child rights panel limps
Whom do you call when you see a child in trouble? Not the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights for sure.
The quasi-judicial body meant to oversee the welfare of children in the State has now been rendered nearly defunct. The State government is yet to appoint members, while field workers – whose contracts were not renewed – have stopped reporting to work and looking into cases of child sexual abuse, corporal punishment, problems in school admissions, child labour and child trafficking.
The commission last week terminated the services of four of its outsourced staff who were doing field work and documenting atrocities against children. This adds to the six positions of members of the commission that have been vacant since July.
Nagasimha G. Rao, Director, Child Rights Trust, who lodged a complaint with the commission recently on educational issues, said they were yet to get a response for their complaint. “How can the government ask the field staff to stop reporting for work when there are no members? How much can one chairperson do,” he said.
Edward Thomas, former member of the commission, said that all these developments would have a direct impact on the interests of children. “At a time when atrocities against children are on a rise, there is a need to sort out the issue at the earliest,” he said.
Kripa Alva, chairperson of the commission, said that the services of the field staff had ended several months ago and it was as per rules that they were asked to stop reporting to work. Meanwhile, sources in the Department of Women and Child Development said that the new members of the commission would be appointed shortly.
Prachi Pravin andhalkar. MACJ
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