Lack of initiative, not child rights laws, is real issue: NCPCR chief

If India is witnessing a steady increase in child rights violations, it’s not lack of legislation but weak enforcement by the authorities concerned that is responsible.

If India is witnessing a steady increase in child rights violations, it’s not lack of legislation but weak enforcement by the authorities concerned that is responsible.

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Shanta Sinha, chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), made this candid admission Wednesday, while reacting to an HT report that highlighted cases of children being abused, humiliated and tortured across India.

Meanwhile, women & child development minister Krishna Tirath has directed the NCPCR to probe instances reported by HT and submit a report. “The proposed changes in the Juvenile Justice Act will go a long way in curbing corporal punishment,” Tirath said.

Slamming the government machinery for lax enforcement of child rights, Sinha said, “There is no problem with legislations. We have an ample number of laws to protect our children. The problem is weak enforcement. Because implementation is so lax, there is no fear of the law among perpetrators of such crimes.”

Stating that state education department officials do little to alleviate the condition of students, Sinha said, “It’s their duty to warn the principal/teachers of the consequences of corporal punishment, in terms of disciplinary and penal action. But, so far, I have not come across any such meeting at the state, district or block level.”

The NCPCR chief said it was high time the education ministry and Women & Child Development ministry stepped in to take proactive steps.