations. Although these teachers are largely 10th or12th pass, they were able to perform better due to their train-ing. In a nine months programme, they picked up skills on-the-job as well as got training through workshops. They alsounderwent constant refresher courses. Prof Kaul commendedthe MC training and its apprenticeship approach.

Mobile Creche’ teachers, she said were taught to dealwith children sensitively. Children with mild special needswere handled in an inclusive setup. However, there was asystem of referral to specialised institutes for children withsevere disabilities. Ms Bajaj emphasised three aspects ofteacher education—attitude, skills and knowledge. Sensitivitytowards all children, especially those coming from poor sec-tions or minority groups was vital.

It was agreed that a large cadre of qualified and well-trained educators needs to be created. Resource institutions(such as Mobile Crèches) could be linked with distance edu-cation courses for an intensive training programme.

Ensuring Clear CurriculumMr GC Upadhayay, NCERT, clarified that the two-year

course on teacher education, prepared by the NCTE, hadclear guidelines and course content which took into accountthe best interest of the child. A two-year course was decidedafter deliberations, he said.

Ms Tandon said that the MWCD had looked at all theoptions available, whether private, government or non-gov-ernment for a comprehensive policy for ECCE with clearguidelines and framework. The major concern was lack ofregulations and standardisation and a well thought out cur-riculum. It did not matter which Ministry handled PSE, butthe issues need to be resolved as soon as possible, she said.

Prof Kaul pointed out that the ICDS was seen as a nutri-tion programme. The PSE component of ICDS needed advo-cacy. Among the non negotiables for PSE, Ms Bajaj said,were a trained teacher and adequate space. Ms Bajaj recom-mended the video spots prepared by Ms Mina Swaminathan,a well known ECCE expert on parental experiences of ECEand correct/incorrect practices in dealing with children.Teaching in the mother tongue of the child should beencouraged, she said.

Prof Kaul said as per RTE, minimum specifications had tobe followed by all schools whether government or private.Similar guidelines could be introduced for pre-school educa-tion, with strict action against those flouting the norms.

Early this year too a meeting was held between NCPCRand Mobile Creches on the existing policies on EarlyChildhood Care and Development (ECCD) and possible pointsof convergence between the two organisations. n


SPECIAL REPORT

The work of the National Commission for Protection of ChildRights Rules has to be informed by views of children. A meet-ing was held by the Commission in May to discuss how theseviews could be included so that voices of children could bebetter heard.

NCPCR Chairperson Dr Shantha Sinha, emphasised theneed for ‘tools’ to articulate voices of children. She said pub-lic hearings were the most powerful mechanism being usedfor child participation by NCPCR. The Commission had estab-lished protocols to prevent children from being victimised,such as consent of the child and her/his family and, option ofin-camera representation.

Ms Karuna Bishnoi, UNICEF, said that listening to childrenshould not be a mere formality or tokenism, but their viewsshould influence decision making. Informed consent for chil-dren’s participation was necessary not only for public hearingsbut also when children interact with the media or get pho-tographed, she said. Suggesting that the technical groups con-stituted for various formulations such as under the JJ Act, RTEAct, should be informed by the views of children and thisshould be a part of their Terms of Reference (TOR), Ms Bishnoipointed out. Since NCPCR sometimes received complaintsdirectly from children, it should appoint a person to respond tothese complaints in a child friendly manner.

UNICEF communications specialist Mr Augustine Veliathstated that the focus should be on mechanisms already inplace to ensure child participation, such as creativitycentres/bal bhawans established by Human ResourcesDevelopment Ministry instead of creating new and additionalones. He suggested programmes be conducted by children onradio every Sunday all across the country and all schools haveSchool Cabinets run by students. A Child Rights Congress,Children’s Parliament and Panchayats, and children’s newspa-pers could help increase their participation, he said.

Ms Lilly Vishwanathan, Plan India, underlined the need toprotect children. She emphasised that child participationcould be made meaningful by providing them relevant infor-

mation. Ms Vishwanathan added that there was nothing fromchildren’s perspective under the RTE Act. They could beinvolved in monitoring the implementation of the Act whichdirected presence of a child member in School ManagementCommittees (SMC). Ms Bishnoi suggested children’s perspec-tive be used in formulation of the School Development Plan.

Dr Renu Singh from Save the Children, Delhi, pointed outthat the focus must be on what children have to say rightfrom the grassroots level and that the cultural context of eachchild should be taken into consideration. She also stressedthe need for sensitising related ministries and departmentson the need to involve children.

Children need to be empowered for them to participatein programmes and policies said Prof Nalini Juneja, NUEPA.Activities such as managing the school library, regular elec-tion of student bodies could institutionalise such practicesand a model could be developed by one of the states for therest to emulate.

The role of social networking sites was indicated byNCPCR Member Ms Sukanya Bharatram to promote childparticipation. Ms Dipa Dixit pointed out that NCPCR neededto provide a platform for participation to children who wereout of school.

The participants, which included NCPCR Members MrVinod Kumar Tikoo, Dr Yogesh Dube, Dr. Dinesh Laroia, MrLov Verma, Member Secretary, NCPCR, Ms Kiran Bhatty,National Coordinator (RTE), NCPCR and Ms Gunjan Wadhwa,consultant, NCPCR, made the following recommendations:l A conscious decision to listen to children should be made

wherever the Commission intervened and engaged withchildren

l NCPCR, with the help of the experts present, shoulddevelop a policy regarding child participation

l Need to map out and document the ways children arebeing heard by other organisations and in other countries

l The document on best practices should cover all children,whether in school, out of school or in conflict areas

l An internal meeting of the Commission be held to listNCPCR’s practices regarding child participation and todevise a way forward n

The Bal Bandhu scheme aims to protect the rights of chil-dren in the areas hit by civil unrest through the interven-tion of the community. Youth volunteers have been appoint-ed and trained to identify and enroll children mainly of theinternally displaced tribal families.

Members of the advisory committee constituted under thescheme have met regularly to discuss its progress. The com-mittee includes Ms Dipa Dixit, Member, NCPCR, JS (CW-Ifrom MWCD), JS (Home-NM), and representative of JS (TribalAffairs Programme), Mr Lov Verma, Member Secretary,NCPCR and Mr Chandan Roy, DEO, NCPCR.

Until the end of May, 177 Bal Bandhus were engaged intraining and enabling the children access education, health,nutrition and safety provisions. The Bal Bandhus and


COMMISSION NEWS

Listening to Children’s Voices

Bal Bandhus Reach Out

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resource persons have been sent on several exposure visitsto child friendly areas as part of the scheme.

Bal Bandhus have been able to mobilise the communityto demand their right to health and education. For example,in Patahi block of East Champaran district 116 anganwadisbecame fully functional due to the demand from the commu-nity. They were not functional before January 2011. This hasbenefited around 4,000 children below six years of age.

While the community was mobilised to make a primaryhealth centre (PHC) functional in Godalvahi village,Gadchiroli, eight anganwadis were made functional inKhaira block in Jamui district of Bihar. Over 196 pregnantwomen were provided vaccinations through the JananiSuraksha Yojana in Bakri Panchayat of East ChamparanDistrict, Bihar.

The enrollment of out of school children has alsoimproved. In the Kachugaon block of Kokrajhar district inAssam, 82 out of school children were re-enrolled intoschools and seven children were admitted to the residentialbridge course (RBC). As a result of the advocacy, the educa-tion department has approved two RBCs for the Kachugaonblock in Kokrajhar district.

In Dhanora block of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra, acampaign to raise community awareness about child rightswas carried out for 12 days covering all the villages in theblock. Based on this experience, a campaign for right to edu-cation was evolved to make schools, hostels and ashramsha-las functional and also to enroll all out of school children.

The advocacy campaign for child rights has helped toimprove midday meals in schools and mitra samuhs (childrights forums) have been formed in villages since April. Whilea regular review of the implementation of the scheme is doneat the district level with collectors, the findings of a preliminarysurvey of children between 0-18 years indicated there werestill a large number of children out of school, existence of childlabour and absenteeism in schools and anganwadis. n

A meeting to define and discuss the contours for a Child HealthPolicy was held by the National Commission for Protection ofChild Rights in May. NCPCR Chairperson Shantha Sinha said itwas important that the proposed policy clearly defined ‘whoconstituted a child’ for it to be effective.

Furthermore, it should outline challenges and priorityareas for action for different age groups. Age specific inter-ventions from bio-medical, social and educational perspec-tives must be listed and special attention given to the sectionon children under six years in the policy.

Besides Dr Sinha, other participants included CommissionMembers Ms Sukanya Bharatram, Mr Vinod Kumar Tikoo, DrDinesh Laroia and NCPCR Member Secretary, Lov Verma.Other experts included Dr Veena Shatrugna, pediatrician and

former director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, DrVandana Prasad, national convenor, Public Health ResourceNetwork and NCPCR consultants, Ms Gunjan Wadhwa, MsShaifali Avasthi and Ms Barkha Goel.

It was felt that the policy needed to focus on all aspects ofchildren’s health including food and nutrition, child survivaland protection, promotion of well being and health and notjust adopt a medical disease-oriented approach. At the sametime, health care services for children across primary, sec-ondary and tertiary levels of care had to be ensured. Giventhe increasing prevalence of non-communicable and chronicdiseases, the policy needed to outline mechanisms foraddressing and coping with such illnesses.

Needs of children not enrolled in schools and theiraccess to health and nutrition services should be addressedin a separate chapter/section, felt participants. Interventionslike creating a School Health desk in the local hospital weresuggested.

Gaps could be filled by building inter-sectoral and inter-departmental/ministerial linkages, especially in areas of edu-cation and sanitation. For instance, the teaching facultyshould be sensitised about the health needs of children,including addressing the stigmas associated with illnessessuch as TB and HIV and AIDS.

The policy must be located within the Child RightsFramework and underline comprehensively the differententitlements so that it was not open to various interpreta-tions or debate, and could be implemented in the same per-spective in which it was developed.

Learnings from several initiatives on child health could beadapted to make the policy inclusive. It was suggested that


COMMISSION NEWS

Outlining aComprehensive ChildHealth Policy

Photo: ARTH

the Draft Child Health Policy, developed by Dr Vinod Paul,AIIMS, could serve as a basis for the new policy. Lessonscould also be learnt from the experiences of the Right to Foodcampaign and the NCERT framework on National Infant andYoung Child Guidelines and, School Health: Elements of aGood Scheme.

The Gujarat School Health scheme where teachers of gov-ernment and private schools have been trained to identify ill-nesses like rheumatic heart diseases and eye problems, wasanother initiative that could be adapted. Provision of free pub-lic health care through referral systems was also suggested.

The Bihar Nayee Peedhi Swasthya Guarantee Programmelaunched recently to provide an immediate healthcare andreferral care according to the requirements of children in the0-14 year age group through the issuance of health cardswas an innovative scheme that could be adapted. The ICDStraining curriculum developed by Dr Nair in Kerala, wasanother good initiative that could be referred to.

Furthermore, alliances and synergies with groups working in the area of disability were essential. Mapping ofchild health support institutions across the country wasrecommended.

However, various advocacy and capacity building initia-tives would be needed to ensure successful implementationof the policy. For instance, schools and caregivers must besensitized to the needs of the child.

Participants agreed that the NCPCR had to proactivelyadvocate and engage with the Ministry of Labour for elimina-tion of child labour. This could be done through the creationof a cadre of health inspectors who monitored and reportedill health and occupational health hazards. It was also sug-gested that the National Child Labour Programme shouldhave para-legal services to pull children out of work insteadof incurring high expenditure running schools. n

In March this year, NCPCR Members Dr Dinesh Laroia, DrYogesh Dube and Ms Shaifali Avasthi, Consultant, NCPCR,

visited Mumbai to follow up the 19 cases of orphan and vul-nerable children affected/infected by HIV and AIDS whoappeared at the public hearing at the Tata Institute forSocial Sciences.

The Commission had issued recommendations to thestate government to facilitate the mainstreaming of thesechildren. This year the Commission decided to revisit thesechildren and assess their present status.

According to information given by the state governmentthere were 19,203 children registered for pre-antiretroviraltreatment (ART) care and regular screening and, 6,097 chil-dren were found eligible for ART. Medicines are freely avail-able in the 51 ART centres and 123 Link ART centres inMaharashtra. State officials elaborated on the treatmentfacilities provided, early detection of HIV cases andimprovement in the follow up services. After five to sixyears, 30 to 40 percent of the pre-ART cases had to go infor ART because of the low CD-4 count. Little less than fourpercent of the children and less than eight percent of theinfected adults died.

The Commission followed up on 15 cases and 12 of thechildren came and testified before the Commission. Most ofthem were from Sangli and Satara and were receiving treat-ment as well as school education. Many of them were bene-ficiaries of the Bal Sangopan Yojana, a nutrition support pro-gramme for children in school. One young girl, who was HIVpositive, had even married a person living with HIV and AIDSand was continuing with her studies in college. Many of themwere living with other relatives and all of them were found tobe healthy and under treatment. Those not attending schoolwere being persuaded to go to school. A child on ART wasgetting the benefits of the foster care scheme. He was attend-ing the ART centre at Satara and said he was not discrimi-nated at home or by the community.

The NCPCR team felt the need for more debate on the‘pediatric age’. In the ART programme the age of a child isratified as 12 and this is seen as a stumbling block. A vul-nerable child, in constant touch with a health consultantand with whom he/she develops a bonding, is suddenlycounted as an adult and the entire scenario changes.However, at this age he/she is not mature enough and suf-fers psychological stress and could drop out. TheCommission has recommended that the age of the childshould be raised to 18 from 12 years.

The Commission found that relatives were usually forcedby the society and government to take charge of orphanedHIV positive children but there was no clear guideline onwho would take responsibility of the child if no there was nocaretaker. Though family/foster care are the choices avail-able, the Commission said it should be ascertained that fos-ter homes do not become a torture home for the child.

Orphan HIV kids are entitled to the financial assistancefrom Bal Sangopan Yojana. But this scheme was only appli-cable for a child who was enrolled in school. A child who isnot in school for whatever reason is not entitled to financialhelp. However, in most of the cases, children leave schooleither because of frequent visits to the doctor or social dis-crimination or due to illness. These children should be


COMMISSION NEWS

Raise HIV Paediatric Age

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Despite campaigning on HIV nutrition inhibition remains

encouraged to rejoin the school and avail the facilities offeredto them by the government.

The Commission found that affected/infected children andtheir caretakers face a lot of problems in availing the schemesfrom the government as a lot of paper work was required.According to the team, a child who has lost his parents shouldnot be further traumatised by asking for documents. Afterascertaining the credentials of the caretaker, assistance in theform of scholarships, schooling, uniform, books, nutrition andmedical help should automatically come to him with love, careand affection, the team has pointed out.

Despite significant campaigning on HIV nutrition, inhi-bitions remain. More interventions on health education onHIV positive children could help them to lead productive,normal lives. n

A NCPCR team comprising Ms Dipa Dixit, Member, Mr B.K.Sahu, Registrar, Mr Sanjay K. Tiwari and Dr RamanathNayak, senior consultants, visited Imphal, Manipur in thelast week of May. The purpose of the visit was to get feed-back from civil society representatives andchairpersons/members of Child Welfare Committees(CWCs) on the issues and concerns of the children particu-larly those affected by HIV and AIDS.

The team interacted with the parents of thetrafficked/rescued children to know the status of the childrenand their well-being. They took stock of the initiatives by thestate government departments/authorities in implementingthe directions of the Supreme Court as well as the recom-mendations of the Commission in the matter of “Exploitationof Children in the State of Tamil Nadu vs UOI & Others” andrelated issues.

Planning meetings were also held on the feasibility oforganising a public hearing on the issue of children affectedby HIV and AIDS and other child rights issues in Manipur.

They visited St Anthony’s High School and interacted withthe 22 children studying there after returning fromKanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. The children said theywere happy in the boarding school. Interaction with thechairpersons and members of CWCs as well as parents of thetrafficked/rescued children were also held to get feedback onthe issue.

The immediate requirements that emerged from thesemeetings were the need for hostels, Children Homes andcounseling centres, particularly for the girls. Greater medicalattention and treatment of the malnourished, abused and illchildren was required as well counseling for the traumatisedchildren and their family members.

The NCPCR team has made several recommendations tothe state government to fill the gaps identified during thesemeetings. These include

Social Welfarel Sensitise state and district Anti-Trafficking Squads/Units

about child trafficking in coordination with the police l Operationalise joint task force with Tamil Nadu and

Karnatakal Rejuvenate state level task force l Take action on issues emerging from three public hear-

ings in Tamenglongl Coordinate with Home Department to ensure compensa-

tion under Project Assist to the affected families and chil-dren who do not have copies of FIRs and postmortemreports

l Expedite constitution of State Commission for Protectionof Child Rights

l Coordinate with Education Department for good educa-tion at home and improve standards of the state run insti-tutions

l Link hostels to good educational institutions

Policel Furnish report on status of Anti-Human Trafficking Units

in the statel Sensitise police stations in border areas and geographi-

cally inaccessible areas to check the trafficking and move-ment of children

Education l Furnish status report on number of primary schools,

upper primary schools, linkage with higher schools,enrolment, teacher-pupil ratio, infrastructure available,additional requirements to the Commission

l Activate bridge course centres to mainstream the out ofschool children found during the SSA survey

l Ensure residential-based educational rehabilitation of therescued/repatriated children to check the recurrence offurther trafficking

l Ensure before the proposed public hearing in August thatno fee is charged in government schools, books, uniformsand stationery are made available free of cost and all gov-ernment schools comply with RTE guidelines

Labourl Ensure repatriation of rescued migrant children from

child labour to state of origin, and book of erring employ-ers under relevant labour laws and penalty of Rs 20,000

Hills and Tribal Developmentl Expedite construction of Eklavya schools for tribal chil-

dren undertaken by Manipur Tribal DevelopmentCorporation to avoid shortage of funds

l Ensure minority and backward children get entitled pre-metric scholarships and tribal children only post-metricscholarships

Health Departmentl Furnish status report on school health programme and

immunisation initiative in the state n


COMMISSION NEWS

Taking Stock ofManipur’s Children

Ms Dipa Dixit, Member, NCPCR, participated in a conferenceorganised by the Ombudsman Commissioner of HumanRights, Government of Azerbaijan, on the “Cultural Rights ofNational Minorities and Migrants: the legal aspects andimplementation at Baku, Azerbaijan.

Discussions were held with Ms. Elmira Suleymanova, theOmbudsman Commissioner on methodologies, public hear-ings, initiatives and good practices on the issues of corporalpunishment and displaced children. Ms Suleymanova dis-cussed India’s progress on these issues and action taken bythe Commission. She expressed a keen interest to exchangeinformation and share experiences. n

The Core Committee on Child Rights in Uttar Pradesh, underthe chairmanship of Dr Yogesh Dube, Member, NCPCR andwith Mr Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, senior consultant, NCPCR, asits co-convenor, has initiated a campaign for the eliminationof child labour and effective implementation of Right toEducation (RTE) in the six districts of Moradabad,Firozabad, Aligarh, Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi), Varanasiand Sonbhadra.

The Core Committee along with Mr Lov Verma, MemberSecretary, NCPCR, visited Firozabad district, met the DistrictMagistrate and other senior officials and discussed childrights and implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, RTE,Integrated Child Development Schemes (ICDS), IntegratedChild Protection Schemes (ICPS) and child labour issues inthe district. An action plan to campaign for child rights, withemphasis on the elimination of child labour, was also dis-cussed. On a visit to a glass factory, the three children whowere found engaged in hazardous processes were rescuedand handed over to the Labour Department and the police

for legal action and rehabilitationDr Dube also visited Haridwar, Chamoli, Uttar Kashi and

Rudra Prayag of Uttarakhand in the first week of June andreviewed the situation of child rights in these districts. Hemet officials from Labour, Education, Health, Social Welfaredepartments and members of the Child Welfare Committeesof these districts. He met the chairman and members of theZila Panchayat at Chamoli and discussed child rights in thedistrict. At Uttar Kashi, he inspected the government obser-vation home accompanied by the District Social WelfareOfficer and Superintendent of the Observation Home. AtRudra Prayag, he interacted with zila parishad officials onchild rights in the district. The report and recommendationsof the visit were sent to the chief secretary, Uttarakhand. n

Taking cognizance of the news report in an English daily inJune on doctors in Indore, Madhya Pradesh turning babygirls into boys, the NCPCR sent a five member team includ-ing a senior paediatric surgeon from AIIMS, a retired head ofanatomy and genetics, AIIMS, a medico-legal expert fromMumbai and two of its members to visit the city and investi-gate the veracity of the news report.

Based on the inquiry, the team concluded that no suchsurgeries had been performed. It recommended that theprint media should have a protocol or guidelines for publish-ing such sensitive stories and said there should be internalverification of the stories by seniors in the newspapers.

Since Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) have signifi-cant social, psychological and scientific implications, theteam said the ICMR and other such organisations shoulddevelop well defined set of protocols to address these clinicalconditions and a framework for their management.

The inquiry team met state government officials includingthe Director, Health Services, Indore, Director, NRHM, MP,Additional Collector, Indore, as well as the journalist who didthe report. It visited the leading hospitals of the city and inter-acted with paediatric surgeons and their associates. The teameven got the details of chromosomal studies ordered by thehospitals to corelate any possibility of any sex change surgeryhaving been undertaken in the city. The team found none.

The team also visited the families of the two children (amale and a female) who had surgical interventions in one ofthe leading hospitals by a well known paediatric surgeon. Noirregularities were observed in the discharge certificates withthe families. The total expenditure incurred by the families wasless than Rs 25,000 as against Rs 1.5 lakh in the news report.

The team also met with the representatives of theAssociation of Paediatric Surgeons, National Neonatal Forumand Indore Medical Association who strongly refuted the alle-gations and stated that the story was a piece of amateurishjournalism, as medically it was not possible to change the sexof a normal baby girl to that of a boy. n


COMMISSION NEWS

No Truth In Sex ChangeSurgeries of Girl Child

Building Ties with Azerbaijan

UP Child RightsCommittee Campaign

In what is probably the first case of its kind, a child kept inbonded labour in a house in Gurgaon and rescued thisJanuary, has been given a compensation of Rs 20,000 by theHaryana government. On the request of the mother, whoworks as a labourer and is unable to give proper attention tothe child, he has been assured admission to a school withhostel facilities.

Mr VK Tikoo, Member, NCPCR, who investigated the case,had to write three letters to the Haryana government for therehabilitation of the eight year old who was being torturedwhile working in DLF. Mr Tikoo said rehabilitation should begiven quickly to ease the trauma of the rescued child. In fact,the NCPCR had in its third letter to the government threatenedto take the case to the courts if the child was not rehabilitatedquickly. Finally the District Child Welfare officer, the ICDS pro-gramme officer and a member of Childline, Gurgaon, met thechild and his mother and handed over the cheque. Rishi Kant,who works with the NGO Shakti Vahini, that brought the caseto the notice of the NCPCR, said the case would set a precedentin handling child labour cases. n

In April, the Commission responded to a newspaper report ofthe alleged torture and illegal detention of a 13 year old childcharged with theft of a scooter. It summoned before its spe-cial bench presided by NCPCR Chairperson Shantha Sinha,head constable Jitender Kumar, constable Manoj Kumar,medical officer of the Gurgaon Civil Hospital and Mr NareshKumar, SHO, police station, sector 5, Gurgaon. While the twopolicemen tortured the child and instead of presenting himbefore the juvenile court, kept him overnight in a hotel room,

the medical officer issued a certificate of fitness to the tor-tured boy ignoring physical injuries on the child’s body.

The Commission said the apprehension and brutal tor-ture of the boy was not only in absolute contravention of theprovisions of law but also against any norm of civilised cul-ture. The brutal beating of the minor child, injecting ofpetrol in his rectum and reported applying of chilly to thevictim’s eyes by the head constable and constable are violentacts against a vulnerable child that puts any civilised society to shame.

Based on complaints of apprehension of the juvenileand his torture, Mr Maheshwar Dayal, DCP, West Gurgaon,has suspended both policemen. While the head constablehas been transferred to Sohna so that he does not browbeatthe child and his family, the constable has been transferredto his cadre.

The father of the child, Vedpal, said he had been intimi-dated by the policemen, threatened and even offered Rs 22,000 to withdraw the complaint. The Commission haspointed out that arresting the minor child was a serious vio-lation of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children)Act 2000.

The Commission has also recommended criminal actionagainst SHO Naresh Kumar as he had connived with the twoerring officials and had been deposing falsely before the com-mission and training of the state police cadres on the function-ing of Special Juvenile Police Unit and the JJ Board. n

Thirty young women and children, some of them from WestBengal and Nepal, who were in bonded labour were rescuedfrom the Rajkamal Circus camp at Koothattukulam,Moovattupuzha taluka of Ernakulam by ChildLine and thelocal police in December last year. After being producedbefore Ms Padmaja, Member, Child Welfare Committee(CWC), they were accommodated in ‘Prathyassa Bhavan’,Palluruthy a destitute home run by the Don Bosco Sisters.

After another appearance before the CWC three childrenwere restored to their parents and sent home. Three othergirls, who seemed to be over 18 years, went back to the cir-cus on their request. Of the remaining 24 girls, six girls werefrom Nepal and 18 from West Bengal. Seven girls, whoappeared to be below 14 years, were sent for medical exam-ination to the General Hospital, Ernakulum, to ascertain theirage. Five children found to be below 14 years and two oth-ers over 14. Subsequently, the children were shifted to thetwo homes for destitute children run by the state SocialWelfare Department—13 to the Children Home’s atKakkanad and 11 to Mahila Mandiram Champakara, nearVytilla Ernakulum.

On the direction of the CWC, the owner of the circus haspaid Rs 10,000 to the home run by the Don Bosco Sisters forthe care of the children. As per CWC directions, the circusmanagement has paid the arrear of wages due to these chil-dren in their presence and it is being kept with the ChildLinetill such time as the children are sent back to their homes.


REDRESSING COMPLAINTS

Monetary Compensationfor Bonded Child

Commission RescuesTortured Juvenile Saving Circus Children

The release of the girls and the subsequent developmentswere brought to the attention of the District Labour Officer bythe CWC early this year.

The coordinator of the Child Rights Initiative, an NGO,filed a writ petition before the Kerala High Court for therelease of the rescued children and the necessary supportmandated by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection ofChildren) Act, 2000. As per the direction of the High Courtand the request of the District Administration, the CWC isworking out the plan for the repatriation of the children to

their homes.The District Labour Officer’s request for funds for sending

the rescued children back to their parents in Nepal and WestBengal has been granted. The Court has also directed thatchildren be handed over to the CWC of the concerned districtin West Bengal. The Court did not mention anything aboutthe repatriation of the children belonging to Nepal. However,the District Administration and the Departments concernedare working out the steps for sending all the girls to theirnative places after complying with the legal formalities. n


National Commission for Protection of Child Rights5th Floor, Chandralok Building, 36, Janpath, New Delhi 110 001Tel: 23724027 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ncpcr.gov.in

Design: Dharana Email: [email protected] Support: Usha Rai, Swapna Majumdar, Rimjhim Jain Email: [email protected]

Photo: Raghu Rai

REDRESSING COMPLAINTS

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