8 states have 1.84 lakh (or nearly 72%) children in day care centers. (Representative)
New Delhi:
The CNPCR, the country’s main children’s rights organization, has ordered eight states that account for more than 70% of children in care homes to ensure their return to their families, noting that every child has the right to grow up in a family environment.
The National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (CNPCR) said the decision was also taken taking into account alarming concerns about the safety and security of children residing in these institutions.
The eight states – Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Mizoram, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Meghalaya – have 1.84 lakh (or nearly 72%) children in child care centers out of a total of 2.56 lakh in the country.
The CNPCR has asked district magistrates and collectors in these states to ensure that children living in these care homes return to their families, preferably within 100 days.
Those who could not be returned to their families should be placed for adoption or foster care, he added.
Speaking about the leadership, CNPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo said this exercise will be carried out in a phased manner starting with these eight states and then carried out in the rest of the country.
“The principle of the juvenile justice law is to keep children with families, and keeping children in child care centers should be the last resort until all attempts are made to give them an atmosphere. home, ”he said.
“It has been observed in southern India that some CWCs (Child Protection Committees) order to keep children in children’s homes due to family poverty. You cannot deprive a child of family rights because of poverty. It is the failure of the state if, due to poverty, the child is forced to reside in day care centers. It is the duty of the state to strengthen the family so that they can take care of their children, ”he told PTI.
He added that the commission will sit with each district and discuss the plan of how each child can be returned to their families. “We have kept a target of 100 days … at the end of the day we aim for the children to come back with their families,” he said.
In a letter addressed to these states, the CNPCR stated that after analyzing the social audit reports of these daycares, it was observed that the maximum number of childcare facilities (ICC ) and children in need of care and protection (CNCP) placed in these homes are located in five southern states of the country, “which paints a disturbing picture indicating a pitiful condition of children in these CCIs.”
“ Further, in a few northeastern states, the number of children placed in CCIs in relation to the total population of each of these states … the Commission observed that the number of CNCPs residing in these CCIs was higher, which poses a potential risk to the rights and protection of these children. Such a large number of children deprived of their natural home and their parents is a matter of serious concern, “observed the commission in the letter sent to these states on September 24.
“Bearing in mind these alarming concerns for the safety and security of these CNCPs, the Commission launched the exercise to monitor the repatriation and restoration of CNCPs placed in different CCIs, with the exception of the SAA (Agence specialized adoption) and observation houses, ”he said.
The CNPCR said it would follow this whole exercise until it is fully implemented and until every child in need of care and protection placed in these CCIs is returned to their family or placed for adoption. and foster care.
States were urged to immediately present all children in need of care and protection staying in these CCIs to the relevant Child Protection Committee (CWC) for their immediate return to the family, and to inform the Committee of progress.
For those who could not be repatriated and re-established due to the abject poverty prevailing in the family, “it is your duty to ensure that the family is linked to various social protection schemes and rights that have been introduced by the state government in this regard, “CNPCR told the states.
In addition, the commission recommended that the repatriation and restoration of these children be carried out while ensuring strict adherence to guidelines issued by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The safety and security of childcare facilities has been a concern since sexual assault was reported at childcare facilities in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh and Muzaffarpur, Bihar in 2018.
In Muzaffarpur in 2018, around 34 underage girls were reportedly sexually assaulted in a shelter.
Sexual assaults on girls in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, also came to light last year when a 10-year-old girl managed to flee the shelter and reported the plight of inmates, who were allegedly victims of sexual abuse by the couple who ran the shelter. , after which the police raided and 24 girls were rescued.
