‘In 20 yrs, 20% more men than women’

Sex-Selective Abortions & Male Bias Will Be Main Reason, Says Study

Kounteya Sinha | TNN

New Delhi: India will have 20% more men than women in the ?next two decades, thanks to sex-selective abortion and craze for male child in some states, according to a new study.
   Conducted by Dr Therese Hesketh and co-authors from the UCL Centre for International Health and Development, London, and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Tuesday, the ?study says easy access to sex-selective abortions, has led to significant imbalances in the male/ female ?population in China, India and South Korea.
   The sex ratio at birth (SRB) — the number of boys born to every 100 girls — is consistent in human populations, where about 105 males are born to every 100 females.
   The study says, in India there are also marked regional differences in SRB. Incompleteness of birth registration makes it difficult to accurately calculate SRB. However, using the closely related ratio of boys to girls under the age of six, it is found that there are several states in the north and west such as Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat that have sex ratios as ?high as 125. In the south and east, several states —such as Kerala and Andhra Pradesh — have sex ratios of around 105. “India is now reported to have an SRB of around 113, which is down from a peak of around 116,” Dr Hesketh said. According to the study, there are already laws forbidding foetal sex determination and sex- selective abortion in China, India and South Korea. “South Korea has only enforced the law strongly. In China and India, sex-selective abortion is still carried out with impunity by medical personnel, usually qualified doctors, in hospitals and clinics, not in backstreet establishments. This makes the failure of government to enforce the law all the more surprising,” the study says.
   “A common pattern is that if the first- or secondborn are girls, then couples often ensure the second or third child is a boy,” its adds. A consistent pattern in all three countries is the gender of the preceding child. “If the first child is a girl, couples will often sex select to ensure a boy in the second pregnancy especially where low fertility is the norm. A large study in India showed that for second births with one preceding girl the SRB is 132, and for third births with two previous girls it is 139, while sex ratios where the previous child was a boy are normal,” the study explains.
   India has 34,012 registered ultra-sound clinics. Earlier, studies have said 5-7 lakh girls a year or 2,000 girls go missing in India daily due to female foeticide. In families, where one girl child already exists, the chances of a second girl being born are as low as 54%. In a family with two female children, the chances of third girl being born is as low as 20%.

GENDER BENDER: Easy access to sex-selective abortions, has led to imbalances in the male/female population in China, India and South Korea

Source: Times of India, Mar 16, 2011

Vaccination Deaths Triple as Govt Labs Close

 Arun Ram | TNN

Chennai: The number of children dying due to immunization-related complications has more than tripled after the government closed down three public sector vaccine labs in January 2008. The government has no clue about the causes while children continue to die, the latest being that of five infants in Gujarat on Wednesday.
   Details given by the Union ministry of health and family welfare in reply to an RTI application filed by Dr KV Babu of Payyanur show that 111 children died in 2008 due to “adverse effect after immunisation (AEFI)”. AEFI is a general term that covers various reasons, including bad vaccine quality due to break in cold chain, contamination and complications due to pre-existing conditions of the child.
   In 2009, the latest year for which the ministry has given details, 116 children died due to AEFI. In contrast, 32 children lost their lives to AEFI in 2007.
   The government closed down its three labs — Central Research Institute in Kasauli, BCG Laboratory in Chennai and Pasteur Institute of India in Coonoor — in January 2008, citing the non-compliance of good manufacturing practices. To make up for the demand of 75 lakh doses of vaccines of six kinds needed for its universal immunisation programme, the government has been procuring them from private manufacturers.The ministry has not found anything amiss. “At this moment, nothing can be attributed to the increase in deaths,” health secretary K Chandramouli told TOI. “In a country where 25 million children are born every year, it won’t be proper to jump into conclusions. We are following the protocol of investigations.”

Vaccines: India yet to adopt WHO criteria

Chennai: The increasing number of deaths resulting from immunization has caused worry. However, the government does not feel anything amiss. Experts, on the contrary don’t think so. “India is not following the Brighton Collaboration criteria, adopted by the World Health Organization to deal with AEFI deaths,” said Jacob M Puliyel, head of paediatrics at Delhi’s St Stephen’s Hospital.
   The WHO protocol says that an AEFI death should be considered ‘certain/very likely’ (due to vaccine) if it occurs immediately after vaccination and if no other disease or drug is found as the reason. It should be considered ‘probable’ if it happens within a reasonable time. The Brighton criteria says that the vaccine should be considered the probable reason if nothing else is established, even if the vaccine culture doesn’t show any contamination or toxicity. “Here, we just test the vaccine and say there is nothing wrong,” said Dr Puliyel.
   Child health and immunisation deputy commissioner Ajay Khera said the probable reason for the increase in deaths is better reporting. “In a majority of the cases, the cause of death is coincidental,” he said. His logic: About 20 lakh children under the age of 5 die every year. This converts to approximately 5,000 deaths every day, and hence a few deaths after immunisation cannot be linked to the vaccine.
   Dr Puliyel felt this argument was too simplistic — and dangerous. Referring to the death of five infants in Gujarat on Wednesday soon after being given the measles vaccine, he said when so many children died within half an hour of immunisation, the reasons had to be scientifically sought. “When you are not following the Brighton criteria, you are refusing to even think of the reasons. This is dangerous and can kill many more children,” he said.

 Source: ToI Mar 19, 2011

Despite funds, infant development schemes look grim

Subodh Varma | TIMES INSIGHT GROUP

   The Centre runs nine distinct programmes dedicated to fight hunger and malnutrition. Managed by five ministries, thousands of crores of rupees are spent on these schemes every year. They include ICDS, MDM and MGREGS. Despite 60 directives from the Supreme Court since 2001, the implementation of plans likes ICDS, midday meal scheme and MGREGS have been lax. The last National Family Health Survey revealed that 46% of infants are malnourished and 49% of women are aneaemic. Reports by various agencies show that India is not doing enough to fight hunger. So, what is happening to all the government programmes? And, more importantly, why is it that despite detailed orders and deadlines by SC, the condition on the ground remains unchanged? Some answers are provided by surveys done in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal by the SC commissioners, who are helping court track implementation of its orders.
   Last year, the Bariha family of Buromal village in Bolangir district, Orissa was wiped out in just three months. Oneyear-old Gundru and 3-yearold Siba were the first to die. Their mother Bimla died a few days later. A month later, her husband Jhintu, an indebted labourer, succumbed. Two months later Jhintu’s 70-yearold mother Minji too died. Cause of death: malnutrition. Now, only seven-year-old Ramprasad and his 80-year-old grandfather Champi survive.
   This year, just a few months ago, media reported on how Ratan Bhuria, a tribal with no land, no work or education, stumbled into the Jhabua district hospital, MP, carrying his semi-conscious children, 2-yearold Jogdiya and 4-year-old Nani. This was his final effort to save them - they were starving.
   Why did the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme - meant to provide 300 calories of food to every child up to six years of age - not reach these children? Studies carried out by the Supreme Court commissioners’ office in six states show how this premier scheme is faltering and stumbling in distant villages.
   The ministry of women & child development admits that only about 59% of the eligible children are receiving nutrition supplements through the 11 lakh anganwadi centers across the country. In the last report, the SC Commissioners reveal that there is a catch in this data. The ministry figures are for areas where anganwadi centers exist and they cover only about 80% of the country’s children. The remaining 20% are neither covered nor form part of the survey. If you take all the eligible children into account, only about 47% of children receive nutrition supplements.
   But there is more to the story. Even where the records show a fair or improving trend, things are dodgy at the ground level. For instance, the state studies tried to find out the number of days that an anganwadi actually distributes food to children - and came up with chilling results.
   In MP, the survey shows children were given food for just 130 days in a year, while in Bihar and Assam there were 180 feeding days on an average. Although Orissa with 240 and West Bengal with 242 were far more advanced, they were still lagging in the mandatory requirement of at least 300 feeding days a year.
   In most cases, the survey found a discrepancy between the official record of an anganwadi’s operation and the villagers’ testimony. For instance, in Assam, the official records said the centers functioned for 19 days per month on average, but villagers’ version added up to only 12 days.
   Food is a daily need. You can’t skip nutrition for a week and then resume. And, as several experts point out, inadequate or lack of nutrition at an early age permanently impair physical and mental capabilities. The state surveys dig deeper to find out why distribution of food is irregular and insufficient. Several factors emerged - shortage of staff, irregular supply of raw material, very irregular financial flows, excessive workload on the workers, insufficient funds for infrastructure, and, of course, corruption.
   In Orissa, 28% of the posts in the ICDS programme are lying vacant while in West Bengal, 22% are vacant. In West Bengal, there are 12,082 anganwadis with no worker. This means that a worker from a nearby centre divides her time between two centres - thus giving insufficient attention to both. In Assam, with 37% posts vacant, the situation is grim.
   Raw material for preparing the food for children is delivered very erratically in all states. The survey found that half of the anganwadi centres in Orissa reported irregular supply causing disruption in food distribution running into months. In West Bengal, 39% of the anganwadis did not get regular supply. The condition of anganwadi centres, where tiny tots are supposed to spend half a day playing and get fed, is abysmal in most cases. Many centres are run from private premises.

Times of India,  Dec 6, 2010

Juvenile crime turns focus on value education

M Ramya | TNN

Chennai: Taking note of the increase in the number of individuals with good educational background indulging in crimes such as abduction, extortion and cyber crime, the school education department has asked schools to lay more stress on instilling values in students and moulding their character into becoming responsible citizens of the country and not merely focusing on students’ academic progress.
   At a meeting of representatives of city schools conducted by the department of school education on Tuesday, officials urged teachers to pay more attention to student behaviour and correctional measures.
   “The officials told us that matriculation schools were good at producing results but that we needed to work on strengthening the value system of the community by working to instil values in our students. They asked us to be aware of the behaviour of students and to correct it while we still can.,” said a spokesperson of Everwin Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Kolathur.
   Department officials asked schools to maintain a cumulative record of students with behavioural issues in school and keep parents updated on what their children are up to. The school is expected to inform the parent of each act of indiscipline committed by a student and get the signatures of the parents, class teacher and the school principal in the record. The corrective measure adopted is also to be noted. Experts working with children say the best way to do this is to help teachers become rolse models and empower them to integrate value education with regular classroom teaching.At the meeting, officials also followed up on the recommendations of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to create more awareness on the provisions of the Right To Education Act in the state,
   The heads of matriculation schools in the state were clearly told to follow the Act in word and spirit, with the execution of provisions such as not detaining students till Class VIII, even if they did not turn up for the exam; to continue to admit students till six months after school reopens; to not insist on the parents enrolling a child in school and instead to admit children brought in by guardians with the consent of parents; to not insist that the students caste be revealed if the parent or guardian wishes not to; to stick to the neighbourhood school policy; and to not insist on birth certificates or transfer certificates to admit a student in school.
   Though government and aided schools in the state were given these instructions around four months ago, this is the first time that private unaided schools are being told to follow these measures. The department released a booklet on able school administration and districuted it to the schools.

Times of India, Dec 6, 2010

State sets up panel to review kids’ homes

Clara Lewis TNN

Mumbai: Following the Bombay high court’s directive, the state government has set up a state co-ordination committee, under the chairpersonship of Asha Bajapai of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, to review children’s homes across the state. The setting up of the committee follows a suo motu petition filed by the court in response to newspaper articles exposing the death of five mentally challenged kids at a children’s home in Thane.
   “The move is an indication of the complete breakdown of government institutions and the abject failure of the government to correct the system. Despite the fact that there are state and district-level boards, inspectors, no one has cared to visit the homes. Sanctions are granted even when the homes do not meet the criteria,” an official admitted.
   The committee on Saturday submitted its first action plan to the high court as well as a list of six committees—one for each division. The other members include deputy commissioner (child development) H B Rathod, mental health expert Dr Harish Shetty, social worker Anjali Gokaran, Childline’s Chitrakala Acharya and Save the Children’s Sarita Shankaran.
   “The committee will co-ordinate and facilitate the functioning of various institutions under the juvenile justice system. Initially, the panel will help the government to rehabilitate the children rescued from the Shahpur orphanage,” said Bajapai.
   According to a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the state women and child welfare department, the committee will respond and facilitate linkages to address crisis situations or complaints pertaining to children’s homes across the state.

 Times of India, Dec 5, 2010

CENTRE ALLOTTED 4CR A YEAR AGO

Soon, juvenile boards in all 30 districts of state

K Ramanujam | TNN

Chennai: Although it has been a year since the Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state and allotted 4 crore towards the setting up of a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in all districts across the state, only 8 of the 30 districts in Tamil Nadu have boards. They function only part-time. The JJBs are judicial bodies that deal with juveniles in conflict with law and are headed by judicial magistrates in each district.
   State social welfare minister P Geetha Jeevan said, “We plan to set up JJBs in all districts within a month.” The MoU was signed a year ago, and the state government had contributed 10% of the project amount, she said. She added that child welfare committees, which are currently functioning in 18 districts, would also be constituted in all districts.
   Vidya Reddy, the founder of Tulir, a child welfare NGO, noted that as per the Juvenile Justice Act, board members should be nominated every three years. According to this rule, the term of the present board members expired in 2008 but they continue to sit on the boards due to the callousness of the state government, she lamented. “A case has to be completed within four months, according to the JJ Act, but children seem to be languishing in juvenile homes for up to three years,” she said.
   A review of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of 2007 attests to the lethargy of the government in processing juvenile justice cases. According to the report, there were 417 cases pending and in 2008, there were 430 cases that were pending. When questioned about this backlog, the state told the CAG that full time magistrates were not available for the district JJBs. A field officer from the social welfare department confirmed this saying, “Only in Chennai we have the metropolitan court magistrate doubling up his duties to cover the JJB too. The other 7 boards function only between 10.30am and 1.30pm.”
   However, A Kathir, executive director of Evidence, a human rights NGO, says although he welcomed the decision to have boards in each district, he hoped the government would monitor the JJBs closely to ensure that the law was fully followed. He said that recently a survey was conducted in 14 districts including Madurai and Coimbatore. Out of the 129 cases reviewed, only 6 children had committed serious crimes (murder and sexual abuse). As per the Juvenile Justice Act, an FIR should be filed only in the case of serious offences, but it was found that the police had registered an FIR in all 129 cases. He hoped the government would play a keener role in the functioning of the JJBs to eliminate such violations.

The Hindu, Nov 30, 2010

Panel says TN report card on RTE still poor

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 Chennai: Tamil Nadu is already past the deadline for carrying out some of the more important provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, officials from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have said.
   “By this time, the state should have rolled out its rules under the Act. It should also have had the Right to Education Protection Authority or the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in place but that has not happened either,” NCPCR chairperson Dr Shantha Sinha said at the concluding session of a two-day public hearing on violations of the RTE Act here on Monday.
   The two bodies were to have been constituted by October, according to the Model Rules. Specifying that civil society organisations would have to be involved in drafting the state Rules, authorities added that they should contain provisions for disciplinary action for all officials found violating the Act.
   With mapping of infrastructure and tracking out-ofschool children in the state yet to be completed, NCPCR officials said the prospect of every child not being in school in the next academic year would be seen as “severe violation.”
   “There seems to be a lot of activity happening at the state level but not enough training or public awareness has been carried out for propagating the important provisions of the Act at the district and sub-district levels. The government must take the RTE as very serious business as there are some very time-bound issues in the Act. We hope the tempo and momentum around it will build up within a year,” Dr Shantha Sinha said.
   The cases heard indicated the lack of awareness at the school level. For instance, officials from St Philomina Government Aided Primary School in Tindivanam, were unaware that students cannot be detained until class 8 under the RTE Act. G Indhumathi (13) allegedly committed suicide on May 10 after she was told she was being issued a TC for poor performance.
   Similarly, though the Act prohibits any form of physical or mental harassment, D Priyanka (12), a dalit, was forced to eat trash by a teacher on March 19, 2009. Issues of abysmal infrastructure were raised as well with schools functioning out of cowsheds, ration shops and marriage halls.
   Appointing the school education department as the nodal agency for implementing the RTE Act, NCPCR officials said different wings of the local authority would have to work together to demonstrate how information could go “bottom-up, from each school to the department.” Henri Tiphagne of People’s Watch, appointed as one of the state monitors of NCPCR, will work with the department to furnish detailed reports of the follow-up to the cases represented to the Central body.

Times of India, Nov 30, 2010

Legal notice to TN on 25% quota for poor students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: A legal notice has called upon the Tamil Nadu government to issue necessary orders to reserve 25% of the seats available in government, aided and private schools for children from the under-privileged sections of the society for free education as per the Right To Education (RTE) Act.
    The notice, issued by advocate M Pari, has said that as per Section 12(c) of the RTE Act, every school, no matter they are governmentrun or aided or private, in the respective locality must earmark 25 per cent of the available seats for underprivileged children as well as those from the backward sections of the society. Section 8 of the Act empowers the state government to implement the requirement as per law.
    Pari further said that the state and central governments would reimburse the cost incurred by the educational institute concerned in allocating 25 per cent of their seats to under-privileged children. He called upon the Tamil Nadu government to take the initiative to pass necessary orders and ensure that this key provision of the RTE Act was implemented in letter and spirit.
    If no order is passed immediately, it would result in denial of this right to thousands of children belonging to the backward and scheduled caste in the state. “It will amount to social injustice,” he said.
    The advocate also pointed out that the fee structure published by the school fee deciding committee too was silent on Section 3(2) of the RTE Act, which provides for free education to all children upto class 8.
    As per Section 9 of the Act, the state government ought to have issued orders stating that all textbooks, notes and other educational requirements would be provided free to the students.
    If no necessary orders are passed in 15 days, he said he would be constrained to file a public interest writ petition in the Madras High Court.

 UPHILL TASK: The Right to Education Act mandates that every school must set aside seats for the underprivileged

The Hindu, Nov 29, 2010

Abuse of school kids highlighted at public hearing

Karthika Gopalakrishnan & R Vasundara | TNN

Chennai: Horrific tales of sodomy, torture and violence in schools have come tumbling out from RTI records, parents’ depositions and victims’ testimonies. Gaping systemic lacunae in the functioning of the school education department came to light at a public hearing of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) here on Sunday.
    As many as 57 cases of violations of the Right to Education (RTE) Act are scheduled to be taken up in the course of the two-day hearing by the Central body. Severe forms of corporal punishment, castebased discrimination, infrastructure issues and the lack of school management committees are among the broad themes under which cases were listed. People’s Watch, a civil society organisation, worked with the district authorities to ensure that all stakeholders were present.
    Among the cases dealing with corporal punishment, a complaint was lodged against P C Convent, Naidupuram in Kodaikanal district by A Lazar, whose daughter L Mariyal, 15, died of injuries received during a severe beating by two teachers on August 9, 2010. “The teachers beat her with a scale, a long notebook and their hands. They also pulled Mariyal’s hair and hit her head against the desk. Due to unbearable pain, Mariyal fainted. The teachers sprinkled water on her face. When she regained consciousness, she was assaulted again by the teachers until blood was oozing out from her ears and nose. There were wounds and bruises all over her head and the back of her body,” the complaint stated.
    School authorities, who were present at the hearing, said they had suspended one of the teachers. “The child has died and you have only suspended one teacher? This is just short of murder. Do you realise the enormity of this case?” panel member Kiran Bhatty, national coordinator, RTE, NCPCR, asked the school representatives.
Facing Cruelty
In Karur: Four Dalit students from classes X and XII lodged a complaint against Noyal Periyar IVR Government Higher Secondary School saying they were asked to clean toilets in their hostel In Kodaikanal: A Lazar lodged a complaint against P C Convent, Naidupuram. His daughter L Mariyal, 15, died of injuries received during a severe beating by two teachers on August 9, 2010. The teachers allegedly beat her with a scale, a long notebook and their hands National panel hears 57 cases of abuse in schools
Chennai: Fifty-year-old Selvamani gets shaky every time he hears the sound of a train passing. It reminds him of the day his son committed suicide by throwing himself before an oncoming train. The nightmare began on February 26, 2009, when 14-year-old Aaroosh, who studied in a missionary school in Kalkulam taluk in Kanyakumari district, was caught passing a friend’s love letter to a girl in his class.
    An angry teacher caned him and two other teachers joined in later. “They caned my boy for three consecutive days,” says Selvamani, tears trickling down his cheeks. “Later, the girl’s father also beat him up in front of the headmaster and the teachers and forced a written confession out of him stating that he had written the letter. The other boy was let off as his mother was a teacher in the same school.”
    Aaroosh was sent home to bring his parents. Petrified of further punishment and the distress he might bring to his family, Aaroosh went to a nearby railway line and threw himself in front of a train. Selvamani, a mason in Kerala, was sent for, but it was only the beginning of the nightmare “It’s been one year and nine months since my son died,” he says. “But I haven’t even received a copy of the FIR or the postmortem report. No action has been taken either against the school, the headmaster or the girl’s father. Instead the school management threatened to ruin the career of my older son who studied in the same school. The revenue divisional officer who came for an enquiry asked us to name a sum of money as compromise.”
    Selvamani added that his wife has not recovered from the shock of her son’s death. “She is unable to do even simple chores. I do all the household work now. I am unable to go to work anymore. Each time I leave for construction projects, I am gripped by the fear that my wife might end her life too,” he said. “My elder son is now working part-time to fund his college education. I never thought I’d be unable to provide for my son’s education,” says Selvamani, sobbing inconsolably.
    Fifty seven such families, attended a public hearing conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in order to seek action against the perpetrators of horrific crimes against children in schools. “In all, 350 cases were sent to Delhi, of which 57 were selected for today’s hearing,” said MJ Prabhakar of People’s Watch, one of the NGOs who intervened in these cases. “The commission’s recommendations will be forwarded to the state government.”
    Selvamani and his family were not the only people to be affected by the horrors perpetrated by the state’s education institutions. Thirteen-year-old Balan, who studied in a residential school in Tiruvannamalai, was once an outgoing and talkative boy. Today, he shudders at the slightest touch after he was regularly raped by the school’s correspondent, also a Catholic priest. “Initially. he kept quiet about it as he was threatened by the correspondent,” says Balan’s uncle and local guardian. “But one time, he was beaten up so badly that he was unable to bear it any longer. He called up his father and said he did not wish to study in that school any longer.”
    Balan’s father who worked in Mumbai came down and the boy said that he was forced to have oral and anal sex with the priest. The family filed a complaint and the priest was arrested and later released on bail. But the school authorities refused to give Balan his transfer certificate. His uncle says, “It later turned out that the priest was plied with children every night by the warden. My nephew told us that many girls were also raped, but their parents chose not to file a complaint fearing publicity.”

Commission warns of strong action

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Soon, beating your child could land you in prison

Law On Corporal Punishment May Cover Parents Too

Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: Parents who practice the dictum, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’, had better watch out. The government is planning a law that will make meting out corporal punishment to a child an offence not just for educational institutions and caregivers, but also for parents, relatives, neighbours and friends.
    In other words, just like in the US, children in India will be able to take parents or relatives to court for “cruelty”. The proposed punishment for the first offence is one year imprisonment or a fine of Rs 5,000, which can be raised to three years’ imprisonment for a second offence with a fine of Rs 25,000. At present, guidelines issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) are the only deterrent against corporal punishment. The proposed Prevention of Offences against Child Bill, 2009, which has been piloted by the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry, is in the final stages of approval and is likely to be put up before the Cabinet soon.
Taking Caregivers To Task
The proposed Prevention of Offences against Child Bill, 2009, is in the final stages of approval and is likely to be put up before the Cabinet soon
It will make corporal punishment an offence for parents, teachers, relatives, neighbours and friends
The punishment for the first offence is one year imprisonment or a fine of Rs 5,000, which can be raised to three years’ imprisonment for a second offence The Bill is expected to be an umbrella legislation that will bring all forms of exploitation of children under the law A bill to curb exploitation of children
New Delhi: The government is planning a law that will make meting out corporal punishment to a child an offence. WCD minister Krishna Tirath confirmed the radical move. “There have been consultations on the Bill and we are in the process of bringing it to the Cabinet,” she said.
    The draft Bill says, “Whoever intentionally inflicts physical penalty on a child for disciplinary purposes shall be punished for the offence of corporal punishment.”
    Corporal punishment has been defined as violence, cruelty, inhuman and degrading treatment by any person, including the child’s family member, school, relatives, neighbours, friends, educational or care giving institutions, prisons and homes set up under the Juvenile Justice Act. Ragging is also covered under the proposed legislation. And trafficking and sexual exploitation of children could lead to life imprisonment.

Source: Times of India, July 16, 2010

56 kids get HIV, hepatitis after blood transfusion

Ajay Parmar | TNN

Jodhpur: At least 56 children suffering from thalassaemia tested positive for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C after receiving blood transfusion at government-run Umaid hospital in Jodhpur. They are among the 130 thalassaemic children registered with Jodhpur’s Marwar Thalassaemic Society, said a source.
    In the last one-and-a-half years, at least eight thalassaemic children in the city were found to be HIV positive while 46 others were infected by hepatitis B virus prompting a probe by the state government. In December 2008, five kids tested positive for HIV and 29 for hepatitis C virus. In May 2010, three more children were found HIV positive and 17 suffered from hepatitis C.
    According to the Thalassaemic Society, if all the children who received blood transfusion are tested, the numbers may go up. Unless new techniques for testing are introduced, the hazard will remain, felt society members.
    Recently, members met the principal of S N Medical College and the divisional commissioner and demanded nucleic acid test at Umaid Hospital blood bank to prevent infection during transfusion. Medical college principal R K Aseri said a proposal for nucleic acid test — which is a more advanced blood test — has been sent to Rajasthan government which is now studying expenses involved. The college has formed a three-member committee to probe if there are any flaws in blood bank’s testing methods.

Source: Times of India,  Jul 13, 2010

UK Facebook users get link to child safety programme

London: Facebook has announced it will allow a “panic button” application on its social networking site.
    The button, aimed at children and teenagers, will report abuse to the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) and Facebook. One installed, the application appears on their homepage to say that “they are in control online”.
    The launch follows months of negotiation between Ceop and Facebook, which initially resisted the idea. Ceop, the government law enforcement agency tasked with tracking down online sex offenders, called for a panic button to be installed on social networking sites last November. Bebo became the first network to add the button with MySpace following suit, but Facebook resisted the change, saying its own reporting systems were sufficient.
    Pressure mounted on Facebook following the rape and murder of 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall by a 33-year-old convicted sex offender, posing as a teenage boy, who she met on Facebook. Forty-four police chiefs in England, Wales and Scotland, signed a letter backing Ceop’s call for a panic button on every Facebook page.
    The agreement to launch a child safety application is the culmination of months of negotiation between Ceop and Facebook.
    Jim Gamble, Ceop’s chief executive, said in a statement: “Our dialogue with Facebook about adopting the ClickCeop button is well documented — today however is a good day for child protection.
    “By adding this application, Facebook users will have direct access to all the services that sit behind our Click-Ceop button which should provide reassurance to every parent with teenagers on the site.”
    Facebook’s head of communications in the UK, Sophy Silver, said the new application would integrate reporting into both Facebook and Ceop’s systems. “Both sides are happy as to where we have got,” she said.

Source: Times of India,  Jul 13, 2010

JUVENILE ACT TO BE AMENDED

- Nitin Mahajan, DC, New Delhi

In view of several reports about the pathetic condition of Juveniles in remand homes and repeated instances of delinquents fleeing from such asylums, the Centre has decided to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act to make it more humane and child friendly.

Children under the age of 18 years booked for various crimes under the juvenile justice system will now be treated with more sensitivity.  The proposed amendments state that any child found to be suffering from a debilitating disease like tuberculosis or sexually transmitted diseases will be offered mandatory medical help.

Sources stated that the proposed amendments will also redefine mental disorders to psychiatric problems and offer such children medical help instead of dumping them in a mental asylum.  “The amendments also aim for the registration of all non-governmental organizations dealing with such children.” Sources added.

Official sources stated that a proposal submitted by the Union women and child development ministry to amend the act has been cleared by the law and justice ministry.  “The proposal will now be put before the Cabinet for its approval.  After seeking the approval of the Cabinet the government plans to table it in Parliament during its forthcoming Monsoon Session,”  sources added.

Sources stated that the proposed amendments to the act provide for a broad framework for protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children in the purview of the juvenile justice system.  The amendments also proposes to make it more stringent and effective.  “The main idea behind amending the laws is to make them more effective in protecting the interests of children,” a source added.

The latest changes have been proposed after a comprehensive discussion with all stakeholders.  The proposed changes are likely to affect thousands of children as according to government estimates over 5,000 cases are pending against juveniles in various courts.

Source ; Deccan Chronicle, July 13, 2010

SSA norms revised to meet standards of RTE Act: MHRD secretary

Meera Srinivasan

SSA norms revised to meet standards of RTE Act: MHRD secretary

Meera Srinivasan

HC allows foster parents to keep kids

Stays CWC’s Order To Take Away 5-Yr-Olds Whose Adoptions Are Under Scanner

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Amid concern over child theft and adoption rackets operating in the state, the Madras high court on Friday stayed a Child Welfare Committee (CWC) order to take away two children, whose adoptions have come under scanner, from the custody of their adopted parents.
    Justice T Sudanthiram, coming to the rescue of a city-based spinster and a Kalpakkam-based couple on Friday, restrained the authorities from separating two five-year-old children from their respective adoptive parents. The judge also issued notice to the chairperson of the CWC and the Guild of Service (Central) Adoption Unit, an authorised adoption centre, returnable in four weeks.
    These two children figure in the list of five whose story came under spotlight after a social worker of the Guild of Service sought clearance for all the five children for adoption simultaneously. The CWC filed a police complaint after a background verification by a probationary officer revealed that all the five children were born in the same hospital in Coimbatore.
    On Friday, the adoptive parents’ counsel Abbudukumar Rajarathinam told the court that acting on the basis of a communication from the CWC, the adoption centre attempted to take the children from their custody “without notice and opportunity of hearing.”
    Noting that the parents — one of whom a spinster working as district social welfare officer in Chennai and the other an employee of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam — approached the Guild of Service for adopting children, he said the centre had been recognised as a ‘Fit Institution’ by the authorities and that it was entitled to receive children for temporary custody.
    After the prospective adoptive parents submitted their applications, they were duly called for an interview and allowed to take the children only after due verification, he said. While the social welfare officer got her child in February, the IGCAR employee got the child about 18 months ago. As per rules, the adoptive parents were first given temporary custody of the children after they furnished a pre-adoptive foster care undertaking, Abbudukumar Rajarathinam said. Even as the children were mingling well with the adoptive parents and developed emotional attachment and intimacy with them, on June 21 the Guild of Service sought to take the children back without any prior notice or opportunity, he said.
    Assailing the bid, counsel said the adoptive parents were entitled to look after the children and retain their custody and that they should not be disturbed by anyone without any valid reason. Describing the attempt to separate the children from their adoptive parents as arbitrary and illegal, he said they had not committed any illegality warranting a notice which asked them to hand over the children to Balamandir Home in Mylapore.
    The CWC, in its complaint, had accused the social worker of forging adoption documents. The case comes close on the heels of the arrest of four women, allegedly part of a child trafficking network and working for a Chennai-based fertility clinic, by the police on Saturday. The police said the arrests were linked to the child abduction racket that came to light when Krishnagiri police arrested seven members of a gang.

Source: Times of India  Jun 26, 2010

Bill to deal with sexual offences against children soon, says Moily

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: A Bill to effectively deal with sexual offences against children is likely to be piloted in the next session of Parliament, Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily said here on Sunday.

Addressing journalists on the sidelines of a consultation on law reforms and legislation for sexual offences against children hosted by the Tulir-Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, Mr. Moily said the Law Ministry had come up with the second working draft of The Protection of Children From Sexual Assault Bill, 2010.

The draft, which is being circulated for feedback among the Ministries concerned, including the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, has been categorised into sections such as penetrative sexual assault and punishment thereof, procedures for recording statements of the child, designation of special courts and procedures and powers of such courts and recording of evidence.

Citing a 2007 Government of India study which revealed that 53 per cent of an estimated 420 million children below 18 years had undergone some form of sexual victimisation, Mr. Moily said the Centre was “totally convinced that a special law is mandatory” to effectively tackle the issue.

The Minister also stressed the imperative to “widen dialogue” for reformulating the existing laws and ensuring that the wisdom of the nation as such went into the process to make a new law for this section “succeed in Parliament and in courts.” At the same time, the law alone could not solve the problem and it was important to create a national movement founded on social awareness to prevent child sexual abuse.

On steps to tackle ‘honour' killings, Mr. Moily said the Law Ministry had referred to a Cabinet committee a set of proposals for amendments to certain laws, including Section 300 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act and the Special Marriage Act.

On the demand for the use of Tamil as official language in the Madras High Court, Mr. Moily said it was for “the judiciary to take a view.”

Earlier, addressing the UNICEF-supported consultation, Mr. Moily spelt out as a central concern the deficiencies in the existing systems and processes integral to responding to cases of sexual violence against children. He pointed out that as criminal law provided for strict interpretation, the lack of definition of certain categories of offences often resulted in an act of violence not being treated as a crime.

“The concern has to be addressed so that the gap between disclosure and reporting can be narrowed and effective justice provided to children who are affected by such crimes,” he said.

Lov Verma, Member-Secretary, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), said the laws on child sexual abuse needed to go beyond the penetrative nature of assault. He also called for making some offences gender-neutral to effectively deal with cases where boys were victims of sexual offences.

Thomas George, Officer-in-charge, UNICEF Field Office, Chennai, said the core group of resource persons involved in the consultation should not disintegrate when a law eventually was framed but should continuously monitor the implementation.

Advocate Geeta Ramaseshan, Tulir secretary Vidya Reddy and Trustee Andal Damodaran led the consultations.

Source: The Hindu, Jul 05, 2010

Decriminalise sexual activity for 16-18 age group: women's groups

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: Women's groups, under the banner of Mumbai Working Group, have sought de-criminalisation of consensual sexual activity in the 16-18 age group, while recommending replacing the term ‘minor' with ‘child' for all persons under 18.

Writing to the Home Ministry on the proposed draft Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2010, they said that an under-16 did not have sufficient maturity to ascertain the consequences of a sexual act and may suffer adverse impact on health, body and mind due to ‘penetrative' sexual activity. It would not be so for the 16 to 18-year-olds.

“It is very strongly felt that it would be counter-productive to penalise consensual sexual activity when any of the parties are between 16 and18 years of age. It would be a weapon in the hands of parents who oppose the relationship, and such parent would be in a position to penalise the other party for a consensual act.”

Suggesting that the age of consent should be retained at 16, they said that this had been arrived at keeping in mind the child attaining the maturity to understand the consequences of engaging in sexual activity.

Proposing a minimum seven-year prison sentence extendable to life term, the women's groups said sexual offences against children should be made gender-neutral for the 16-18 age group.

They said it would be more appropriate to enact a separate legislation to deal with sexual offences against children. Further, a separate chapter should be included in the Criminal Procedure Code to deal with the investigation of cases and trials.

Source: The Hindu, Jun 29, 2010

SC scoffs at mockery of Juvenile Justice Act

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: If citizens have a feeling that the governments enact a law and forget all about its implementation, then they cannot be faulted. For, the Supreme Court was of the same opinion on Friday about the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.
    The Act envisaged treating minors on the wrong side of law with compassion and to put them through a reformative programme to ensure they do not slip into the big bad world when they grow up. That was the precise reason why the Act contemplated proper remand homes, juvenile justice boards and child welfare committees in every district.
    But, a Bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and H L Gokhale had a very poor opinion about the implementation of the law after senior advocate Colin Gonsalves pointed out that only four states and Union territories — Daman & Diu, Meghalaya, Chandigarh and West Bengal —have fully implemented the Act. The response of additional solicitor general P P Malhotra that “it is for the the states to implement the Act and the Centre had nothing to do with it” did not help much in assuaging the anguish of the Bench. It said: “Implementation of the Act is in a pathetic condition and the Centre says it has nothing to do with it. Why do you enact a law then?”
    This terse remark made Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam to step in and assure the court that he would devise a mechanism in consultation with the Centre and the state governments for proper implementation of the socially beneficial law. “The Act needs to be implemented in a completely modern basis with sensitization of every member of the JJ Board,” he said.
    Referring to Section 4 of the Act requiring each state to constitute a Juvenile Justice Board in every district, the Bench said that was the most important part of the legislation, but the Act has been made a mockery.

Source: Times of India Jul 10, 2010

It’s easy to buy babies at TN’s govt hospitals

Police Probe Statewide Child Trafficking Ring With Links In Healthcare System

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

    About 18 months ago, doctors told Maruthayi, 39, (name changed) that she would not be able to deliver a baby. Today, she dotes on an 11-month-old boy, buying him clothes and toys and taking him to the doctor for his shots. She can’t imagine a life without him.
    Maruthayi told The Times of India that she “purchased” the baby from a Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) hospital administrator but refused to divulge the amount she had paid. “I paid him in thousands. The biological mother would have got most of it,” she said.
    Eight months ago, a TOI team went undercover and met the administrator who said he could find a baby for a “potential buyer”. In April, he was caught on camera saying he had found a woman who was due for delivery at the hospital in two months: “I know your number. I will call you after she has the delivery… negotiations will begin after that.” On Monday, in a telephonic conversation, he promised to close the deal by next week. The conversation has been recorded.
Chennai: Even as the Tamil Nadu police are currently working to unravel a child trafficking network spread across the state, it continues to be possible to buy a baby in Chennai. In fact, it would not be difficult to just walk in and steal one. And it’s not just at KMC that the task is so easy, government hospitals across the state have become the source for baby traffickers.
    Ironically, almost every senior official, including Additional Director General of Police Archana Ramasundram and health secretary VK Subburaj, agree. Only two days ago, a woman lost her newborn at the Rajaji Medical College Hospital in Madurai. “Police traced the child and restored it to the parents,” says Subburaj.
    Nearly 70% of all deliveries in the state take place at government hospitals, and most babies that are trafficked are from these hospitals. The cost of a baby ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. “Entry to government hospitals is not restricted, so security is a cause for concern. Government hospitals have no strict visiting hours. The campuses are huge. We need to evolve strategies to beef up security,” says ADGP Archana Ramasundram.
    The hospitals also face the problem of corrupt grade-IV staff. “The staff demand money for every service, including getting xrays and cleaning the woman in labour. They hit my daughter on her thighs while she was in labour. We were forced to give them money,” says Muthulakshmi, whose daughter was admitted to the Woman and Children Hospital at Egmore here.
    In almost every government hospital, staff are aware of brokers who actively participate in child trafficking. While some babies are abandoned or sold by poor parents, others are stolen.
BIG BIZ OF BABIES
Of 11 babies bought and sold in 18 mths, 4 were stolen from or near GHs in Krishnagiri and Tirupattur
3-month-old baby boy stolen from Krishnagiri GH | Rescued in Perambur
3-year-old boy stolen from near Krishnagiri GH | Sold in Gingee
2.5-year-old boy stolen from Tirupattur GH | Sold in Krishnagiri
1.5-year-old boy stolen from Tirupattur GH | Sold in Bangalore

Source: Times of India, Jun 22, 2010

16-yr-old resists marriage, gets dad arrested

Rao Jaswant Singh | TNN

Jaipur: Unwilling to tie the nuptial knot at a young age, a 16-year-old tribal girl of Puneta village in Sawai Madhopur district has lodged a police complaint against her parents for forcing her into wedlock.
   Acting on her complaint, the police later stopped her engagement and arrested her father.
   According to sources, the girl, Nirma Meena, is a student of Class X but her parents, with the help of a few relatives, had fixed her marriage with one Mukesh of Gangapur City and the engagement was scheduled on June 10.
   In her complaint, Nirma said that she wanted to complete her education but her parents were forcing her
to marry a middle-aged man. She also said that her father is a liquoraddict and therefore he takes no responsibility towards the family.
   “I do not want to get married. I am below the marriageable age but whenever I oppose or request my family members not to force me into marriage, they beat me and threaten to kill me,” she said. She added that if the police and administration did not help, life would become very difficult for her.
   Deputy SP, Sawai Madhopur Rural, Karni Singh Rathore said that acting on her complaint, a police team was sent to her village. SHO Bonli, Narayan Dan confirmed that Nirma’s family was all set to solemnize her marriage with Mukesh but it was stopped.
   “She had requested police intervention to stop the marriage and give her protection. We have called her family members for questioning,” said an officer.
   Rathore said that all steps have been taken to prevent the underage marriage.
   Senior administrative officials have also been informed about the development. Her father Badri Meena would be produced before court on Tuesday, he said.
   In May 2009, Jhunjhunu police had arrested one Raghuveer Meghwal while allegedly trying to marry off his two minor daughters -Darshana (16) and Poonam (15) - in Sultana Ahiran village of Surajgarh. A case was registered against him and he was arrested.

 Source: Times of India.  Jun 15, 2010

Govt to crack the whip on corporal punishment

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Stiff penalties against teachers found guilty of corporal punishment could be in the offing soon, if the government has its way. The HRD ministry plans to set up a committee that will examine action taken against teachers if they are found indulging in corporal punishment. The move comes close on the heels of the controversial suicide of a La Martiniere student.
    The issue was discussed at a meeting between HRD minister Kapil Sibal and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Shanta Sinha on Wednesday. NCPCR is the monitoring authority for the Right To Education (RTE) act that has been recently passed by Parliament.
    Besides guaranteeing education to every child, the RTE act bans corporal punishment. Section 17 of the act says that no child will be subjected to “physical punishment or mental harassment.’’ The section also says that whoever contravenes the provision will be “liable to disciplinary action under service rules applicable to such persons.’’
    Speaking after the meeting NCPCR’s Shanta Sinha said that the sections required elaboration. “The HRD ministry will set up a committee that will elaborate on what constitutes physical punishment and mental harassment. We have issued guidelines on corporal punishment but they have to be brought in sync with the new legislation,’’ Sinha said.
    She added that the committee will establish a grievance redressal system and set up a system of punishment and penalties to ensure that corporal punishment is not indulged in.
    The Commission has, in the past, issued guidelines on corporal punishment and urged state governments and schools to set up forums where children could complain against corporal punishment. Under the RTE, the commission will have far more teeth. Not only will investigation in to any incident be mandatory by the NCPCR but the commission can also monitor and recommend stiffer penalties for teachers.
Rouvan’s suicide unfairly linked to caning: Ex-students
Kolkata: La Martiniere student Rouvanjit Rawla’s death was unfairly being linked to caning by the principal, feel old boys of the school. Since inquiries are still on and it is yet to be proved that the assault had led to the youngster’s suicide, the school should not be maligned, they say.
    Addressing a press meet on Wednesday, members of the ALMA (Association of La Martiniere Alumni) urged the investigating agencies and the press to look into “other factors” that might be responsible for the incident.

Source: Times of India Jun 17, 2010

KIDS ON SALE

Statewide child trafficking ring busted, 4 held

Suspects Worked At Fertility Clinic In City, Babies Rescued

Vivek Narayanan | TNN

Chennai: In a new twist to a child kidnapping racket busted recently, the Chennai suburban police on Saturday night arrested four women, who were part of the trafficking network and worked for a citybased fertility clinic, indicating the statewide ramifications of the case. The women, including two ‘ayahs’ working in the hospital, are said to have identified buyers among patients who came to the clinic for treatment. While Nancy and Asha looked after the stolen babies, Kavitha, 33, and Andal, 47, identified a potential buyer for one of the babies.
    The development adds another dimension to the child trafficking network, the second big one in recent times to be unearthed by the state police. In 2005, police had cracked an adoption racket involving an agency that sourced kidnapped babies and gave them away in adoption to couples abroad. CBI is still investigating the case. Police suspect that the latest case, involving a gang operating across TN, may have links to networks in other states as well.
    Police confirmed that Saturday’s arrests were part of the child abduction racket that came to light when Krishnagiri police arrested seven members of a gang, most of them operating in Chennai and its suburbs. Deputy commissioner of police (Madhavaram), Annie Vijaya, told TOI, “The arrests are a continuation of the child trafficking racked busted in Krishnagiri (in May). We have been exchanging information with the Krishnagiri police and following up leads.”
    It was in May that police first arrested several members of a gang and rescued nine babies from them. During interrogation of an accused, Dhanalakshmi, police found that several woman, posing as social workers, and a church priest, father Alphonse, believed to be the kingpin in the racket, were involved in an inter-state racket of stealing and selling babies to childless couples for price ranging from Rs 50,000 to a couple of lakhs of rupees. Those arrested included a woman, M Lalitha, a self-proclaimed social worker, running an orphanage in Puducherry. The woman used the unlicensed orphanage she ran to source babies and sell them to childless couples.
    The alleged brain behind the four women arrested on Saturday, Jayaprasad, was picked up in Krishnagiri. Police also rescued two babies from the gang — an eightmonth-old girl and a one-yearold baby boy. The children have been handed over to authorities of a government home. Network of child kidnapping racket unearthed in suburban Chennai
Chennai: With the arrest of four women in suburban Chennai, the police probing a major child trafficking racket in Krishnagiri and Puducherry, have found a well-entrenched network in the city and its suburbs.
    Since the inception of the suburban commissionerate in May 2008, this is the first major kidnapping racket being busted by the police. On Saturday night the police picked up four women, including two ‘ayahs’ working in a fertility clinic — Nancy, 28, Asha, Kavitha, 33, and Andal, 47.
    The police found that the gang used its access to the hospital to identify potential baby buyers. Police have also picked up Jayaprasad in Krishnagiri. The man hails from Chennai and is said to have masterminded the city operations for the gang.
    A police team led by Madhavaram sub-inspector TM Munisekhar spotted a woman carrying an eight-month-old baby on Saturday night. “She said her name was Nancy and gave some vague replies when asked about the baby,” said Munisekhar.
    Munisekhar further found that her husband Rajesh Christopher died a month after their marriage and since then she had been living in Palavakkam. A year ago, she began living with Jayaprasad, a TASMAC shop employee. Soon, she came to know he was involved in kidnapping and selling babies. Eight months ago, Jayaprasad’s wife Asha alias Kalaiselvi of Aynavaram handed over a new-born girl to Nancy, saying that the baby had been kidnapped from Puducherry and asked her to look after it. Based on the information from Nancy, police picked up Asha from a housing complex in Ayanavaram.
    Police said during interrogation, Asha revealed that she and her sister Kavitha, an ‘ayah’ in a private nursing home in Chetpet, along with her colleague Andal and Jayaprasad kidnapped a boy some months ago and sold him to one Arulmozhi in Kancheepuram. The police picked up Andal and Kavitha and went to Kancheepuram where they found the boy, Manikandan, at Arulmozhi’s house.

ToI Jun 21, 2010

CBI sits on file, UK court sets free man in child abuse case

Arun Ram | TNN

Chennai: Patrick Matthews, the 63-yearold Englishman who was arrested in 2007 in the UK for allegedly sexually abusing several boys of a residential school in Chennai, has walked free, thanks to Indian bureaucracy’s delay.
    A UK court on Wednesday let off Matthews, since India’s ministry of external affairs and the CBI, the Indian wing of Interpol, slept on a request from the Child Abuse Investigation Team of Gloucestershire Constabulary to allow a video deposition of the victims in India. The case was dismissed citing a UK law that gives only ‘reasonable’ time to investigators to collect evidence while considering a person as an accused. Matthews was accused of abusing at least four boys in the age group of 10 to 14 years between 2003 and 2006 when he worked as a volunteer teacher at St George Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School.
    The UK Crown Prosecution had sent an ‘international letter of request’ dated April 28 seeking permission to make the victims in Chennai depose before the Bristol crown court through video-conferencing. “The letter went back and forth between departments and we didn’t get a response from India,” Nigel Hatten, detective sergeant of Gloucestershire Constabulary, told TOI over phone. Matthews had joined St George School in 2003 through Batemans Trust, a UK-based NGO. Child abuse: CBI remains silent as UK man walks free
Chennai: Patrick Matthews, the 63-year-old Englishman who was arrested in 2007 in the UK for allegedly sexually abusing several boys of a residential school in Chennai, has walked free, thanks to Indian bureaucracy’s delay.
    “The trial was due to begin on June 16. There were administrative delays in arranging for the child victims’ evidence to be given by video link from India.
    “The judge refused to adjourn the trial and ordered it as dismissed,” Kate Nelmes, acting head of corporate communications, Gloucestershire Constabulary, told TOI in an email which quoted Adrian Foster, chief crown prosecutor, as calling the case “highly sensitive and extremely complex.”
    Gloucestershire Constabulary detective sergeant Mark Little, who oversaw the investigation, termed the dismissal of the case “very disappointing.” When contacted, CBI additional director general Harsh Bal said he could not comment on the case as its details were not readily available with him.
    Matthews joined St George School in 2003 through Batemans Trust, a UK-based NGO. Some of the boys who gave statements to a four-member team of Gloucestershire Constabulary which visited Chennai in June last year had alleged that Matthews used to take them to his room on the campus and sexually abuse them. It was also alleged that Matthews took some of the boys to his seaside retreat in Kovalam on East Coast Road.
    During Matthews’ stay, the school had 1,361 students (796 girls and 565 boys), including 122 in the boarding home (71 boys and 51 girls).
    Following instructions from CB-CID, the local police first made a preliminary inquiry in 2007, but no case was registered since the case
    was being investigated by the UK police. Following this, CBI sent a report to the UK authorities on April 3, 2007 saying Matthews had repeatedly “misbehaved with at least four boys of the boarding school.” The school soon expelled Matthews and later severed its ties with Batemans Trust.
    Reacting to the news of dismissal of the case, former CBI director said there is an urgent need to prioritise movement of files in government departments to get such accused punished. “There has to be more person-to-person contact between foreign missions and the CBI, home ministry and MEA to avoid such situations,” he said.

Times of India, Jun 18, 2010

Draft bill proposes only two yrs jail for molestation, 7 for eve-teasing

Under Proposal, Even Consensual Sex With Girl Below 18 Will Be Statutory Rape

Manoj Mitta | TNN

New Delhi: For all his reputation of being a hardliner on law and order, P Chidambaram is giving out a perplexing message to sexual offenders. If they indulge in eve-teasing, they could be put behind bars for as long as seven years. But if they actually molest a woman, they will not get more than a two-year term.
   This is one of the anomalies arising out of the new sexual offence law proposed by the home ministry in the wake of the verdict in the Ruchika molestation case. Despite the outrage over the six-month sentence received by former police chief S P S Rathore in Ruchika’s case, the extensive amendments drafted by the home ministry have left untouched the provision relating to molestation.
   While the maximum sentence for eve-teasing under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (‘‘insulting the modesty of a woman’’) is sought to be enhanced from one year to seven years, the corresponding punishment for molestation under Section 354 IPC (‘‘outraging the modesty of a woman’’) remains two years.
   Though the home ministry’s draft replaces the traditional notion of ‘‘rape’’ with the wider concept of ‘‘sexual assault’’, the act of penetration remains an essential ingredient of this offence, which is punishable with a maximum sentence of life sentence.
   So, the proposed reordering of the hierarchy of sexual offences is as follows: first, the non-penetration sexual assault punishable with a maximum term of two years; second, the non-contact sexual insult punishable with a maximum term of seven years; and finally, the sexual assault involving penetration punishable with a maximum term of life.
   The incongruity of prescribing greater penalty for verbal assault of a sexual nature under Section 509 than physical assault of a sexual nature under Section 354 has however been mitigated in the context of underaged victims. For, the draft bill introduces a provision dealing with ‘‘sexual abuse of minor’’, irrespective of whether there is any penetration or not. It prescribes a maximum sentence of 10 years, which is five times greater the cap provided in the existing age-neutral molestation provision.
   Significantly, the proposed rape law also increases the consent age from 16 to 18 years, which is also the minimum age of marriage for girls. This means that sex with a person below 18 will be regarded as statutory rape even if it is consensual. Given the general relaxation of sexual norms in the society, this could become a source of harassment. Further, the proposed provision dealing with child sexual abuse, Section 376C, will apply to both female and male victims.
   There is a needless restriction on activating Section 376C. The draft bill introduces a caveat saying that the court cannot take cognizance of an offence under that provision except on a police report or a complaint made by the child victim or its close relatives.
   The exclusion of other well wishers like teachers, neighbours or friends from lodging a complaint seems unwarranted, given the heroic role played by Ruchika’s friend Aradhana Gupta and her parents in the prolonged fight for justice. It also shows that India remains in denial on the empirical evidence from across the world that children face the biggest threat of abuse from family members.
   The home ministry has also failed to take this opportunity to do away with the anachronism of marital rape. The draft bill says: ‘‘Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 18 years of age, is not sexual assault.’’ It is time India, taking cue from advanced democracies, phased out this blatant manifestation of patriarchy.
   One aspect in which India has sought to catch up with its western counterparts is in the definition of sexual assault involving penetration as it looks beyond the traditional penile-vaginal scenario. The draft bill penalizes penetration of not just the vagina but also the anus, urethra or mouth of the victim. And the penetration could be with any part of the offender’s body or any object manipulated by him.
   The down side of course is, the wider the ambit of a provider, the greater the scope for abuse. The existing definition limiting rape to penile-vaginal penetration has the advantage of demanding greater scope for rigour in corroborative evidence. If forcible insertion of fingers in the mouth of a woman is going to be regarded as penetration, then rape or sexual assault cases are likely to be dependent on the word of the victim more than ever before.

Source: Times of India, Jun 2010

“Special teams will inspect childcare homes”

K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI: A special drive is being organised to inspect childcare homes in the State by forming teams of revenue, police, social welfare, education and labour department officers.

The exercise is to verify the registration/relevant documents and situation of such homes in accordance with a government letter, the police have submitted before the Madras High Court.

In a further report pursuant to an order of the High Court on childcare institutions, Director-General of Police Letika Saran stated that the Social Welfare Department proposed to take action against unregistered/institutions, which had not submitted applications for registration. The further report had been filed on behalf of the Chief Secretary and the Secretaries of Home and Social Welfare Departments. It stated there were 2,054 childcare institutions in the State, including 79 government homes and 1,975 private childcare homes.

All government homes had been exempted from registration earlier. As registration was mandatory, all registered homes, including government ones, are to be re-registered.

Applications seeking registration were being processed.

In each district, five teams had been formed under the District Collector's supervision to inspect the homes to verify the children's health and safety conditions, education and availability of infrastructure in the facilities. So far, District Social Welfare Officers (DSWO) had recommended 147 institutions for registration. Following public complaints, 29 homes were inspected.

It was found that they had not maintained the facility as per minimum standards. Hence, after transferring the inmates to the nearest licensed agencies, the institutions were closed.

Similarly, five institutions were closed by DSWOs during inspection as the institutions were “not child-friendly, not treating the children properly and infrastructure facilities were not good.” Aggrieved, the institutions' owners moved the High Court.

The Hindu, Jun 20, 2010

TN girls sent to AP, Kerala as maids

 900 Kids Are Trafficked Annually From State, Agents Prey On Poor Families

Sandhya Soman | TNN

Chennai: S Mary’s eyes well up whenever she thinks of how she ground flour and washed dishes as an eight-year-old. Now 52, Mary works as an activist in Madurai to help domestic workers in Tamil Nadu.
   Mary managed to empower herself but scores of children, mostly girls, from rural Tamil Nadu continue to be sent away as domestic help. Agents prey on poor families, take the children for paltry sums to work as domestic help in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, say activists.
   “Nearly 900 children are trafficked from districts like Villupuram, Salem and Cuddalore every year,” P Claramma, co-ordinator, national domestic workers’ union. “Most of them end up as domestic workers. In Theni, 300-350 children are bought by agents after paying a small amount as advance to parents,” she says.
   The latest case to come to light is that of 11-year-old Radha from Theni, who was sent to Kerala as a maid at a home in Ernakulam. “She said she was beaten for making small mistakes,” says Jose Mavely, president, Janaseva Sisubhavan, a Kochi-based organisation working for child protection. “She ran away after her employer put a hot metal rod on her chest as she was careless with the baby of the house,” says Jose, whose organisation rescued Radha last month. Curiously, Radha’s impoverished parents filed a case in the high court seeking the child’s release from a government home. “Radha was sent back with her parents by the court two weeks ago, but no action was taken against the employers. We plan to approach
the court so that it will take into account statements given by children in such cases,” he says.
   The case, which initially evoked interest in Kerala, sank into oblivion. “Public outrage soon died out as no one showed interest in these kids,” he says.
   Most of the victims are from farming families that have fallen on hard times. “In 2008 in Villupuram, we met a girl who had come home on holiday. She told us that she had been raped by her employer. When we told her mother about it, she said she sent her child away so that the girl would at least get some food,” says Claramma. The government, she says, should step up vigil at border check-posts to prevent trafficking.
   Social welfare department officials say more initiatives to check trafficking are on the anvil. “We will strengthen the 3,000 village-level watch dog committees that has members from various departments,” says an official. The government will also set up quasi-judicial child welfare committees in all the districts in the next two months, says the official.
   “We will also recruit outreach and social workers to district child protection units. They will go to the field and identify children vulnerable to trafficking and support them,” the official says.

Source: Times of India, June 12, 2010

NEWS ANALYSIS

Draft bill proposes only two yrs jail for molestation, 7 for eve-teasing

Under Proposal, Even Consensual Sex With Girl Below 18 Will Be Statutory Rape  

Manoj Mitta | TNN

New Delhi: For all his reputation of being a hardliner on law and order, P Chidambaram is giving out a perplexing message to sexual offenders. If they indulge in eve-teasing, they could be put behind bars for as long as seven years. But if they actually molest a woman, they will not get more than a two-year term.
   This is one of the anomalies arising out of the new sexual offence law proposed by the home ministry in the wake of the verdict in the Ruchika molestation case. Despite the outrage over the six-month sentence received by former police chief S P S Rathore in Ruchika’s case, the extensive amendments drafted by the home ministry have left untouched the provision relating to molestation.
   While the maximum sentence for eve-teasing under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (‘‘insulting the modesty of a woman’’) is sought to be enhanced from one year to seven years, the corresponding punishment for molestation under Section 354 IPC (‘‘outraging the modesty of a woman’’) remains two years.
   Though the home ministry’s draft replaces the traditional notion of ‘‘rape’’ with the wider concept of ‘‘sexual assault’’, the act of penetration remains an essential ingredient of this offence, which is punishable with a maximum sentence of life sentence.
   So, the proposed reordering of the hierarchy of sexual offences is as follows: first, the non-penetration sexual assault punishable with a maximum term of two years; second, the non-contact sexual insult punishable with a maximum term of seven years; and finally, the sexual assault involving penetration punishable with a maximum term of life.
   The incongruity of prescribing greater penalty for verbal assault of a sexual nature under Section 509 than physical assault of a sexual nature under Section 354 has however been mitigated in the context of underaged victims. For, the draft bill introduces a provision dealing with ‘‘sexual abuse of minor’’, irrespective of whether there is any penetration or not. It prescribes a maximum sentence of 10 years, which is five times greater the cap provided in the existing age-neutral molestation provision.
   Significantly, the proposed rape law also increases the consent age from 16 to 18 years, which is also the minimum age of marriage for girls. This means that sex with a person below 18 will be regarded as statutory rape even if it is consensual. Given the general relaxation of sexual norms in the society, this could become a source of harassment. Further, the proposed provision dealing with child sexual abuse, Section 376C, will apply to both female and male victims.
   There is a needless restriction on activating Section 376C. The draft bill introduces a caveat saying that the court cannot take cognizance of an offence under that provision except on a police report or a complaint made by the child victim or its close relatives.
   The exclusion of other well wishers like teachers, neighbours or friends from lodging a complaint seems unwarranted, given the heroic role played by Ruchika’s friend Aradhana Gupta and her parents in the prolonged fight for justice. It also shows that India remains in denial on the empirical evidence from across the world that children face the biggest threat of abuse from family members.
   The home ministry has also failed to take this opportunity to do away with the anachronism of marital rape. The draft bill says: ‘‘Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 18 years of age, is not sexual assault.’’ It is time India, taking cue from advanced democracies, phased out this blatant manifestation of patriarchy.
   One aspect in which India has sought to catch up with its western counterparts is in the definition of sexual assault involving penetration as it looks beyond the traditional penile-vaginal scenario. The draft bill penalizes penetration of not just the vagina but also the anus, urethra or mouth of the victim. And the penetration could be with any part of the offender’s body or any object manipulated by him.
   The down side of course is, the wider the ambit of a provider, the greater the scope for abuse. The existing definition limiting rape to penile-vaginal penetration has the advantage of demanding greater scope for rigour in corroborative evidence. If forcible insertion of fingers in the mouth of a woman is going to be regarded as penetration, then rape or sexual assault cases are likely to be dependent on the word of the victim more than ever before.

Source: Times of India, June, 2010

Bill to clear surrogacy of legal tangles

Plans To Get Legal Permission And Citizenship For Babies From Country Of The Parents  

Kounteya Sinha | TNN

New Delhi: Foreigners or NRIs coming to India to rent a womb will soon have to submit two documents — one confirming that their country of residence recognizes surrogacy as legal, and the second that it will give citizenship to the child born through agreement from an Indian mother.
   According to the draft Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2010, submitted to the Union health ministry on Friday, foreign and NRI couples will have to get “certificates from either the embassy of their country in India or from the external affairs ministry of their country, certifying that they permit surrogacy and that the child born through agreement in India will be given citizenship by them”.
   Prepared by a 12-member committee headed by Dr P M Bhargava under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the draft Bill also includes a provision which says that a foreign couple will have to identify a local guardian in India to take care of the surrogate mother during her gestation period as well as after the delivery, till the child is handed over to the commissioning parents.
   However, the Bill says that if the foreign parents fail to take delivery of the child born to the surrogate mother within one month of the child’s birth, the surrogate mother and the local guardian will be legally obliged to hand over the child to an adoption agency. “Only in such a case will the baby get Indian citizenship,” says the Bill.
   India is fast becoming a favourite with foreigners for surrogacy-related fertility tourism. But till now, there was no law that regulated assisted reproductive technology (ART) in the country.
   Instances of babies born through surrogacy were becoming common, with India refusing them citizenship and a few foreign countries not recognizing surrogacy as a legal means of parenthood.
   Member secretary of the committee Dr RS Sharma from the ICMR told TOI: “These babies face the risk of becoming stateless citizens. Remember Japanese baby Manji Yamada who was born to an Indian surrogate mother but got caught in a legal battle because the commissioning Japanese parents got divorced. Or the recent case of the German with India refusing them citizenship and Germany not recognising surrogacy as a means of parenthood.”
   Dr Sharma added, “Once the Bill becomes a law, foreign couples won’t be able to plan a baby through surrogacy in India without the two documents.”
   The Bill says, “The couple will have to bear all expenses of the surrogate mother including insurance charges and may receive monetary compensation for agreeing to act as a surrogate.” It further makes it clear than in case of a divorce between the commissioning parents, the child born through surrogacy will continue to be their legitimate child.
   So what makes India an attractive destination for surrogacy? Experts chalk out two reasons. In the US, surrogacy costs up to $120,000, while in India, couples have to pay Rs 10-25 lakh. The second reason is lack of regulation of the ART sector making India an easy place to have a surrogate baby.
   Some say surrogacy is a $499 million industry in India. The Law Commission, however, strongly pitched for legalizing surrogacy in India last year and recommended several steps to protect the interests of the surrogate mother and also the baby.
   Submitting the 228th report of the Commission to law minister Veerappa Moily, chairman Justice A R Lakshmanan made a few recommendations. They included banning of sex-selective surrogacy, financial support for surrogate child in the event of death of commissioning parents or unwillingness to take the child later and providing life insurance cover for surrogate mother.

Source: Times of India, May 22, 2010

‘India lags in mom, child mortality fight’

Only 5 Years Left To Meet The Target Of Millennium Development Goals

Subodh Varma TIMES INSIGHT GROUP

   At the beginning of this millennium in year 2000, 189 countries and 23 international health agencies had pledged to reduce child under-5 mortality by twothirds and maternal mortality by three-fourths by 2015. These were called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number 4 and 5. With only five years left for the target year, a clutch of international health agencies and NGOs have come out with ‘‘Countdown to 2015 — Decade Report (2000-2010)”.
   The report, which tracks progress made on these fronts, says that out of 68 priority (countdown) countries accounting for more than 90% of maternal and child deaths worldwide, only 19 countries were on track to meet MDG 4; 17 countries had reduced child mortality by half, while 47 countries had accelerated their progress on child mortality since 2000. At the same time, 49 countries are not on track to achieve MDG 4, while 12 countries (including some currently on track) have seen their progress slow since 2000. But reduction of maternal mortality (MDG 5) is showing fewer signs of progress, according to the report.
   Set to appear in this week’s special issue of The Lancet, the report tracks 26 key parameters that determine infant mortality over a period of nearly two decades between 1990 and 2008. Across the 68 countries, child under-5 mortality fell from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 65 in 2008, a 28% reduction.
   Brazil and China are among the 19 countries that have averaged a rate of 4.4% reduction in under-5 child mortality since 1990, needed to meet the target in 2015. Brazil has made progress through reducing socioeconomic inequities and improving primary coverage to almost universal levels. China’s successful reduction of newborn and child mortality during the past two decades is a result of steady investments in reproductive health, primary care, and economic development. Other countries on track include Mexico, Peru, Nepal, Egypt, Malawi, and Turkmenistan.
   India’s rate of under-5 mortality fell from 169 in 1990 to 69 in 2008, averaging an annual rate of decline of just 2.9%. This puts India firmly in the insufficient progress category. During the first decade of 1990 to 2000, infant mortality declined by just 2.1% annually in India, but it increased to 3.9% annual decrease between 2000 and 2008. Other countries in this category include Pakistan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Iraq, Ghana and several other African countries.
   A handful of countries have shown an increase in infant mortality rates over the period. These include Chad, Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe and surprisingly, South Africa.
   The report is pessimistic about reduction in maternal mortality saying that although coverage of skilled-delivery care increased in 12 countries, others had little or no improvement.
   According to lead authors — Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta of Aga Khan University in Pakistan and Dr Mickey Chopra, UNICEF, New York, USA — coverage of interventions delivered directly in the community on scheduled occasions was higher than for interventions relying on functional health systems.
   Examples of such community interventions include vitamin A supplementation; vaccination against tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, and complementary feeding.
   Services such as skilled attendant at birth, postnatal visits, antibiotic treatment continue to be the major obstacles to progress. Latest estimates from 2008 show that only 22% of the 68 countries met the WHO standard of 23 physicians, nurses, and midwives per 10,000 people needed to deliver essential health services.

Source: Times of India, June, 2010

17,205 Kids Given Shelter Under State-run Scheme

New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) A total 17,205 children benefited from open shelters provided under a government scheme in nine states last year, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath said Monday.

The recently introduced Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) provides open shelters for children in need of care including street kids in urban and semi-urban areas, the minister informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

‘During 2009-10, 17,205 children were benefited under the Open Shelter component of ICPS in nine states,’ Tirath said.

‘Such shelters provide space for children where they can play, use their time productively, engage in creative activities… It also provides for fulfilling their basic requirements of food, nutrition and health. Provisions have also been made for bridge education and vocational training for such children,’ she added.

The ministry has allocated Rs.300 crore to the ICPS for the 2010-2011 financial year.

Tirath said that since the scheme was started in the last financial year, it was ‘not ripe’ for evaluation.

Source: Calcutta Tube

New HIV cases in 10 Districts raise concern

No Decline In Prevalence In Epicentre Districts, Say Health Officials

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Health department officials from ten high prevalence districts of Tamil Nadu were in the city on Thursday to brainstorm if the state, rated high in management of HIV/AIDS, has dropped its guard. The introspection was prompted by the continuing high incidence in Salem, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Erode, Coimbatore and Tiruchi.
   “We once had the dubious distinction of having the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country. From there, in a decade we became the model state as we brought down prevalence rate from 1.25% to nearly 0.25%. Yet the number of new positive cases in at least 10 districts has not come down. This is a matter of concern,” said health secretary VK Subburaj.
   Officials presented data on how studies have repeatedly shown a general dip in prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the state, but there has been no significant decrease in the prevalence of the virus in at least six epicentre districts on the western side of the state where truckers are in large numbers. Madurai, Theni, Dindigul and Vellore have also not shown significant improvement. “The state would have been removed from the list of high prevalence states if these epicentre districts show a decline in prevalence,” said TNSACS project director Shambu Kollolikar.
   A majority of the country’s 2.31 million people living with HIV/AIDS are in the southern states, according to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). Tamil Nadu has nearly 8% of the total HIV-infected people, according to the surveillance and sentinel survey for 2007. Namakkal and Salem, which have the dubious tag of being the HIV Highway, saw a temporary dip in 2003, but registered a rise in 2007 when the prevalence rate crossed 2%. The prevalence in the state has come down from 1.2% in 2001 to 0.38% in 2006 and 0.25 in 2007. “The number of people coming in for tests has gone up from 10 lakh to 33 lakh. So the number of people testing positive has also gone up. The rate of infection, however, has been declining. It may not be to the extent we see in other districts. For instance, in Salem, the rate of infection has come down from 3.37 in 2006 to 1.27 in 2009. A majority of the new cases, the infection must have set in at least 10 years ago. The CD counts, which normally is above 1,000 in fresh cases was below 300 in 70% of the cases detected in the last two months. Most of these people are from neighbouring districts,” he said.
   Many like AIDS Prevention And Control-Voluntary Health Services project director Bimal Charles agree with TNSACS. “There is no alarm yet. But if we want significant changes in epicentres like in other areas we will have to work harder. May be the ten districts need special intervention,” he said.

Source: The Hindu, May 14, 2010

NHRC notice on violation of students' rights at Gujarat school

J. Balaji

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Primary Education Secretary of the Gujarat government on media reports which stated that the students of Riverdale School in Surat were asked to walk on burning coal and broken glass pieces to “build their confidence.”

The factual report should be sent within four weeks.

The NHRC, which took up the April 20 incident suo motu, observed that if the contents of the press report were true, it raised a serious issue of the violation of children's human rights and their physical torture.

Reports quoted school officials describing the challenges set at a summer camp as “important exercises that will make a child strong and determined.”

Eighty children aged 9-14 walked on hot coal, while 110 students walked over broken glass pieces. No one suffered any injuries, the school authorities said.

Source: TYhe Hindu, may 12, 2010

NHRC notice on violation of students' rights at Gujarat school

J. Balaji

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Primary Education Secretary of the Gujarat government on media reports which stated that the students of Riverdale School in Surat were asked to walk on burning coal and broken glass pieces to “build their confidence.”

The factual report should be sent within four weeks.

The NHRC, which took up the April 20 incident suo motu, observed that if the contents of the press report were true, it raised a serious issue of the violation of children's human rights and their physical torture.

Reports quoted school officials describing the challenges set at a summer camp as “important exercises that will make a child strong and determined.”

Eighty children aged 9-14 walked on hot coal, while 110 students walked over broken glass pieces. No one suffered any injuries, the school authorities said.

Source: TYhe Hindu, may 12, 2010

NHRC notice on violation of students' rights at Gujarat school

J. Balaji

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Primary Education Secretary of the Gujarat government on media reports which stated that the students of Riverdale School in Surat were asked to walk on burning coal and broken glass pieces to “build their confidence.”

The factual report should be sent within four weeks.

The NHRC, which took up the April 20 incident suo motu, observed that if the contents of the press report were true, it raised a serious issue of the violation of children's human rights and their physical torture.

Reports quoted school officials describing the challenges set at a summer camp as “important exercises that will make a child strong and determined.”

Eighty children aged 9-14 walked on hot coal, while 110 students walked over broken glass pieces. No one suffered any injuries, the school authorities said.

Source: TYhe Hindu, may 12, 2010

Shantha Sinha gets second term as NCPCR chairperson

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday decided to appoint Shantha Sinha as chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for the second term.

Ms. Sinha, a renowned child rights activist, was appointed as the chairperson of the child rights panel in 2007. An academic with the Central University Hyderabad, Ms. Sinha is the winner of prestigious Magsaysay Award for 2003. She was presented the Padma Shree Award in 1999 for her work on child rights.

The NCPCR emphasises the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights and recognises the tone of urgency in all the child related policies of the country. For the Commission, protection of all children in the 0 to 18 years age group is of equal importance. Thus, policies define priority actions for the most vulnerable children. This includes focus on regions that are backward or on communities or children under certain circumstances, and so on. The NCPCR believes that while in addressing only some children, there could be a fallacy of exclusion of many vulnerable children who may not fall under the defined or targeted categories. In its translation into practice, the task of reaching out to all children gets compromised and a societal tolerance of violation of child rights continues. This would in fact have an impact on the programme for the targeted population as well. Therefore, it considers that it is only in building a larger atmosphere in favour of protection of children's rights, that children who are targeted become visible and gain confidence to access their entitlements. The NCPCR was created by an act of Parliament in 2005. However, the government is yet to take a decision on its members.

The Hindu, May 12, 2010

Little lives wasted in piles of waste

Kids From Bihar Lured With False Hopes Exploited At Waste Dump In Bangalore  

Aarthi R | TNN

Bangalore: Every now and then, we see the ugly side of Bangalore in all its misery, a far cry from the glitz and glamour of the IT city. Pantharapalya is a classic example of this dichotomy.
   Many of the city’s vacant sites are now illegal dumping yards for waste. The tragedy is that what you dump in dustbins is sometimes sorted by children barely 3 feet tall. These illegal dumpyards also move children across the country for work.
   It’s a congested spot at a cul de sac of a narrow lane off Mysore Road. From afar, you see men and women hard at work segregating plastic waste. When you get closer, you find children too at work.
   Kids like 6-year-old Roopa (name changed) who scurries out with her wailing younger brother, carrying a black polythene bag with some food. She doesn’t talk much but her dirty hands and legs speak a lot — of the hectic work sorting waste.
   On April 16, a group of 37 children was rescued from the abandoned site opposite the department of women and child development. But child labour continues almost unabated even now.
   All the rescued children are between 11 years and 16 years. Some had been working for at least 2-3 months. They practically lived there, sorting garbage, drinking and bathing in the sewer water of the Vrishabhavati drain that runs behind the site.
   At least 35 children were brought from Navada district, Bihar. They were promised education and jobs as newspaper sellers.
   “Our estimate shows that at least 100 kids are employed in garbage segregation at this spot. We have been able to rescue only 37. Even the kids run away when police or labour department officials go there. They don’t realise they are being exploited,’’ explains G Suchitra Rao, member of the child protection unit.
   “This was our first attempt. Rehabilitation is a problem. We think there could be more such spots in the city,” says a member of Justice and Care, the NGO which helped in the rescue. The 37 children are at the government boys’ home on Hosur Road. “We have traced almost all their families with the help of a few volunteers. Age verification of some had to be done. Rescue of other kids is on,’’ Neena P Nayak, chairperson, state Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) told The Times Of India.
   Located off the busy Mysore Road stretch, it’s dotted with factories and commercial establishments. Even the workers on this site are clueless about who owns it and from where it gets its daily load of waste.
   The work mainly involves segregating plastic from the stinking heaps. This site is located amid a line of factories and residential hubs. The majority of residents are from lower- or lower-middle income groups. The area also many migratory labourers due to the steady flow of work.
   I’m not aware of this case. This site is not a BBMP designated dumpyard. All our garbage lorries are now tracked by GPS technology and they dispose of the waste only at designated landfills.
   As for private land used as illegal landfills, land owners must take the initiative. Without their cooperation, nothing works. As far as child labour is concerned, the labour department must look into it. 

Source: Times of India, May 10, 2010

RTI awareness among students

Liffy Thomas

Know your rights: Consumer Club members of Sri Sankara Matriculation Higher Secondary School take some different lessons.

CHENNAI: Sample these few questions posed by children in a private educational institution after the RTI Club was launched and students were encouraged to question the school authorities on its functioning: “How did you spend the Rs. 50 charged for the picnic?”, “Why are students not asked when new books are added to the library?”

Surprised at the spurt in queries and the enthusiasm shown by children when they get answers, Shree Niketan Matriculation School where the club was started around six months ago promises to go a step further in the coming academic year.

“Students would be filing RTIs on five issues concerning them in and around the school,” said P. Vishnucharan, correspondent.

While consumer clubs are present in quite a number of institutions, schools are either bringing in resource persons to educate children on RTI or as a separate club activity.

Educating children on consumer rights, on corrupt practices or simply encouraging one to question a system are some of many initiatives schools, colleges and independent organisations are working at enlightening young minds, although there is a long way to go, say activists.

“About five years ago, the Union Government initiated a sum of Rs. 8,000 for school to start consumer clubs. We were instrumental in starting consumer clubs in around 17 schools, some are quite active,” says Nirmala Desikan, Trustee, Consumer Association of India.

While the club at Sri Sankara Matriculation Higher Secondary School has guest speakers enlightening them, students of Bala Vidya Mandir ensure MRP is maintained in the school canteen. Vellore Institute of Technology has started ‘Students Against Corruption' and as an initiative is launching “Passport Clinic”.

Besides workshops, skits and activities, there are other ways individuals are fighting corruption. Kris Dev, ICT and e-governance consultant, campaigns for biometric tracking through citizens awareness organisation Life-Line to Citizen (LL2C).

5th Pillar, a peoples' movement against corruption, conducts free training every Saturday educating people on how to file an RTI complaint, act upon the petition, etc. As an extension of its training programme, this summer 5th Pillar is inviting students to intern with them. Transparency International (Tamil Nadu Chapter) is also doing its part.

“We still have a long way to go to spread awareness of our young population. To start with, children should be sensitised to the evils of corruption and educated that there is no age limit to file an RTI,” says Vijay Anand, co-founder and president, 5th Pillar.

Source: The Hindu, Apr 12, 2010

Councillors start using the RTI Act in TN 

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

Congress councillor says he has filed 20-25 applications

I don't believe the Act works properly, says

PMK member

CHENNAI: Councillors of the Chennai Corporation have started to use the Right To Information Act to get information about various things including open space reservation lands, spending of ward councillor's funds and land use by private parties.

Members of Opposition parties in the council are the ones who are obtaining information under the provisions of the RTI Act. This is despite the fact that under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, councillors can access official files of the civic body during working hours.

Councillor of Ward 105 N. Rukmangadhan of the Congress said he had filed 20-25 applications so far, seeking information on snacks being cooked and served in TASMAC bars, land being used by hotels and charges collected by Corporation community halls. “I am an Opposition councillor, even if I ask information I do not get it properly, which is why I use the RTI. However, the flip side is that no action is taken on the findings,” he said.

Ward 53 councillor K. Armstrong of Bahujan Samaj Party, who had moved the Madras High Court for a direction to the State Home Secretary to take steps against civic body officials for not spending his ward development fund, said he got the details under the RTI Act. “I needed information from the Corporation on paper. Officials show us files when we ask them. But I wanted official confirmation so this was the best way. I now plan to file petitions for details of expenditure of ward councillor's funds for all the corporation wards.” Congress Councillor and Leader of Opposition Saidai P. Ravi said he had used the RTI Act to get particulars about open space reservation land in his ward.

“I had also applied to the CMDA about the same land and I got details under both the applications. Now I have submitted the details to the Corporation and the civic body would take up work on the lands. I find the Act very useful to get proper information,” he said. However, M. Jayaraman (PMK), who had applied under the RTI for details of a building in Ward 149, said that he was yet to get the required information.

“I had applied 10 months ago about a building that had been built violating codes. I don't believe that the Act works properly,” he said.

Source: The Hindu, Apr 12, 2010

States yet to frame rules for implementing RTE Act

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: While the notification of the Right To Education (RTE) Act is being hailed as a historic achievement, no state government barring Delhi has framed the rules for its implementation. As on date, there is no designated appropriate authority before which an aggrieved person can file an appeal if denied admission into a school as per the provisions of the RTE Act.
   “Any legislation must be accompanied by a set of rules for its implementation. In the case of RTE Act, the central government has only issued model rules and communicated to all states asking them to frame and notify their own rules using the model rules as the basis. The states can accept the model rules entirely or modify it or frame its own rules,” well known educationist S S Rajagopalan said on Monday.
   Interacting with members of the Education Correspondents’ Association of India (ECAI) on the evolution of the RTE Act and challenges in implementing it, Rajagopalan pointed out that a major drawback of the legislation was that government permission must be obtained to take an erring school management to court. “When you are not able to (easily) get information even under the Right To Information Act, how do you expect the get government permission to file a case,” he wondered.
   According to him, a greater threat, particularly for a state like Tamil Nadu, in the legislation was a provision that linked the extent of free education to the proportion of government grants in aided private schools.
   “In Tamil Nadu, as of now, even if a school received even 1% aid from the government, it has to admit 100% students free of cost. Whereas, under the RTE Act, if the government aid was only to the extent of, say, 60%, then only that proportion of seats will be earmarked as free seats. This is a very dangerous proposition as under such a situation there is a possibility that private aided schools could fudge accounts to boost their expenditure (exclusive of government aid and claim rights over management quota seats),” Rajagopalan said.

Where The Act Lacks The Bite


• Capitation fee not defined in RTE Act

• Act merely says schools cannot charge above prescribed fee

• Prescribed fee can be any amount

• No authority formed to fix fee structures

• Act silent on what happens if the central government does not sanction funds for free education

Source: Times of India, Apr 13, 2010

SC orders probe into trafficking of kids to TN

Asks Child Rights Panel To Uncover The Scam

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: With growing suspicion of the involvement of missionaries in trafficking innocent tribal children, a majority of them minor girls, from the north-east to the southern states, the Supreme Court has ordered a probe.
   Concerned by the preliminary reports from the Tamil Nadu police, which rescued 76 children belonging to Assam and Manipur from “homes” run by missionaries, the court on Wednesday asked the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR) to get to the bottom of this alleged scam.
   The TN police, in a affidavit before the SC, said, “Pastor Shaji was arrested at Somanur in Coimbatore district on February 12 and remanded to judicial custody. Effective steps are being taken to nab the absconding accused Rev Paul.”
   A Bench, comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan, accepted amicus curiae Aparna Bhat’s suggestion for a thorough probe into the alleged incidents of trafficking from the NE states.
   Additional solicitor general Indira Jaising pointed out that the TN police had not detailed the facts of the case to the court. “This is a federal issue as children are trafficked from far-flung tribal areas of NE states to down south. How could these children be taken more than 1,000km away without anyone noticing anything?” Jaising asked and supported a probe by the NCPCR to unearth the alleged racket.
   When the ASG said the matter had to be probed indepth as a majority of the children appeared to be girls as could be inferred from the sketchy police report, the Bench issued notices to the Manipur and Assam governments seeking their response to the serious issue of trafficking.
   In his affidavit, the superintendent of police, Kanyakumari district, informed the apex court that on a tip-off, the child welfare inspection committee visited ‘Bethesda Blessing Ministries Home’ at Pazhavilai, Kaliyakkavilai, run by Pastor Shaji and found 76 children living in squalid conditions.

End To Ordeal?


TN police had rescued 76 children (in pic) belonging to Assam and Manipur
from “homes” run by missionaries

The Kanyakumari SP told the court that children belonged to the ‘Zeme’ tribe in Manipur & Assam

The kids were sent back to their native places on Feb 11 and had since been united with their families

Effective steps on to nab absconding pastor, cop tells SC


New Delihi: Concerned by the preliminary reports from the Tamil Nadu police, which rescued 76 children belonging to Assam and Manipur from “homes” run by missionaries, the the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR) to conduct a probe into the issue.
   The Kanyakumari SP informed the SC that all the children belonged to the ‘Zeme’ tribe in Manipur and Assam and that Rev Paul belonged to the same community. “Due to poverty, parents of these children entrusted them to Rev Paul on the promise that he would provide better education and healthcare to them,” the SP said.
   “At the time of taking the children, Rev Paul collected Rs 5,000 from each of the parents for expenses,” he said.
   Giving details of the manner in which these children were brought to TN, the police officer said, “Rev Paul brought them from Manipur and Assam to Chennai in 2008. Initially, they were accommodated in ‘Alice Rebecca Matriculation School, Red Hills, Chennai’, then they were taken to Kerala and finally handed over to Pastor Shaji during the year 2009.”
   Mentioning the arrest of Pastor Shaji, the SP said, “Effective steps are being taken to nab the absconding accused, Rev Paul. Only after arresting him, we can get more information about the transportation of children.” He said the 76 minor children were sent back to their native places on February 11 and had since been united with their family.
   However, amicus curiae Bhat drew the court’s attention to another report on the rescue of 17 more Manipuri children by the police in Chennai on March 27. The Bench said there could be a possibility that these organisations were bringing children from the NE to the southern states to impart education as they must be receiving huge donations in this regard. “Everything may not be legal in this,” the Bench added.
   But Jaising said whether it was for education, labour or sexual exploitation, illegal trafficking of children had to be stopped and no one had any business in uprooting them from their family without their consent.

Source: Times of india, Apr01, 2010

SC orders probe into trafficking of kids to TN

Asks Child Rights Panel To Uncover The Scam

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: With growing suspicion of the involvement of missionaries in trafficking innocent tribal children, a majority of them minor girls, from the north-east to the southern states, the Supreme Court has ordered a probe.
   Concerned by the preliminary reports from the Tamil Nadu police, which rescued 76 children belonging to Assam and Manipur from “homes” run by missionaries, the court on Wednesday asked the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR) to get to the bottom of this alleged scam.
   The TN police, in a affidavit before the SC, said, “Pastor Shaji was arrested at Somanur in Coimbatore district on February 12 and remanded to judicial custody. Effective steps are being taken to nab the absconding accused Rev Paul.”
   A Bench, comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan, accepted amicus curiae Aparna Bhat’s suggestion for a thorough probe into the alleged incidents of trafficking from the NE states.
   Additional solicitor general Indira Jaising pointed out that the TN police had not detailed the facts of the case to the court. “This is a federal issue as children are trafficked from far-flung tribal areas of NE states to down south. How could these children be taken more than 1,000km away without anyone noticing anything?” Jaising asked and supported a probe by the NCPCR to unearth the alleged racket.
   When the ASG said the matter had to be probed indepth as a majority of the children appeared to be girls as could be inferred from the sketchy police report, the Bench issued notices to the Manipur and Assam governments seeking their response to the serious issue of trafficking.
   In his affidavit, the superintendent of police, Kanyakumari district, informed the apex court that on a tip-off, the child welfare inspection committee visited ‘Bethesda Blessing Ministries Home’ at Pazhavilai, Kaliyakkavilai, run by Pastor Shaji and found 76 children living in squalid conditions.

End To Ordeal?


TN police had rescued 76 children (in pic) belonging to Assam and Manipur
from “homes” run by missionaries

The Kanyakumari SP told the court that children belonged to the ‘Zeme’ tribe in Manipur & Assam

The kids were sent back to their native places on Feb 11 and had since been united with their families

Effective steps on to nab absconding pastor, cop tells SC


New Delihi: Concerned by the preliminary reports from the Tamil Nadu police, which rescued 76 children belonging to Assam and Manipur from “homes” run by missionaries, the the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR) to conduct a probe into the issue.
   The Kanyakumari SP informed the SC that all the children belonged to the ‘Zeme’ tribe in Manipur and Assam and that Rev Paul belonged to the same community. “Due to poverty, parents of these children entrusted them to Rev Paul on the promise that he would provide better education and healthcare to them,” the SP said.
   “At the time of taking the children, Rev Paul collected Rs 5,000 from each of the parents for expenses,” he said.
   Giving details of the manner in which these children were brought to TN, the police officer said, “Rev Paul brought them from Manipur and Assam to Chennai in 2008. Initially, they were accommodated in ‘Alice Rebecca Matriculation School, Red Hills, Chennai’, then they were taken to Kerala and finally handed over to Pastor Shaji during the year 2009.”
   Mentioning the arrest of Pastor Shaji, the SP said, “Effective steps are being taken to nab the absconding accused, Rev Paul. Only after arresting him, we can get more information about the transportation of children.” He said the 76 minor children were sent back to their native places on February 11 and had since been united with their family.
   However, amicus curiae Bhat drew the court’s attention to another report on the rescue of 17 more Manipuri children by the police in Chennai on March 27. The Bench said there could be a possibility that these organisations were bringing children from the NE to the southern states to impart education as they must be receiving huge donations in this regard. “Everything may not be legal in this,” the Bench added.
   But Jaising said whether it was for education, labour or sexual exploitation, illegal trafficking of children had to be stopped and no one had any business in uprooting them from their family without their consent.

Source: Times of india, Apr01, 2010

Child cadres swell Red rebel ranks

Sandeep Mishra | TNN

Bhubaneswar: Trapped in the conflict zone and deprived of basic necessities, children in the Red corridor, especially the tri-junction involving Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, are gradually turning out to be the most vulnerable group, with Maoists trying every trick in the trade to create preteen cadres.
   Though “catch them young” has long been part of the guerrillas’ strategy, what is most galling is that the Left wing extremists have started imparting arms training to kids under their fold, disclosed top police and intelligence sources.
   “Maoists have been indoctrinating children aged below 14 years since the past several years. These kids are usually used to collect information and pass it on to underground hardcore cadres. They are used for spotting security personnel and police vehicles. But gradually the radicals are giving arms training to these kids,” a senior intelligence sleuth disclosed.
   Though it is very difficult to know the exact number of child Maoists, intelligence sleuths estimate that around 100 to 150 kids have been working for the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in Malkangiri district alone; in other parts of Orissa the recruitment of kids has been much less, sources said.
   Malkangiri, the southern-most district in Orissa, borders Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh and is a considered to be a hotbed of Maoist activities. Since over a decade, a war-like situation has been prevailing in this district, which is home to such primitive tribes like Bondas, Koyas, Parajas and Didayis, and forms parts of the Maoists’ Dandakaranya region. The state’s presence in certain parts of Malkangiri, so to say, is marginal with roads, electricity, schools, healthcare and such other basic amenities continuing to be a distant dream.
   “In such a scenario, it has become easy for Maoists to attract tribal children into their ranks in Malkangiri. In other districts, too, they have been trying to do the same but have not been that successful. But in worst-hit areas in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, particularly Dantewada region, we believe the rebels have been successful in engaging kids,” a senior police officer observed. Director, intelligence, Prakash Mishra told TOI: “We are aware of the problem and are worried. Children in remote areas having no access to education are proving soft targets to the Maoists.”
   Police has not been quite successful in preventing Maoists’ recruitment of kids. Bajaye Hembram and Babuli Dorai, both of whom were armed cadres and were part of the gang that killed three forest staff in Kankadahada block of Dhenkanal district on January 31, 2007, had “surrendered” before police two years back. A few arrests and surrenders apart, police have nothing much to show.
   Orissa government woke up to the problem in June, 2006, when it outlawed Bal Sangam, a frontal organization of CPI (Maoist), by accusing it of “recruiting children and teaching Maoist ideology of violence.”

Source: Times of India, Apr 13, 2010

Rape to be made gender-neutral

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The government has decided to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), replacing the word “rape” with “sexual assault” in the existing law in order to broaden the ambit of crimes covered under the sections and make the provisions gender neutral.
   “The home ministry is working on a draft Bill. It will soon be brought in the public domain for detailed discussions over all the provisions relating to sections covering rape,” said a senior home ministry official.
   Making sexual assault “gender neutral” will imply that the relevant sections of the IPC can be slapped on the accused of any gender who has committed the crime.
   “The provisions can be imposed on sexual crimes inflicted on women, men and children thus broadening the reach,” said the official.
   As per Section 375 of the IPC, penetration is sufficient to constitute sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape but with the proposed replacements coming in, sexual assault will also cover crimes like sodomy, fingering, insertion of foreign objects and other similar offences, which do not come under the present definition of rape.

Gays too will benefit from IPC amendment

New Delhi: The government’s decision to amend the Indian Penal Code replacing the word ‘rape’ with ‘sexual assault’ will pave the way to harmonise the provisions of law to prevent sexual crimes among homosexuals as well.
   Insertion of such a provision assumes significance in view of the Delhi High Court order, which decriminalised sex between two “consenting” adults of the same sex last year. The home ministry has also sought the views of the law ministry on the proposed amendment Bill. According to the ministry’s latest data, cases of child rape continue to rise; a total of 4,721 cases were registered during 2006, 5,045 in 2007 and 5,446 in 2008 across the country. The data also indicated that over two lakh women were victims of sexual crimes in the country during the period 2006-2008.
   On an average, about 191 women every day were either victims of rape, sexual harassment or molestation in three years from 2006. The figures show that a total of 61,552 cases of rape were registered during 2006-2008 in the country.

Source: ToI, Mar 17, 2010

MAGISTRATE SETS HIM FREE

6-yr-old boy arrested, produced in court  

Suchandana Gupta | TNN

Bhopal: Children accused of committing crimes are produced in juvenile courts. But on Friday, a magistrate of the juvenile court in Sagar district was surprised to find a six-year-old boy standing before him. He asked the boy his name. The child replied, “Ajju Ahirwar,” and then said, “I am hungry. I want to eat.”
   The magistrate immediately took out some money from his pocket and ordered that samosas be brought for the boy. As Ajju munched on the samosas, the magistrate dismissed the case. An enquiry has been ordered as to how the boy was arrested.
   According to Section 82 of the IPC, “Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under seven years of age.” The IPC clarifies that “a child under seven years of age cannot be supposed to distinguish between right and wrong”. But the Motinagar police in Sagar town had booked Ajju under Sections 294 (obscenity), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons).
   He was arrested on February 14, detained in a police lock-up along with his father and brother and released on bail that evening. After his arrest, the police did not even have a vehicle, and so Ajju walked for two km to the police station.
   A resident of the Ayodhya Nagar slums on the outskirts of Sagar town, Ajju’s father, Govind Ahirwar, works as a labourer. Govind got into a scuffle with his neighbours. FIRs were lodged at the Motinagar police station after which Govind and his sons Lallu and Ajju were arrested. Ajju’s mother Radha Ahirwar produced a vaccination card to prove that Ajju was born on September 4, 2003. But the cops would not believe that the boy was only six years old.

Times of India, Mar 18, 2010

SMELLING CORRUPTION

PDS system has collapsed in the country: SC panel

Says System In Delhi Is Inefficient And Corrupt

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: The sale of foodgrains through the public distribution system (PDS) to poor families throughout the country at highly subsidised prices is stinking of corruption, hoarding and black marketing, the Supreme Court-appointed Central Vigilance Committee said in its damning reports.
   After touring various states and scrutinising the operation of the PDS through fair price shops, the committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice D P Wadhwa used following terminology for different states: PDS in the state has collapsed (Rajasthan) PDS system is glaring example of what the system ought not to be (Jharkhand) Beneficiaries get ration of a month after a delay of 3-4 months (Bihar) Fair price shop owners admitted they bribe officials concerned even to get FPS licence and pay monthly bribe (Gujarat) Appointment of grain storage agents susceptible to high political influence (Orissa) Enforcement lax, collusion between officials, investigating agencies, dealers, wholesalers and other vested interests (Karnataka) Foodgrain sold at excessive prices at the fair price shops (Uttarakhand) But the most damning comments were reserved for Delhi, the national capital. Apart from terming the PDS as inefficient and corrupt, the committee said in its report to the apex court that “there is largescale diversion and black marketing of PDS foodgrain”.
   “Subsidised PDS foodgrain does not reach the poor who desperately need the same. These poor people never get PDS foodgrain in proper quantity and quality. The fair price shop owner is aware of bogus/fake ration cards and uses these for black marketing of PDS foodgrain,” it said.
   It slammed officials of Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation and said there was rampant corruption in it. “Can anyone believe that the department is unaware of such gross malpractices and illegalities? The only explanation is all round complicity of fair price shop owners, transporters and corrupt officials of the department/DSCSC,” said the reports, a compilation of which was handed over to a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and K S Radhakrishnan by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves.
   Citing several first-hand instances of malfunctioning and corruption in the system, the committee said, “There is a thriving nexus between transporters, fair price shops and officials of the department including anti-hoarding cell and DSCSC.” Having read the report, the Bench asked Gonsalves to suggest whether there could be an alternative to the existing PDS system or if it could be made efficient through corrective measures.

Source: Times of India, Mar 18, 2010

Man gets death for rape, murder of 9-year-old girl

Radha Venkatesan | TNN

Coimbatore: A Salem court on Friday sentenced a 35-year-old farmer, charged with brutally raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl, to death. Coming down heavily on the accused, Selvam, in the gruesome case, the first additional sessions judge C Manickam described him as a “sex hunter” who behaved like a “devil”.
   In a heart-wrenching case of brutality, Palaniammal, a class IV student, was raped and murdered by her neighbour Selvam on February 12, 2009. According to the details of the case, Palaniammal’s parents, Murugesan and Indirani, who are poor labourers, had left on a pilgrimage on foot to the famous Palani Hills, leaving their daughter in the care of her grandparents at Poolampatti village, 30 km from Salem.
   On February 12, 2009, as the girl was leaving for school, her neighbour Selvam called her to his house. He then brutally raped the girl and hit her with the wooden frame of the cot. With bleeding injuries, the girl died in his house.
   On the same night, Selvam packed the body of the girl in a gunny bag and took it on his moped and dumped it in the Onamparai channel. The next day, the girl’s grandparents, Kannupaiyan and Valli, who were searching for the girl, lodged a complaint with the police. Immediately, the finger of suspicion pointed to Selvam, who had gained notoriety in the village for misbehaving with women.
   As the police zeroed in on Selvam, he surrendered before the village administrative officer and confessed to the crime.
   Based on his confessional statement, the body of the girl was fished out from the Onamparai channel.
   During the trial, additional public prosecutor Kuppusamy insisted that it was a “rarest of rare cases” and the accused should be awarded nothing less than the death sentence.
   The judge in his 86-page judgement observed: “He (accused) resorted to diabolical methods, behaved like a sexhorrible devil. He is a menace to the family of the victim, particularly, and to the society, in general.”

Source: Times of India, Mar 13, 2010

Assam becomes first to guarantee right to health

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Guwahati: A quiet revolution to create a healthier India started in the East when Assam on Thursday became the first state in to introduce a bill guaranteeing the right to health and well being. Responding to an appeal by the Centre for legislating health rights, the state government tabled the landmark Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, in the Assembly.
   The bill, which will be put to vote on March 31 and should sail through, proposes pathbreaking provisions for health equity and justice to achieve the goal of health for all. It makes it mandatory for all new development projects to carry out health impact assessments. It also proposes to make it compulsory for both government and private hospitals to provide free healthcare services and maintaining appropriate protocol of treatment for the first 24 hours to an emergency patient.
   “Health does not mean just doctors and hospitals, but everything that influences the health and well being of a human being. This is a historic bill and we are the pioneers in the country after the Central government requested all states to bring legislation giving people the right to health,’’ said Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
   The bill proposes that every user has the right to have complete medical records of at least two years preceding the last date when the service was used, pertaining to his or her case, health status, diagnosis and prognosis, including the line of treatment.
   After tabling the bill, Sarma told the media that the statute sought to bind the state health and family welfare department legally to meet its obligations — coordination with other departments concerned and providing people with minimum nutritionally adequate essential food, adequate supply of safe drinking water, sanitation through appropriate and effective sewage and drainage systems and access to basic housing facilities.

Source: Times of India, Mar 11, 2010

Food Security Act may irk states, Sonia

Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: The government has readied the draft of its promised Food Security Act but the bare provisions appear to fall short of the pledge on many counts. It could not only trigger a face-off with the states but also cause heartburn to the Supreme Court and displease Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who had prepared a draft and sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office last June.
   The Bill is a result of a promise in the Congress’s election manifesto — of a law guaranteeing nutritional security for all. But the draft, prepared by the food ministry headed by Sharad Pawar, runs short of how it was visualized by Sonia Gandhi.
   The draft Bill proposes that the Centre will have the final word on both the number of people in each state living below the poverty line, based on planning commission estimates, and also on the quantum of foodgrains that is to be given to the vulnerable section. This quantum has been fixed in the draft at 25kg per month, against an earlier Supreme Court directive of 35kg. And on both these counts, it is likely to attract the opposition of the states. While the states have already distributed more than 10 crore BPL cards, the Centre’s estimate of BPL families is way smaller, at 6.52 crore. Even today, the Centre distributes foodgrains under the PDS in proportion to the figure the Planning Commission generates and not what states decide by survey along with the rural development ministry.
   In an earlier round of discussion with the Union food ministry, many states had taken serious objection to the Centre imposing an artificial cut-off and leaving a hefty bill to the states to bear if they decide to pass on the benefits to all the poor.
   But the food ministry appears to have stuck to its guns and decided not to let the control out of its hands as it would help keep the fiscal burden in check. The government also wants to maintain some flexibility on the price of subsidized foodgrain. While the Congress had said in its manifesto that the ration would be available at Rs 3/kg, the ministry is inclined not to mention an exact price so as give it the option of providing subsidized foodgrains at a higher price.
   The Bill is also at odds with the Supreme Court’s directive to the government to create and widen the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, which was meant to provide subsidized food to the destitute, primitive tribes, disabled and old and increase the quota for families under the existing PDS scheme to 35kg of foodgrains per month.

Different Takes

Centre to have final say on BPL numbers, quantum of foodgrain.
States have distributed 10cr BPL cards; Centre’s estimate is 6.5cr
No mention of price of subsidized foodgrain, hinting Centre wants to keep option of higher price open.
Cong manifesto had said ration would be available at Rs 3/kg
Bill seeks to wind up Antyodaya scheme, limit guarantee to 25kg.
SC wanted govt to widen scheme and increase PDS quota to 35kg

Food Security Bill doesn’t include right to nutrition


New Delhi: Certain provisions in the draft Food Security Bill prepared by the government are contradicting claims of the states. The number of people below poverty line in each state is a major bone of content. The food ministry wants the states to bear the cost of providing food security to numbers beyond the central estimate, ie 6.52 crore — something that’s unlikely to pass muster with the states, which find the figure at 10 crore.
   The Union food ministry has decided that when it comes to guaranteeing food security through various schemes, including PDS, the buck will stop with the state government. The Centre would be responsible only for procuring foodgrains, importing and maintaining stocks and providing financial compensation if it is not able to secure the supplies to states.
   The bill limits itself to distribution of wheat and rice and does not take a wider view of nutritional security.

Source: ToI, Mar 01, 2010

PROMISES to KEEP

UPA’s budget allocation to women dwindling

Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: Despite claims made by the UPA towards gender empowerment, nothing could be further from the truth. Under the Congressled UPA, not only has allocation for women-centric schemes in the Union Budget dropped from 9.2% in 2004-2005 to 3.2% in 2009-2010, but worryingly, gender specific schemes form only 2.4% of the women and child development ministry’s total budget.
   An analysis of the budgetary allocation by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) has revealed that child development schemes form 97.2% of the WCD ministry’s budget. The lion’s share is taken up by the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) leaving only a measly 2.4% for women-related programmes.
   Also, while allocation for the WCD ministry in the Union Budget has increased from Rs 2,454 in 2004-2005 to Rs 7,218 crore in 2009-2010, as a proportion of the Budget, this marks a decline from 9.2% to 3.2% in the same period.
   The UPA had created an independent ministry for women and children from a department under the human resource development ministry in 2006. The grounds for setting up a separate ministry was to prioritise women and child-related programmes. However, the talk has not been followed through.
   “Priorities for women and children have gone up in absolute numbers but in relative terms, it’s a marginal increase and is still abysmally low. So UPA’s claims regarding creation of a separate ministry must be taken with a word of caution,” Bhum i k a J h a m b, CBGA’s programme officer, said.
   The lack of priority given to women shows up in data. According to the ‘People’s Mid-Term Appraisal’ by CBGA and Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, health and education indicators are less than heartening.
   The percentage of married women aged 15-49 years who are anaemic increased to 56.2% in 2005-2006 from 51.8% in 1998-1999. While girls constitute 48.4% of primary enrolment, they also constitute half of the ‘out of school children’ — three percentage points more than their share in the population — pointing to gaps in gender-wise provision of education.n.
   As a consequence of poor public facilities and low health status, over 120,000 mothers die due to child birth-related p ro bl e m s every year and shockingly, maternal mortality rate is still over 300 per 1 lakh deliveries. Another indicator of women’s condition is that about 35% women in India have experienced physical or sexual violence.
   Feminist groups have demanded higher allocation in the budget for women for decades. It is time the government kept its promise.

Source: Times of India Feb 25, 2010

46 children starve to death in rural MP

Wed, Mar 10 11:34 AM

MADHYA Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is often feted for development work. But it seems the progress has not reached the remote, rural areas of the state — certainly not the tribal district of Jhabua.

At least 46 children have reportedly died of malnutrition and starvation in the district since last October. But the authorities refuse to even acknowledge the problem, let alone take any action.

Most of the deaths have been reported from Madrani, Agasiya, Ochka, Parnali and Itawa villages in Meghnagar block. Ironically, these villages come under the Jhabua- Ratlam constituency represented by Union tribal affairs minister Kantilal Bhuria.

43 children, of which 39 were under five, died in the last three months of 2009 while three deaths have been reported this year.

Little Diwan and Anil keep lying the whole day, running high fever and complaining of stomach pain. With rickety frames and bulging stomachs, these kids are a picture of undernourishment.

"He has high fever for the past few days. His face has swollen and stomach has a bulge," said Rewa Vasuniya, the father of five-year old Diwan.

Rewa had taken his son to the community health centre in Thandla, about 15 km from his village. But his condition has continued to deteriorate.

Diwan's worried mother hasn’t left his side for almost a week.

She had lost her three-year-old daughter Pushpa in November and now fears for her son's life.

Five-year old Anil, too, is lying in bed with high fever and unbearable stomach pain. "He has been running a fever for over a week. His symptoms are similar to those children of our village who died because of some mysterious disease. They all complained of fever and stomach pain," Anil's uncle Fakrru said.

Anil's parents are not at home.

They have gone out in search of work to earn some money.

Social workers say the children of Jhabua are facing acute starvation as their parents have no decent livelihood. Most families have hardly enough to feed themselves.

"Between October and December 2009, 43 children died. Of these, Madrani alone accounts for 30 deaths," said Seema Jain of Madhya Pradesh Lok Sanghash Sajha Manch and Right to Food Campaign.

This year, all the three deaths have been reported from Madrani village. Apart from Diwan’s sister Pushpa, the children who died were four-year-old Sannu and a 12-month-old boy.

The district administration admits malnourishment deaths of children, but claims no one has died since January.

"We have prepared a 15- page report ( on the starvation deaths) and submitted it to the district administration," Jhabua collector Jagdish Sharma said.

The villagers have little access to health facilities, including immunisation for children.

Cases of anaemia in women and children, low birth weight and malnutrition are reported among children of other villages, too, in Meghnagar block.

Little Aarth of Madrani is so weak he can hardly stand. "His right hand doesn't have any grip," his grandfather Faakru said. Despite their meagre resources, Aarth’s family has spent Rs 16,000 on his treatment, but there has been no improvement in his condition.

Health campaigners slam the state health officials for the shocking condition of children.

But health officials say extreme poverty and illiteracy are responsible for the situation.

"Some children have died because of malnourishment in the past. But since January, no death has been reported from the five villages. That's because we took timely action," Meghnagar block health officer Dr Vikram Verma said.

He said health camps had been organised in the villages, but the villagers contested the claim.

"We have never seen a single doctor, aganwadi worker or any other health volunteer visiting our village. They come once a year, but only write some words on the walls of our huts and go away," Motli, who lost her 11-year-old daughter last year, said.

The villagers have no access to jobs, which is making many migrate to other places in search of livelihood. The villagers say they have NREGA cards, but hardly ever get work under the scheme.

"Despite having an NREGA job card, we decided to migrate to Kota in Rajasthan where I work in a stone quarry," said Pintoo of Itawa.

State health minister Anoop Mishra had admitted in the assembly that 1.2 lakh children have died in the past four years, of whom 60 per cent were malnourished.

Attempts were made to contact minister for women and child welfare Ranjana Baghel but she was not available.

Source: Yahoo News

Freedom denied to govt home kids

Decision After Over 150 Sent To Mainstream Schools Use Chance To Escape

 Jaya Menon | TNN

Chennai: Dressed in new uniforms and shoes, carrying school bags and books, children from government homes across the state attended school for the first time in June 2009. But, their joy at getting a taste of the ‘outside world’ was short-lived. Barely six months later, the administration confined the children to the homes again after some ran away and staff in the homes opposed the scheme.
   Children in government homes — such as abandoned children and runaways who are deemed ‘in need of care and protection’ under the law — are rarely permitted to step out, and are educated by teachers within the home. The move to send about 500 children in 10 government homes across the state to corporation schools was the brainchild of a few pro-active officials in the staterun department of social defence. While the boys shone, particularly in athletics, and won district level awards, the girls found the classrooms competitive, their test results proof of their good performance.
   In October 2009, officials decided to pull all of them out of the corporation schools and return them to the depressing routine of the homes. The reason: From August and spread over the next two months, 158 children, savouring their new-found freedom, exchanged their satchels and shoes for money and disappeared in trains and buses to unknown destinations.
   This, apparently, was nothing new, as every year, children from homes escaped and were brought back, as in this case too. Statistics show that in 2008, 142 children ‘escaped’ from the homes, 121 in 2007, 84 in 2006, 69 in 2005 and 56 in 2004.
   But the administration’s decision to keep the rest of the children from school affected more than just the 500 who went to school. For, while these children went to corporation schools, their teachers at the government homes were sent to juvenile homes to teach children in conflict with law. (Children in conflict with law are housed in separate juvenile homes, while children in need of care and protection stay in government homes.) Maintaining that the scheme should continue, Dr P Manorama, chairperson of the government’s child welfare committee, said, “The homes are like reformatory institutes or even jails. The children run away either to get back to their own homes sooner or because they are plain bored with the government home routine. This is no reason to scrap the scheme altogether.” She said that the children could easily be counselled to prevent cases of running away, adding that the move had been a success in Chennai, with just two runaways. The staff and warden of the homes in Chennai were not only co-operative and enterprising but also followed the rule book, counselling the children before they began school and admitting them to appropriate classes after assessing their abilities.
   However, in many places, the proposal faced stiff resistance from teachers in the homes who did not like being sent to the reform schools to teach children there. One home staff in Villupuram has sought legal intervention to prevent the government from continuing the scheme. The case is pending in the Madras High Court.
   But the children’s performance should be a point in favour of the scheme. “There were 100-odd children in corporation schools in the city. They were doing very well and would have improved further. In fact, some of them were even better than the regular students,” said a department source.
   But, as another academic year approaches, the state is yet to take a decision. MP Nirmala, social welfare commissioner, also in charge of social defence, told TOI that the process of counselling by a committee comprising the home superintendent, a psychologist and a probation officer, was on to find out if the children were keen on attending schools outside the homes. “It is a good scheme, no doubt, but we have to follow certain procedures,” she said.
   Meanwhile, children in the homes, including young Preeti (name changed), are keeping their fingers crossed. In December 2008, Preeti was among the few children who created murals for the US Consulate in Chennai. In an interaction with consulate officials, the children, aged between 11 and 16, explained how thrilled they were with the experience, which was their first real outing. It was from this that the idea to send the children to schools outside the homes was born. But a question mark remains over the scheme as well as education for children in the reform homes.

Source: Times of India, Mar 03, 2010

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Sarva Shiksha will be used to push Right to Education

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: The notification on the Right to Education is likely to be issued soon as most of preparatory work that has delayed it is nearly over. Even the Planning Commission has promised a big outlay for RTE that would kickstart the historic legislation.
   The HRD ministry had demanded Rs 40,000 crore for elementary education and expects to get a substantial hike from last year’s Rs 13,100 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Plan panel sources indicated that HRD is likely to get more than Rs 20,000 crore for SSA. The Finance Commission has already promised more than Rs 20,000 crore for the next five years for the states.
   After framing the model rules for RTE, drawing out the roadmap and process of harmonising RTE with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan that included changing the latter’s norms, the ministry feels that SSA will be the main vehicle to implement RTE. The executive committee of SSA has already made changes in the norms that do not have much financial bearing and do not need cabinet approval. However, major changes like teacher norms will have a substantial financial implication and will, therefore, be taken to the Expenditure Finance Committee and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
   The lingering question of Centre-State share for RTE is also likely to be resolved soon. The PM has already held a meeting with HRD minister Kapil Sibal, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia in this connection. Sources said while states have been demanding a 90:10 spending pattern between the Centre and states, HRD would like it to be 75:25. “The SSA funding pattern is 55:45 but RTE cannot follow the same pattern. States do not have the money,” the sources said.
   As for the change in SSA norms, it has been decided that all existing Education Guarantee Scheme centres that have been functioning for two years will be upgraded to regular schools.
   Provision has also been made in SSA norms that upto 0.5% of a district’s outlay may be utilised for community mobilisation but it should be within the overall management cost of 6%. Change has also been made in case of provision for disabled children from the existing Rs 1,200 per child annually to Rs 3,000.
   Also, money for civil works can be utilised for library purpose and the fund for a school can be used for buying play material.

Source: Times of India, Jan 30, 2010

Mountaineer launches awareness campaign on child sex abuse

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: When Sandhosh Kumar scales Mount Everest, it will be a collective victory for all who feel the need to create awareness on child sexual abuse. The 27-year-old has pledged to combine his passion for scaling peaks with the cause he feels so strongly about.
   And to ensure that he spreads the news to at least a million people, he launched the Million Pledges programme on Saturday. “The first step towards prevention of child sexual abuse is to better understand the problem and to recognise that the problem exists in our society. Million Pledges is a tool to achieve that,” Sandhosh said at an event organised to launch the initiative. Several film personalities including director KS Ravikumar and ac tors Arun Pandian, Sibi, Ramesh Khan na, Ashok and Bose Venkat pledged their support to the cause.
   Sandhosh will start his 65-day expe dition to attempt the 8,850 metre climb of Mount Everest on March 29. He is look ing for sponsors to fund his feat, which is expected to cost Rs 30 lakh. He has pledged that part of the funds raised will go to some of the organisations working towards the prevention of child sexual abuse. Individuals can pledge their support to the cause by logging on to millionpledges.com.
   Sandhosh, who grew up in Chennai, worked as an IT and finance consultant in Singapore for over three years before quitting to focus on climbing Everest. The 26-year-old recently scaled Cho Oyu in Tibet, the sixth highest mountain in the world, as a prelude to his dream expedition.
   Cho Oyu is just 600 metres short of Everest. Cho Oyu, he had told TOI, gave him the confidence to attempt Everest.  

timeschennai@timesgroup.com

Source: Times of India, Feb 21, 2010

Curb child trafficking: SC to Centre

Is India Becoming A Hub Of Child Prostitution, The Apex Court Wonders

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Expressing apprehension that India could soon have the dubious distinction of being a hub of child prostitution, Supreme Court on Friday urged the Centre to weigh the need for creation of a special police force to tackle the problem.
   A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik appeared to have gone through solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam’s report on a mechanism to secure the rights of children.
   The SG had identified poverty and lack of employment as two major reasons for children being trafficked and pushed into prostitution.
   Toughening its stand, the Bench said the time had come for courts to deny bail to those accused of trafficking children and pushing them into prostitution. These observations came during a hearing on a PIL filed by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
   It also wanted to know from the SG why sex workers were facing prosecution and harassment at the hands of law enforcing agencies, but not those exploiting the children. Could rape charges be not slapped against those exploiting child prostitutes, it asked.
   The SG had suggested making village panchayats a key instrument in tracking children and mooted the idea of maintaining a list of children suspected to have been trafficked for sex exploitation or as labourers, child beggars or street vendors. This list must be given to the nearest police station for registration of cases to trace them and bring them back to families, he had said.
   Touching on the problems faced by children trafficked from across the border into India, the SG’s action plan suggested that “children from neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh found in trafficking or working as child labourers shall be first sent to juvenile homes for care and protection through child welfare committees and their embassies must be contacted to make arrangement for repatriation”.
   In an earlier report, the SG had informed the SC that “about 200 girls and women enter prostitution daily of which 20% are below 15 years of age”. “Research on cross-border trafficking has indicated that 5,000-7,000 Nepali girls are trafficked into Indian annually. This research also highlighted that in the last decade, the average age of the trafficked girl has steadily fallen from 14-16 years to 10-14 years,” he had said.

 Source: Times of India, Jan 30, 2010

PROMISES to KEEP

Govt grapples with SC order to universalize ICDS scheme

Over Rs 75,000cr Needed To Implement Apex Court’s 2004 Order

Subodh Varma | TIG

   One of the world’s largest children’s nutrition programme, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), runs in India. Over 72 million children and 15 million pregnant or lactating mothers benefit from around one million anganwadi centres in the country. Started in 1975, the programme was limping along till the SC ordered its universalization in 2004. The court also started keeping a watch on its progress. The government too promised to extend the programme to 14 lakh habitations in the country. Several political parties, including the ruling Congress, promised the same.
   But is the government really putting the money where its mouth is? Analysis done by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) shows that there is a wide gap between the financial allocations currently being made and the need for running such a massive programme smoothly. As the government struggles to meet the Supreme Court’s directions, the state of decay and inefficiency is sought to be papered over with gross figures.
   In the 2009-10 Union budget, the government allocated Rs 6,705 crore for running the currently operational 10.44 lakh anganwadi centres (AWCs) under ICDS. Each has one anganwadi worker and one helper. The worker is paid a measly Rs 1,500, while the helper gets just Rs 750 a month. Each centre gets just Rs 300 for buying stationery, towels, soap etc. About one third of the anganwadis function from rented premises and nearly one-fifth from kuchha structures. Nearly 15,000 anganwadis function in open spaces. Infrastructure facilities are abysmal just 32% have drinking water, 25% have toilets, 29% have kitchens although 60% have cooking equipment.
   Officially, there are supposed to be nearly 11 lakh anganwadi workers and 11.35 lakh helpers, guided by about 8,000 senior officers and over 45,000 supervisors. In reality, about one third of the officer/supervisor posts are lying vacant while about 70,000 workers and 1.22 lakh helpers posts are unfilled.
   The effect of low-paid but over-worked employees, insufficient funds and very poor infrastructure is directly visible in the outcome according to state reports collated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, of the children attending anganwadis, 44% are suffering from malnutrition, including 6% with severe
   malnourishment.
   How can this disaster haunting Indian children be mitigated? As per CBGA calculations, the government needs to spend at least Rs 58,757 crore to set right the currently operational 1,044,269 anganwadi centres. If the ICDS is to be universalized to cover all of India’s 14 lakh habitations (as ordered by the SC), the total expenditure would be Rs 75,055 crore.
   These calculations involve the adoption of a two-worker model since it is impossible for a single worker to carry out the multifarious tasks allotted to her. Salaries are also made commensurate with the work involved Rs 5,000 per month for workers and Rs 3,000 for helpers. Pucca structures for the anganwadis, more funds for overheads and kits, are also included.
   To meet the Supreme Court’s directives, the government is trying to push up the numbers of anganwadis by opening mini-anganwadis with limited scale of operations. But merely having a signboard for an anganwadi in each habitation is not going to tackle the shocking levels of malnourishment currently prevalent in the country’s children. In the forthcoming budget, the UPA government needs to come true on its promise for universal coverage by ensuring that direly needed funds are allocated to this crucial programme.

 Source: Times of India, Feb 21, 2010

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Sarva Shiksha will be used to push Right to Education

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: The notification on the Right to Education is likely to be issued soon as most of preparatory work that has delayed it is nearly over. Even the Planning Commission has promised a big outlay for RTE that would kickstart the historic legislation.
   The HRD ministry had demanded Rs 40,000 crore for elementary education and expects to get a substantial hike from last year’s Rs 13,100 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Plan panel sources indicated that HRD is likely to get more than Rs 20,000 crore for SSA. The Finance Commission has already promised more than Rs 20,000 crore for the next five years for the states.
   After framing the model rules for RTE, drawing out the roadmap and process of harmonising RTE with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan that included changing the latter’s norms, the ministry feels that SSA will be the main vehicle to implement RTE. The executive committee of SSA has already made changes in the norms that do not have much financial bearing and do not need cabinet approval. However, major changes like teacher norms will have a substantial financial implication and will, therefore, be taken to the Expenditure Finance Committee and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
   The lingering question of Centre-State share for RTE is also likely to be resolved soon. The PM has already held a meeting with HRD minister Kapil Sibal, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia in this connection. Sources said while states have been demanding a 90:10 spending pattern between the Centre and states, HRD would like it to be 75:25. “The SSA funding pattern is 55:45 but RTE cannot follow the same pattern. States do not have the money,” the sources said.
   As for the change in SSA norms, it has been decided that all existing Education Guarantee Scheme centres that have been functioning for two years will be upgraded to regular schools.
   Provision has also been made in SSA norms that upto 0.5% of a district’s outlay may be utilised for community mobilisation but it should be within the overall management cost of 6%. Change has also been made in case of provision for disabled children from the existing Rs 1,200 per child annually to Rs 3,000.
   Also, money for civil works can be utilised for library purpose and the fund for a school can be used for buying play material.

Source: Times of India, Jan 30, 2010

Curb child trafficking: SC to Centre

Is India Becoming A Hub Of Child Prostitution, The Apex Court Wonders

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Expressing apprehension that India could soon have the dubious distinction of being a hub of child prostitution, Supreme Court on Friday urged the Centre to weigh the need for creation of a special police force to tackle the problem.
   A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik appeared to have gone through solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam’s report on a mechanism to secure the rights of children.
   The SG had identified poverty and lack of employment as two major reasons for children being trafficked and pushed into prostitution.
   Toughening its stand, the Bench said the time had come for courts to deny bail to those accused of trafficking children and pushing them into prostitution. These observations came during a hearing on a PIL filed by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
   It also wanted to know from the SG why sex workers were facing prosecution and harassment at the hands of law enforcing agencies, but not those exploiting the children. Could rape charges be not slapped against those exploiting child prostitutes, it asked.
   The SG had suggested making village panchayats a key instrument in tracking children and mooted the idea of maintaining a list of children suspected to have been trafficked for sex exploitation or as labourers, child beggars or street vendors. This list must be given to the nearest police station for registration of cases to trace them and bring them back to families, he had said.
   Touching on the problems faced by children trafficked from across the border into India, the SG’s action plan suggested that “children from neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh found in trafficking or working as child labourers shall be first sent to juvenile homes for care and protection through child welfare committees and their embassies must be contacted to make arrangement for repatriation”.
   In an earlier report, the SG had informed the SC that “about 200 girls and women enter prostitution daily of which 20% are below 15 years of age”. “Research on cross-border trafficking has indicated that 5,000-7,000 Nepali girls are trafficked into Indian annually. This research also highlighted that in the last decade, the average age of the trafficked girl has steadily fallen from 14-16 years to 10-14 years,” he had said.

 Source: Times of India, Jan 30, 2010

India becoming a hub of child prostitution, says SC

New Delhi: India is “becoming a hub” for largescale child prostitution rackets, the Supreme Court said on Friday and suggested the setting up of a special investigating agency to tackle the menace.
   A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik asked Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam to examine the idea of setting up a special investigating agency to combat child prostitution rackets and assured that courts would deny bail to those who engage children in commercial sex.
   “It’s happening because of abject poverty and largescale unemployment. All our cultural ethos are going down the drain. India is becoming a hub of such activities,” the apex court said dealing with a PIL filed by an NGO Bachapan Bachao Andolan.

Source: Times of India, Jan 30, 2010

Govt to rope in panchayats to check dropouts, trafficking

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN

New Delhi: The Centre wants village panchayats to be key instruments to curb trafficking of minors and school dropouts and has submitted an elaborate action plan to the Supreme Court for appropriate directions for better implementation of welfare schemes for children.
   “At the level of gram panchayats, a record of all out of school children has to be maintained and even tracked, which includes school dropouts, children who do not attend schools and child labourers whether working in the village or who have migrated from the village to be employed as domestic help,” said Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam while explaining the action plan to a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik.
   If a panchayat finds certain children missing from the village or from the family, it must immediately inquire and lodge a complaint with the local police and pursue the matter till the children were found and rescued from whatever location they might be in, the SG said assuring the court that the action plan had the necessary approval from the concerned ministries.
   “A list of such children who are not with the families and are trafficked must be drawn up at every gram panchayat and consolidated at the mandal/block/district level and should be monitored at the state level and reviewed periodically,” the plan suggested.
   The SG said that the list of children suspected to have been trafficked for sex exploitation or as labourers, child beggars or street vendors must be given to the nearest police station for registration of cases to trace them and bring them back to their families.
   Touching on the problems faced by children trafficked from across the border into India, the action plan said: “Children from neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh found trafficked or working as child labourers shall be first sent to juvenile homes for care and protection through Child Welfare Committees and their embassies must be contacted to make arrangement for repatriation.”
   In an earlier report, the SG had informed the SC that “About 200 girls and women enter prostitution daily of which 20% are below 15 years of age. Research on cross-border trafficking has indicated that 5,000-7,000 Nepali girls were trafficked into India annually,” he had said.

Source: Times of India, Jan 27, 2009

Activists seek a central adoption registry

Will Help Children Adopted By Foreign Couples Trace Their Biological Parents

M Ramya | TNN

Chennai: When they gather enough strength to confront the most basic of questions — who am I, where did I come from — time would have consumed their childhood. The emotional pull to find answers grows with those who have been put up for inter-country adoption that one day they embark on a journey to an alien land, scouting for their parents, clenching a pack of sketchy letters and greying pictures, and placing their bets on luck.
   To make parent-hunting a much more smoother affair, activists have been rooting for a central adoption registry that will maintain the names of the biological parents giving their child for adoption to foreign parents. Esther, who was adopted by a Belgian couple, would have been spared of the wanderings in Chennai in search of her mother and sister had there been a registry. A comprehensive central adoption registry will allow children to trace their roots later if they are so inclined, and enable their biological parents to reconnect with their past.
   “Esther was given up for adoption in 1985, much before the guidelines for adoption were drawn up. But there are more recent cases where tracing biological parents have been futile. When I tried to help trace a person’s biological parent, I failed for want of available records. The adoption agency concerned, which could have had the details, had closed down,” says Andal Damodaran, former chairperson of the Central Adoption Resource Agency and current honorary general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Indian Council for Child Welfare.
   It helps even if the particular private adoption agency shuts down, and also records the actual source of the children put up for adoption, she said. “It’s not in three or four years that a child will come searching for his or her parents. It’s after they become adults that they start thinking about it. The records should be available to them then, irrespective of whether the respective adoption agency is still functioning or not,” she said.
   The current process for putting up a child for adoption requires the biological mother to appear before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and sign papers to surrender the child. The CWC can try counselling the parent into keeping the child. Activists feel that when a mother surrenders the child, she should be given the option of allowing the child to trace her when the child is older and her contact details recorded for the purpose. “There have been cases where the mother has been coerced into giving up the child for adoption. She may be illiterate and signed the surrender papers without knowing the contents. In many cases, the parents are made to believe that they could visit the child regularly, maintain links with the child or receive news of him or her after adoption,” says Vidya Reddy, former secretary of the Tamil Nadu Voluntary Co-ordinating Agency.

The Process Of Adoption


• The biological parents must sign a surrender document to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC)

• Biological parents get 60 days to reclaim the child, after which the child is legally free for adoption

• In the case of abandoned children, probationary officers try to trace the parents by advertising in newspapers

• If there is no response, a clipping of the advt is submitted to the CWC, which certifies that the child is legally free for adoption

• The adoption agency then looks for prospective adoptive parents within the country

• If the child is not adopted within 45 days, the Voluntary Co-ordinating Agency (VCA) takes over

• If VCA can't find parents in 30 days, the Central Adoption Resource Agency gives a NoC for inter-country adoption

Source: Times of India, Jan 28, 2010

SOCIAL REMINDER

SC to juveniles’ rescue, wants law implemented

Sets 6-Week Deadline For Action On 10-Yr-Old Act

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Legislators may have disagreed with judiciary foraying into other’s domain, but 10 years after Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice Act, it was the Supreme Court on Friday which directed all states to strictly implement the socially beneficial legislation.
   The top court was appalled to learn that despite the enactment of JJ Act and framing of rules long time ago, no one — neither the Centre nor the states — had taken any effective measure to implement the law which aimed to prevent children in conflict with law from being banded together with adult criminals in jail.
   When senior advocate Colin Gonsalves and advocate Aparna Bhat pointed out that most states had failed to put in place required number of Juvenile Justice Boards, Child Welfare Committees or Special Juvenile Police units in each district, a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik gave a six week deadline to them to scrupulously set up the mechanism for implementation of JJ Act and report back to the court.
   On the request of solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam who presented an exhaustive outline of paradigm changes being contemplated for welfare of children, whether in conflict of law or rescued from working at hazardous industry, the Bench asked National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to act as the nodal agency in sync with NGOs to monitor implementation of JJ Act.
   But as much as the Bench appreciated the efforts of the solicitor general in coming out with a brilliant report on therapeutic rehabilitation of rescued child labout, it did ask many uncomfortable questions to the Centre and its present policy.
   “You rescue children and put them in reform homes. Why is a child sent by a family to work in an hazardous industry despite knowing that school is the place where he should be. That’s because the child gets some money that sustains the family. As long as the government does not compensate the family for the loss of income resulting from removal of the child from labour, all well-meaning rahabilitation policy will be meaningless,” it said.
   Think of devising a scheme that would give some incentive to the family, in addition to compensating the loss of income, for sending the child to school, the Bench suggested the government look at policies of Latin American countries where additional money is given to the family based on the child’sattendance at school.

Source: Times of India, Jan 23, 2010

Stigma, discrimination still haunts HIV-infected children

Special Correspondent

State’s efforts in rehabilitating them lauded in public hearing

CHENNAI: The case of Dhanam (name changed) of Erode is representative in some measure of the condition of children with HIV/AIDS in the State. Dhanam, 10, was referred to the South Indian Positive Network by Erode Positive Network after her relatives refused to take care of the child who tested positive for HIV. Her grandmother was willing, but too frail to take care of her.

She goes to a school in Perambur and has no visitors except for the grandmother who visits her once in a while. The child needs help and support to meet medical expenses, education and nutritional support. At the public hearing on the rights of children in the context of HIV and AIDS in Tamil Nadu organised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in the city on Thursday, stigma and discrimination, denial of access to education, housing, health, and the traditional support structures the family provides, came up repeatedly during the day. The public hearing accommodated over 20 children affected and infected by HIV.

Shanta Sinha, chairperson, NCPCR, said a number of cases of abuse had come up during the public hearing, directly attributable to stigma and discrimination still present in society. While there was definitely cause for concern, she appreciated the efforts of the State government of Tamil Nadu in bringing down numbers of children with HIV.

The government was doing a good job in terms of providing care and support structures to the children and added that there was much scope for improvement.

The jury, headed by Ms. Sinha, comprised Deepa Dixit and Lov Verma of NCPCR, Geetha Ramaseshan, senior advocate, and Jaya Shreedhar, Director, Media Foundation.

The respondents included representatives of government, including V.K. Subburaj, Principal Secretary for Health; M.P.Nirmala, Commissioner of Social Welfare; S.Vijaya Kumar, Project Director, Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society; and other district collectors.

Tamil Nadu has set up the OVC Trust to provide assistance to children infected with HIV/AIDS or those born to parents with the infection. So far, a total of 1,595 orphan children have been given educational assistance at a cost of Rs.44 lakh; 7,937 infected children have been identified and registered at 35 ART centres; six community care centres have been set up and 39 drop –in centres have been established, according to authorities.

A proposal for nutritional assistance for children and their families has been submitted to the Social Welfare department as a similar scheme offered by TANSACS had come to an end in August 2009.

Source: The Hindu, Jan 29, 2010

HRD ministry frames model rules for states to follow RTE

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: In a significant step towards notification of the Right to Education Act, HRD ministry has finalised the model rules for states for implementation of the new law.
   The model rules finally define the concept of neighbourhood schools and make it clear that there will no discrimination against the 25% children from weaker and disadvantaged groups who will get reservation.
   Also, the minimum qualification for teachers can be relaxed only by the Centre and the period should not exceed three years. The relaxation has to take place within five years of the commencement of the Act. Each state will have to set up a state commission for the protection of child rights and in the interim period they can have a Right to Education Protection Authority. A State Advisory Council will be the highest body to oversee RTE’s implementation.
   There has been considerable confusion about what neighbourhood schools mean. As per the model rules finalised now, a neighbourhood school for class I to V means an institution that exists within one kilometre. For class VI to VIII, neighbourhood schools will be within three kilometres. The rules also ask the states to upgrade the existing class I-V schools to include classes VI-VIII.
   The model rules also make it clear that in case there is no school within the prescribed distance, the state government will make arrangement for free transportation and residential facilities. States have been asked to carry out a detailed school mapping for establishing neighbourhood schools.
   While reiterating that no discrimination on the basis of caste, class, religion or gender be carried out by the states, especially against the 25% reserved children, the model rules say that reimbursement to be paid to schools for reserved students should only consist of expenditure on students.
   The model rules also state that the period of admission can be extended six months from the date of commencement of the academic year. Only schools run by a society, not-for-profit trusts and open to government inspection can be given recognition. The schools should not be used for commercial or residential purpose except for employees. The important school management committee in all governmentaided schools should be reconstituted every two years.

Source: Times of India, Jan 21, 2010

Vigilance dept must give info on graft cases: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) cannot claim blanket exemption from the ambit of the RTI Act, and it has to furnish information relating to corruption cases against government officials, the Madras high court has said.
   “Notwithstanding the exemption obtained by the DVAC, any information relating to the allegations of corruption can’t be excluded from the purview of public access,” said Justice K Chandru, passing orders on two petitions seeking details of officials and the cases being faced by them.
   One case was that of R Karthikeyan who had approached the DVAC and sought to know the number of police officials caught during DVAC raids, together with their names, designations and addresses. He wanted to know the amount recovered from each of the officials, departmental action taken against them and the details of their prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The other applicant, V Madhav, wanted details on the DVAC investigations completed and convictions obtained in the last five years since 2003-04.
   He also sought the names and the posts, besides the description of the charges. Citing an August 2008 state order, the DVAC said it was exempted from furnishing the information. The Tamil Nadu Information Commission ruled that the exemption clause would not be attracted in the case of corruption matters and that the DVAC could claim exemption only in intelligence and security matters. The DVAC superintendent moved the high court against the commission order. DVAC counsel and special government pleader M Dhandapani argued that the commission had erred in directing the DVAC to furnish the information. Krishna Anand, counsel for Madhav, stressed on the transparency of operations of the public official and said the query is only for a statistical information regarding completed investigations. Justice Chandru, upholding the information commission’s ruling, said: “If some organisations operate in different spheres such as intelligence and security, in those areas exemption can be valid.
   But when the same organisation dealt with corruption cases of public servants, then exemption under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act cannot be taken advantage of, since the clause clearly says that information pertaining to the allegations of corrupt and human rights violations shall not be excluded under the sub-section.” The information sought for is wholly statistical information regarding the number of cases filed, their success rate and the post-conviction or posttrial action taken against such officers. “These information are vital in a transparent government, as the public is entitled to know who are facing charge of corruption as well as conviction or acquittal obtained by them. Also, the result of departmental action initiated,” Justice Chandru said.
   He then directed the DVAC to furnish all the required information to the applicants within a period of two weeks.

Source: The Times of India, Jan 13, 2010

CJI comes under RTI Act: Delhi High Court

J. Venkatesan and Nirnimesh Kumar

Single judge order proper and valid, it says

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has held that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a “public authority” that comes within the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and it is bound to provide information about the declaration of asset details by Supreme Court judges.

A Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justices Vikramjit Sen and S. Muralidhar, on Tuesday upheld the judgment of a single judge and dismissed an appeal filed by the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court.

Soon after the ruling, Atul Nanda, counsel for the appellant, made a request for grant of a certificate for appeal to the Supreme Court under Article 134 A of the Constitution. The Bench granted the certificate to file an appeal as important questions of law were involved in this case.

On September 2, 2009, the single judge dismissed an appeal from the Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) against an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) asking the Supreme Court Registry to furnish to RTI activist Subash Chandra Agarwal information in the CJI’s possession on the judges’ assets.

“We are satisfied that the impugned order of the single Judge is both proper and valid and needs no interference,” the High Court Bench said, rejecting the submissions of Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati, who contended: “We cannot expose our judges to public scrutiny or inquiry because it would hamper their functioning and independence.”

Writing the 88-page judgment, Justice Shah said:

“The CJI cannot be a fiduciary vis-À-vis judges of the Supreme Court. The Judges of the Supreme Court hold independent office, and there is no hierarchy, in their judicial functions, which places them on a plane different than the CJI.

“The declarations are not furnished to the CJI in a private relationship or as a trust, but in discharge of the constitutional obligation to maintain higher standards and probity of judicial life and are in the larger public interest.

“In these circumstances, it cannot be held that the asset information shared with the CJI, by the judges of the Supreme Court, is held by him in the capacity of fiduciary, which if directed to be revealed, would result in a breach of such duty.”

Source: The Hindu, Jan 13, 2010

‘Private tutoring can corrupt public education systems’

As education rapidly expands the world over, so does its shadow, the private tutoring system. Mark Bray, director of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris, has tracked what he describes as the shadow education system through a series of pioneering studies spanning all the continents. In an email interview to Subodh Varma, he summarises the situation:

 
 What is ‘shadow education’?
    It is a term used for private supplementary tutoring that parallels the mainstream school system. It has become a global phenomenon, but with different types. Shadow systems catering to high achievers have been prominent in East Asia for several decades. In Eastern Europe, it greatly expanded among all income groups in the early 1990s after economies collapsed. Tutoring has also become more visible in Africa. In part, this reflects teachers’ awareness of revenue-generating opportunities available to them in education systems with weak accountability and supervision. In this respect, Africa may begin to resemble South Asia, where tutoring has become an established part of daily life, especially in urban areas. In Western Europe, North America and Australasia, tutoring remains modest in scale, but has greatly expanded due to competition between schools and as parents see the rewards from investing in it. In Latin America, tutoring is relatively modest except at the upper secondary level.
   Why does it arise?
    Demand arises from competition and rewards from educational achievement, particularly in countries with high-stakes testing and with stratified education systems (either few people going to universities or few people going to good universities). In general, rich families pay for greater quantities and better qualities of tutoring than do middle-income and poor families. But then the competition works down the ladder, so that middle-income and even low-income families find themselves forced to pay for tutoring in order not to be left behind.
   What effect does it have on children and the society?
    In some countries, parents, educators and politicians are highly critical of the way private tutoring has come to dominate the lives of families and pupils. School plus homework plus tutoring does not leave much time for anything else. It can corrupt public education systems, particularly when teachers pay more attention to their private lessons and neglect what they are paid to do. Tutoring can have a backwash on the school system, leading to inequalities in the classroom and to conflicts in approaches to learning (such as mathematics for understanding as opposed to mathematics by formula and by rote). Tutoring commonly creates and perpetuates social inequalities, and it consumes human and financial resources, which perhaps could be used more appropriately in other activities.
   The first thing to do is to recognise its existence – and potential danger. Some regulations can be appropriate, particularly to prohibit teachers from accepting payment for tutoring the pupils for whom those teachers already have responsibility during their normal classes.

Source: Times of India, Jan 11, 2010

Maid tortured, couple arrested

 Bangalore, Dec 29, DHNS:

A 14-year-old domestic help, who was allegedly being subjected to physical and mental torture by her employers, was rescued by the Child Helpline 1098 with the help of HSR layout police here on Tuesday.

The helpline received a call in the morning from an unidentified person who informed them about the girl’s plight.
Durga, an orphan hailing from Kolkata, was working at the house of Chakravarthy (32) and Sinchita (28) at Somasundar Palya in HSR layout for the past one year. Chakravarthy is a businessman whereas Sinchita is a home maker.

Subramani, a coordinator with the Childline, said: “We immediately went to the place to verify the authenticity of the complaint. We found that the girl was indeed beaten up. We then called the police and rescued the girl. Later, we took her to the police station where an FIR was filed.” As Durga’s injuries were severe, she was admitted in the intensive care unit of Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health.

Sinchita also hailed from Kolkata and had employed Durga to look after the couple’s three-year-old child. The authorities have not been able to find Durga’s relatives.
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Karnataka State Commission                         for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) visited Durga in the hospital and assured to take stern action against the couple.

The Association for Promotion of Social Action (APSA), a child welfare NGO, will also look after the tormented girl.Meanwhile, the HSR layout police station arrested the couple and produced them at the residence of the 6th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Churi Khan in Koramangala.

Multiple charges
The couple was charged under sections 373 (buying minor for purpose of prostitution, etc), 374 (unlawful compulsory labour), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and the sterner 326 (voluntary causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), which could land them in jail for life. They have also been charged under sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Since the offense was non-bailable, the couple were remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

The Magistrate fixed December 31 for the prosecution to file its objections. The couple, however, rubbished the charges and claimed these were “fabricated and baseless”.
Sinchita took her infant along with her to the jail. The Magistrate left the matter of the child’s future to the parents as Sinchita refused to hand over the baby to any state home. The couple will be shifted to the main prison.

“We recorded the statement of the girl. Her back was scalded as the couple had poured boiling water and oil on it. Besides, her face was swollen from the thrashing. We went to the Magistrate and presented the report,” said Nina Nayak, Chairperson of KSCPCR.

In 2009, more Muslim children joined school

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: Government’s various initiatives for minorities seem to be paying dividend, with Muslim enrolment in schools — for long a source of deep concern — beginning to grow slowly but steadily.
   The latest figures, part of National University of Educational Planning and Education’s statistics, to be released shortly, shows that both in primary and upper primary levels, Muslim enrolment has improved, and a definite improvement can be seen in north Indian states.
   Data collected from 1.29 million recognised elementary schools in 633 districts revealed a total enrolment of 14.83 million Muslim children in primary classes in 2008-09, which is 11.03% of the total 134.38 million enrolment in primary (I to V) classes. During the pervious year, the same was 10.49% and in 2006-07, it was 9.39%. Of the total Muslim enrolment in primary classes, the percentage of girls was 48.93%, similar to the share of girls in overall primary enrolment (48.38%).
   Bihar continued to be among the performing states while Karnataka showed slow decline in Muslim enrolment, both at primary and upper primary levels. Kerala remained the undisputed leader as it showed big improvement in enrolment at both levels. The percentage of Muslim girls to total Muslim enrolment in upper primary classes is 50.03%, which is above the national average of 47.58%.
   The highest percentage of Muslim enrolment was observed in Lakshadweep (99.73%) mainly due to the fact that the percentage of Muslim population to total population in the UT in 2001 was as high as 95.47%. In Bihar, Muslim enrolment at primary level improved from 11.27% in 2007-08 to 12.96% in 2008-09. Even Assam showed a big improvement: from 31.94% in 2007-08 to 35.08% in 2008-09. Decline was most evident in Karnataka: from 15.06% to 14.67%. In Kerala, enrolment went up to 26.22% from 21.49% in 2007-08.
   Enrolment in upper primary classes also improved to 9.13% in 2008-09 from 8.54% in 2007-08 and 7.52% in 2006-07. Of the total 53.35 million enrolment in upper primary classes in 2008-09, Muslim enrolment was 4.87 million. In Bihar, upper primary enrolment of Muslims improved from 8.22% in 2007-08 to 10.35% in 2008-09. Karnataka recorded a decline: from 16.73% to 13.81%.
   Because of the high share of Muslim population in J&K, 12 districts of the state had above 90% Muslim enrolment in 2008-09 in primary classes which was also true for enrolment in upper primary classes. On the other hand, 25 districts in the country had more than 50% Muslim enrolment in primary classes in 2008-09.

Source: Times of India, Jan 09, 2010

Deposit Rs 3.5 lakh to rehabilitate bonded child labourers, court directs accused

Utkarsh Anand

Posted: Sunday , Dec 27, 2009 at 0314 hrs New Delhi

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/deposit-rs-3.5-lakh-to-rehabilitate-bonded-child-labourers-court-directs-accused/559568/1

A Delhi court on Saturday directed a man accused of employing seven minor children as bonded labourers to deposit Rs 3.5 lakh (Rs 50,000 per child) with the Child Welfare Committee for their rehabilitation, while granting him bail.

The order assumes significance since the Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not speak of imposing such a condition while granting bail to an accused. But in the interest of justice, the court found a way in the Juvenile Justice Act to slap the condition.

Moved by the plight of the destitute children pushed into forced labour, Additional District Judge (ADJ) Kamini Lau called it “ironical” that though the offence of child labour could fetch a maximum punishment of seven years in jail, legal provision made the crime bailable.

The court’s observation came while deciding the bail plea of Mohammed Zunaid, who was arrested on December 19 after police and members of the Child Welfare Committee and NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan conducted a raid at his factory on DBG Road. Seven children in the age group of 7-14 years were rescued.

Zunaid sought bail on grounds that offences under which he was booked were bailable and that he had no criminal history.

But the prosecutor opposed his application, contending that the minors were engaged with severe restrictions on movements and kept as bonded labourers. They were made to work under unhygienic conditions on meagre wages in a place with poor sanitary conditions, thereby committing serious human rights and child rights violations, the prosecutor said.

Notification on prohibition of child marriages welcomed

Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI: The government notification laying down rules for the prohibition of child marriage in the State aims at setting the entire social welfare machinery to the task of frustrating the practice and completely eliminating it from Tamil Nadu.

The notification which spells out the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Child Marriage Rules, 2009, in great detail, has assigned the District Social Welfare officer as the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer. The duties of such an officer will be to “act immediately upon any information of solemnisation of any child marriage,” information about which can be received in writing or orally.

A core committee will also be formed at the panchayat level in order to assist the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer, with the panchayat president as chairperson and including the head master or a senior teacher as local members.

Child marriages are illegal in India under the Child Marriages Restraint Act of 1929 which restricts the age for marriage to 18 and 21 for women and men respectively.

However, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 3, the percentage of women aged 20-24 married before the legal age of 18, stood at 44.5 in 2005-06.

Child rights experts concede that there has been a drop over a decade, but insist that it is certainly insufficient to achieve the target set by the ‘National Plan for Children 2005’ – to abolish child marriage by 2010.

Studies have shown that early marriage has a serious negative impact on the nutrition and mortality of the mother and the child.

The situation in Tamil Nadu, while better than the rest of the country, is still a source of worry since child marriages take place in certain districts.

M.P.Nirmala, Social Welfare Commissioner, says, “Though in Tamil Nadu, we do not have a big problem, there remain pockets in Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem districts where early marriage is being practised.”

She adds that the notification formalises a process that is already being implemented in the State.

“Prevention efforts have been going on regularly. Even recently, our officers stopped the conduct of at least seven child marriages in Salem and Tiruvallur,” she explains. With the government intending to spread awareness on the new rules, information will reach the local community, which can now provide anonymous tip offs to the CMPO, the Panchayat, or the District Collector.

Thomas George, Communications Officer, UNICEF, welcomed the government’s move to notify the Rules.

“The task now is to get the message to percolate down to the social and political systems at the lowest level.” R. Vidyasagar, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF, says though the rules are in place, a sensitive approach must be taken as child marriage continues to be intertwined with social customs, rituals and traditions.

Vivian Rajkumar, Programme Manager, World Vision, has been working in Kalrayan Hills (Salem) for over a decade now, trying to get the society that practises child marriage to outlaw it. He says that lack of education, poverty, coupled with social traditions have made child marriage nearly a norm in the hills.

He again welcomes the government rules, because in his experience, he has found that working with the local tribes has been easier with the help of ICDS staff, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan staff and women police.

Source: The Hindu, Jan 06, 2010

Admin difficulties can’t be cited to deny info under RTI, says HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Pronouncing a series of pro-transparency judgments on Thursday, the Madras high court held that administrative difficulties cannot be cited to deny information to applicants under the RTI Act.
   Justice K Chandru, who delivered three judgments in all, said: “The right to information having been guaranteed by the law of Parliament, the administrative difficulties in providing information cannot be raised. Such pleas will defeat the very right of citizens to have access to information.”
   The first matter relates to an application made to the Tamil Nadu Archives for information relating to old maps, settlement records and title deeds. The archives authorities said they were only custodians of records and they were not bound to provide any information to anyone.
   Noting that the archives had 65 lakh documents concerning 45 government departments, it said without the consent of the parent department the information sought cannot be furnished. Rejecting the submissions, Justice Chandru said Tamil Nadu Archives is a public authority and that since it is empowered to retain records, it cannot object to the disclosure of such information.
   Arguments such as the archives is short of human resources cannot be raised to whittle down citizens’ right to seek information. It is for the authorities to write to the government requesting additional staff depending upon the volume of requests, the judge said.
   The second case was about an RTI application seeking the field inspection report of the ELCOT, which surveyed certain villages in Kancheepuram district to set up an IT park. The applicant, noting that officials had surveyed the area, sought to know the contents of the inspection report, while ELCOT said it could not be compelled to divulge a business secret. Justice Chandru rejected this submission, and said: “A citizen, who survives on the existence of the land is entitled to know whether those lands are to be acquired by such authority, so that they can legitimately object to the acquisition.”
   In his third order, Justice Chandru asked the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission to furnish the mark sheets of Combined Engineering Services examination conducted by it, as the information is not exempted under Section 8 of the RTI Act.
   In all the cases, the judge directed officials concerned to furnish the information sought for within a period of three weeks

Source: Times of India, Jan 08, 2009

Tortured girl suffered bruises: report

Deepika Arwind

BANGALORE: Devi, the teenaged domestic help who was allegedly tortured by her employers, has suffered 23 bruises on her body, two of which are grievous, according to her medical report from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health.

Most of the bruises, also termed contusions, are concentrated on her forehead, eyelids and upper arm. She has also suffered second- and third-degree burns on her back, all allegedly inflicted on her by Infosys employee Pallabh Chakroborty and his wife, Sinchita, at their residence in HSR Layout here.

She was rescued by social workers of the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) last week after an anonymous tip-off.

Devi has been shifted to the APSA premises in Vimanapura from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. Devi, whose real name cannot be revealed under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, was brought to Bangalore from West Bengal by her employers.

The girl, who was employed with them for a year and a half, has allegedly been tortured physically and mentally. “She says that she was also severely humiliated, and made to work wearing only her underwear many times,” says Ms. Sheila Devaraj, director, APSA.

Age uncertain

Her age is still a matter of uncertainty. She was initially believed to be between 15 and 16 when she was rescued on December 29, 2009. While her reports estimate her bone age to be around the same, Ms. Devaraj says that the doctors who have been treating the girl have said she could be less than 14 years old. “We are still trying to get her birth certificate,” says Ms. Devaraj. She claims that Ms. Sinchita has the phone number of Devi’s sister but she is not willing to part with it. “Devi is an orphan and has two sisters who are both married, and not in touch with her,” she says. .

Both Mr. Chakraborty and Ms. Sinchita were arrested when Devi was rescued. Since then Ms. Sinchita has been released on bail while her husband’s plea for bail will be heard on Tuesday.

Ms. Devaraj says that they are going to have an additional lawyer to assist the public prosecutor.

“The additional lawyer is being hired since we need to strengthen the case,” she says. “We have lost about nine cases of child abuse until now, often because the parties do not turn up for the hearing or the public prosecutor does not know enough about the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.”

Nina Nayak, Chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, says, “While the report is very detailed, I wish that the hospital had mentioned history of the case, and some concluding remarks about the overall health and condition of the child, especially as she is severely anaemic.”

Source: The hindu, Jan 08, 2010

Right to education only on paper

Over 4 Mths After Parliament Cleared It, Historic Act Yet To Be Notified

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was billed to be a giant leap towards universalization of education in India. However, it has acquired the dubious distinction of being the only fundamental right that exists just on paper.
   More than seven years after the Constitution was amended in 2002 to make free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6-14 a fundamental right and over four months after the historic Right to Education (RTE) Bill was passed in Parliament, both legislation are yet to be notified.
   Without notification — a mandatory step that gives the exact date from when the law comes into force — the right to free and compulsory education remains just a goal.
   All along, the reason given for not notifying the constitutional amendment was that a law to enforce the fundamental right was not in place. Two years of NDA regime and five years of UPA-1 were spent quibbling over the cost of implementing such a piece of legislation. The bill was finally passed by Parliament last August. Strangely, there is yet no movement towards notification.
   Union human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal has been saying that the face of education will change completely with RTE Act. He is right. However, the trouble is that the objective will remain a distant dream so long as the great ideas of the legislation lack any legal teeth.
   The ostensible reason for the delay in notifying the Act is that its cost is still being worked out. But those associated with its implementation point out that even as the cost is being debated there are other significant things that could have been done by notifying the RTE Act.
   The HRD ministry has pegged the cost of RTE at Rs 1.71 lakh crore for five years.

Result Still Awaited

1993 | Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan judgment talks of free and compulsory education
2002 | NDA regime passes the 86th constitutional amendment, promising free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6-14. From a directive principle, education becomes a fundamental right
2004-09 | UPA-1 sets up two high-powered committees to work out the cost of implementing the Right to Education Bill
Dec 2008 | Bill gets introduced in Rajya Sabha Aug 2009 | Parliament passes RTE Bill. Total cost for five years worked out to Rs 1.71 lakh crore

Without notification, RTE Act won’t serve its purpose


New Delhi: The reason for the delay in notifying the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was the cost factor. The HRD ministry has put the cost of RTE at Rs 1.71 lakh crore for five years.
   “Many reforms in the RTE Act do not cost money. Now if it is notified in the end of March to be applicable from April 1, state governments will be caught unawares. They will be unprepared without budget allocations. That could be a setback. Early notification would have helped put a system in place,” a source said.
   What happens if the Act is not notified? For one, all systemic reforms laid out in the RTE Act cannot be put in place without notification. These include maintaining a teacherstudent ratio of 1:30. “If the Act was in place, steps could have been taken for redeployment of teachers to attain the stipulated ratio. This could have helped bridge the urbanrural imbalance in teacherstudent ratio,” a source said.
   Similarly, provisions in Section 29 of the Act that deal with curriculum and examination reforms could have been put in place. This section aims to free the child from the trauma of examinations and introduce comprehensive and continuous evaluation. It also talks of new learning methods. Even implementing the provision on setting up school management committees with adequate representation of parents would have acted as a watchdog, said sources.
   “These provisions would have cost no money and yet are huge steps forward for systemic reforms,” a source pointed out.
   In the absence of notification, the HRD ministry for the past four months has been working on framing model rules for RTE.

Source: Times of India, Jan 06, 2010

Narcotics case on 8-year-old dropped after rap by court

 Radha Venkatesan | TNN

 Coimbatore: In a curious case, the Coimbatore police has been rapped by a court here for prosecuting an eight-year-old boy on charges of selling drugs.
   The boy was picked up by the police with his 45-year-old mother, Lakshmi, on December 30 for allegedly hawking ganja on Sirumugai Road in Annur. The police registered a case against the woman and named the boy as an accomplice. The FIR said that the boy was eight years old, that he was carrying ganja in his shirt pocket and that he was helping his mother in the illegal trade. The woman was remanded in judicial custody on December 30. As she had no relatives, police personnel took the boy to judicial magistrate Sathiamoorthy for permission to remand him in a home for juveniles.
   When the police personnel presented a certificate from a government doctor saying that the boy was eight years old, the magistrate directed that a radiological test be carried out to ascertain the boy’s age and posted the case for January 4.
   According to Sections 82 and 83 of the Indian Penal Code, no case can be registered against boys less than 12 years of age. Following the magistrate’s observations, the police dropped the case against the boy and sent him to the Universal Peace Foundation’s home for orphans at Karumathampatti.

We had no intention of prosecuting the boy: Cop


Coimbatore: The Coimbatore police have drawn flak from a court for prosecuting an eight-year-old boy on charges of selling drugs along with his mother. Following court’s intervention the case against the boy was dropped.
   “We will not pursue the case against the boy. In fact, we had no intention of prosecuting the boy. The mother did not reveal her
correct address and as we could find no relatives in whose care the boy could be left, we decided to request the court to send him to a home for juveniles,” Coimbatore rural SP Dr N Kannan told TOI.
   The boy’s father is said to be a balloon seller in Ammapet, Salem. The police are trying to locate him so that the boy can be handed over to him.
   When TOI spoke to the boy at the orphanage, he said he was eight years old. He added that though he had never been to school, he would love to go to one.

Source: Times of India, Jan 2010

Cr.PC amendments come into effect

J. Venkatesan

With court’s permission, a rape victim can engage an advocate to help the prosecution

The statement should be recorded by a woman officer in the presence of parents or guardian

NEW DELHI: The Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Act, 2008, which provides for sweeping changes in the criminal justice delivery system, came into effect from December 31, 2009.

The Act, which gives protection to rape victims, got President Pratibha Patil’s assent in January last year, but was kept in abeyance for about a year.

It incorporates the recommendations of the Law Commission, the Justice Malimath Committee’s report and the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court to prevent overcrowding of jails with undertrials. Lawyers stoutly opposed the amendments relating to arrest, notice of appearance before a police office and adjournments, and urged the government not to notify the amended law. So the Centre has decided not to notify Sections 5, 6 and 21 (b).

With the permission of court, a rape victim can engage an advocate to help the prosecution. Any victim’s statement will have to be recorded at the victim’s home or in a safe place or a place of her choice. As far as practicable, the statement should be recorded by a woman police officer in the presence of the victim’s parents or guardian or near relatives or social worker of the locality.

Under the new law, statements can be recorded through audio/video or other electronic means. Investigation of rape/child sex abuse must be completed in three months from the date when information was recorded by the officer in charge of the police station.

The law provides for in camera trials and protection of the victim’s identity, maintaining the confidentiality of the name and address of the parties and conduct of trials by a woman magistrate. It will enable the victim to go on appeal against any order passed by the court acquitting the accused or convicting him of a lesser offence, or awarding inadequate compensation. Such appeal shall be made in the court where an appeal is ordinarily made against the order of conviction.

Right to inform

The Act mandates the police officer making an arrest to bear his identification badge or tag. A memorandum of arrest shall be prepared, witnessed and countersigned. The person arrested shall be told that he/she has the right to inform a relative or friend. To protect the interests of the accused, it stipulates that an arrested person be examined immediately by a medical officer.

It mandates the State governments to establish police control rooms at the State and district levels and display on notice boards kept outside the control rooms the names and addresses of the persons arrested, and the names and designations of the police officers who made the arrests.

The law provides for compensation to victims for illegal arrest and police harassment. In coordination with the Centre, every State should prepare a scheme for providing funds for compensation to the victim or his/her dependants who suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who require rehabilitation.

Whenever a recommendation is made by a court for compensation, the District Legal Service Authority or the State Legal Service Authority shall decide the quantum of compensation. If the trial court is satisfied that the compensation awarded under Section 357 of the Cr. PC is not adequate, or the cases end in acquittal or discharge or the victim has to be rehabilitated, it may recommend compensation.

Source: The Hindu, Jan 02, 2010

Right to free education law will be enforced in April-May’

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act to provide free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6 to 14 will be enforced in April/May after the Rules were put in place.

Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam gave this assurance before a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice B.S. Chauhan hearing a petition filed by advocate M.C. Mehta dealing with child labour.

When the Solicitor General said that the law would be enforced in April/May, the CJI said: “If it is implemented with full vigour, children engaged in labour must be in school and not in work place.”

The Solicitor General said: “We want to put the Rules in place before enforcing the law.” He made it clear that once this law was implemented, the child labourers would be put into school.

He said that after the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan was launched, the dropout of girls from the schools which was 13.57 per cent had come down significantly to 11.36 per cent in relation to girls engaged in agriculture and other activities.

The CJI said: “There is some improvement but not to the full extent in some of the States. Child labour can be completely wiped out if the law is fully implemented.”

The CJI asked the Solicitor General to ensure that no child engaged in labour was in the work place but put in the schools. If this was done child labour would be minimised, he said.

Source: Times of India, Jan 07, 2009

Dumped, kids win suit against parents

Move Court After Couple Remarried, Left Them On Streets In Bengal

Pinaki Das | TNN

Howrah: A teenaged brother and sister in Howrah’s Uluberia have won a maintenance suit against their parents who separated, remarried and dumped them. The father has been ordered to give them a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500 each and to bear the wedding expenses of the girl.

    Karishma (15) and Javeduddin, a year younger, are now looking for their mother to put her in the dock as well. The kids had the perfect world till their pre-teen years. Parents Kutubuddin and Jahanara had married for love in 1990 and it was a happy family. Karishma turned out to be a bright student and was sent to a boarding school. Javed studied in a local school. Without warning, their world fell apart in April 2006. Kutubuddin and Jahanara walked out on each other —and the kids, then aged 11 and 12. Kutubuddin, who owns a zari factory and a shop, remarried. So did Jahanara. No one thought about the children. Left alone, Karishma and Javed walked the few kilometres to maternal grandfather Golam Qader’s house and pleaded for shelter. The elderly man took them in, but his savings ran out by early 2008. Soon, the kids were thrown out of school. With nowhere else to go, the children called on father Kutubuddin, who thrashed them up and drove them away.

    The kids did not know where their mother had gone after remarrying. Crying all the way back from Kutubuddin’s house, they passed by Uluberia court and stopped. Karishma knew this was where everyone got justice, so she walked in, her brother in tow. Lawyer Arif Hasan saw the weeping kids and agreed to take up their case, took them to his home and came back to file a case against the parents.

    The maintenance hearing involving Karishma and Javeduddin against their parents lasted over a year. On Thursday, the court directed father Kutubuddin to submit Rs 80,000 for the children immediately and start paying Rs 5,000 a month for their education. This arrangement will continue till Karishma’s marriage and Javed turns a major. Karishma now has no qualms for moving the court against her parents.

SEEKS RS 5,000 MAINTENANCE

13-year-old boy files domestic violence case against father

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore: A 13-year-old boy in Coimbatore has filed a case under the Domestic Violence Act against his father, a former civic councillor, and grandfather, seeking protection against harassment and a monthly maintenance of Rs 5,000 towards school education. His petition was admitted by judicial magistrate K R Jothi.
   According to the boy, his father D Jayakumar, a former BJP councillor in Veerakeralam and presently in the AIADMK, deserted him and his mother Gajalakshmi in 1997 when he was barely a year old. He and his mother lived separately on the first floor of his father’s ancestral property at Veerakeralam while his father and grandfather, Dhanapalan, lived on the ground floor. “The boy’s mother sold her jewels and built the first floor of the house. So, she continued to stay there,” the boy’s counsel Vennila told the magistrate.
   According to the counsel, the father and grandfather recently made the boy and his mother vacate the house. He said the father also refused to let the boy retrieve a hall ticket to attend a Sainik school entrance exam this week.
   When the magistrate inquired why the minor had filed the petition instead of his guardian or a child protection officer, the counsel explained that his mother faced arrest owing to a complaint filed by the father alleging assault.
   As the “whereabouts of my mother are not known and I am on the streets, I request you to give police protection for me to stay in my house, which is an ancestral property,” the boy stated in his plea. The magistrate then admitted the plea, which invokes charges under the Domestic Violence Act and the Criminal Procedure Code, and issued an ex-parte direction to the Coimbatore police to provide protection to the boy. The case has been posted for hearing on January 11.
   Subsequently, the mother also moved the city civil court and obtained anticipatory bail.

 Source: Times of India, Jan 07, 2010

RTE Act to cover kids with disabilities

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: Children with physical, learning and speech disabilities would now be put under the disadvantaged category in the Right to Education Act. The Cabinet will soon take up HRD ministry’s cabinet note seeking amendment in the RTE Act. Another amendment seeks to exempt schools run by minority organisations from setting up School Management Committees.
   However, the amendment bill will be introduced only in the budget session of Parliament. In the last session of Parliament, when the RTE Bill was passed, disabled rights groups had protested against non-inclusion of disabled children in the disadvantaged category. Disability will be further explained to include disabilities mentioned in the People with Disabilities Act and National Trust Act. But since PWD Act does not include cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disability, RTE amendment bill will specifically mention disabilities like dyslexia, aphasia and learning and speech disabilities.
   The proposed amendment, sources said, will exclude schools managed by minority organisations from constituting School Management Committees. Right now, only unaided schools not receiving any kind of aid or grant from the government or local authorities are excluded from setting up school management committees (SMCs).

 Source: Times of India

Overhaul of adoption laws soon

Mahendra Kumar Singh & Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: In a move that will empower women to take guardianship and adopt children irrespective of their marital status, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday will consider amendments to the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, (GAWA) and the Hindu Adoption Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA).
   At present, if a couple adopts a child, it is the man who is the guardian. The proposed amendments will make the status of the guardian gender-neutral. They will also make it easier for men or women living separately from their spouse, though not formally divorced, to adopt. However, consent of the spouse will be mandatory to adopt.
   According to the Central Adoption Resource Agency, 6,000 children are up for adoption but activists say the numbers are much higher. Added to that are the unaccounted number of children living on the streets, abandoned or deserted children and children of migrant workers and commercial sex workers. While the government recognizes these children to be in need of care, little is done in that direction.
   Law Commission member Kirti Singh welcomed the proposals but said both legislation required overhaul.
   NGOs welcomed the government’s move to amend the adoption laws but advised caution. Pratidhi’s Raj Mangal Prasad said, “It is a positive step. Laws must be made flexible for children in need of care and protection. But a monitoring mechanism should be in place so that this is not misused.”
   Jerry Pinto from NGO Butterflies said the amendments would open more doors for abandoned or destitute children, currently confined to non-caring institutions. “But we must be careful. How do you balance two vital roles that both parents play? There are many cases of single parents but it is an abnormal situation and not healthy for the child. Parents must make adequate arrangements for making up for the absence of the other spouse,” he said.

PARENTAL SUPPORT

Laws may be changed to enable women to also be considered ‘guardian’ of adopted children

Adoption may become easier for women living separately from spouse, but not divorced

However, spouse’s consent for adoption would still be mandatory

Now, ‘stateless citizenship’ stares at surrogate twins of German couple


New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s worst apprehension appears to have come true. The surrogate twin babies of a German couple have virtually become “stateless citizens” with India refusing them citizenship and Germany not ready to recognise surrogacy as a means of parenthood.
   Finding the surrogate babies caught in no man’s territory on legal grounds for no fault of theirs, a Bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly vented its anguish, “Should we treat children born out of surrogacy as commodities?”
   This slashing remark came after the couple –– Jan Balaz and Susan Lohle –– could give no final word to the SC whether the twins could get German citizenship in the event that India did not agree to grant citizenship to them.
   But the Bench did not want to keep hanging the surrogate children’s fate and firmly said that it was in favour of devising a mechanism to ensure that surrogate babies were not treated as commodities.
   “Statelessness cannot be clamped upon the children. There must be some mechanism by which they get citizenship of some country. Children should be allowed to leave the country after an assurance of their citizenship has been given,” the Bench said.
   Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam appeared to have been caught in a legal dilemma and attempted to put forth the government’s predicament before the Bench. “This gentleman (Jan Balaz) has come to India without making proper enquiry. He made no attempt to find out the status of surrogate children and entered into an agreement with a surrogate mother. The German law does not recognise surrogate children. Now, how can the child be given passport for statelessness?”
   Not to leave the matter without finding a proper solution, the Bench posted it for hearing on Thursday and asked the German couple to give a specific undertaking ––one relating to the citizenship status of their surrogate children and secondly, in the alternative, an undertaking to initiate formal adoption proceedings.
   “If there is reasonable certainty of the children getting citizenship, only then we will direct the ministry of external affairs (MEA),” the Bench said, adding that else, the couple could initiate formal adoption proceedings.
   Treating this as a special case, the SG agreed to request the MEA to take up the matter with the German consulate, to interview the couple and get an assurance about the children. However, the SG also raised certain other questions –– what would be the fate of the children even if an Indian passport was to be granted? What happens if the babies are picked and sent for slave labour?
   Brushing aside the SG’s apprehensions, the Bench was unwilling to assign the Centre the role of a mute spectator in this emotive real-life drama and abdicate its share of responsibility.
   “We want to know since when this matter has been debated in public or even in the media. We are on a side issue of judicial activism. In such matters, the people’s representatives should step in to preserve the interest of the people, as this involves largely poverty-stricken people. But if this area remains unoccupied with both the legislature and executive having not stepped in, under the Constitution, who should step in,” the Bench said.

 Source: Times of India, December 16, 2009

Employing kids in family biz could be banned

Planning Panel’s Move In Sync With Right To Education Bill, Which Bars Child Labour

S Seethalakshmi | TNN

Bangalore: Lakhs of children across the country slave away in dingy factories simply because it’s family business.
   In the absence of a clear-cut ban, labour departments can’t even raid these units and rescue them. But, now the Planning Commission is coming to their rescue by pitching for a ban on employing children in this sector, sources said.
   Terming the present Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 ridden with loopholes, the commission said in its strategy note as part of the 11th Five Year Plan: “Shockingly, the law does not prohibit child labour if rendered for one’s own family, even if it is hazardous. It has no purview over regulating the conditions of work, if children are engaged to work by the family. The law has also completely left out children working in agriculture.With the passage of the Right to Education Bill 2009, the first step is to clearly enunciate a policy that no child must work and every child attends full-time formal school. And this is non-negotiable.’’
   Planning Commission sources told STOI: “We’re aware this will shake the fabric of small-family businesses that employ their children and demand it as their right. But continuing this will make the Right to Education Bill 2009 redundant. We cannot have a parallel law that encourages children to work while they ought to be at school.” Currently, lakhs of small family businesses from carpet-making to embroidery to automobile units employ children below 14 in hazardous environments under the guise of skill training.
   “There is no denying that there is a broad relationship between poverty and child labour. But all out-of-school children must be treated as child labourers or as those who have the potential to become child labourers. Thus, all work done by children, irrespective of where it is done, must be considered as child labour. Only then girls and children working within the family become a part of the strategy to eliminate child labour,” said sources in the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on whose recommendation the Planning Commission is acting.
   While the Planning Commission’s much-delayed move offers some hope for lakhs of working children, how soon the cabinet will green light it remains to be seen.

The Plan Ahead

Coverage of 3.5 crore children who are out of school and school dropouts in child labour

Focus on those in the 9-14 years age group

Financial implication of Rs 4,057.7 crore

Sources: Times of India, Dec 13, 2009

WORLD DAY FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE

Aiding child abusers with silence

Schools Prefer To Hush Up Incidents Of Violence And Perversion Involving Staff

M Ramya | TNN

Chennai: Joseph Arulraj, a gardener, was expelled from a city school for girls for misbehaving with students. A few months later he found a job in a nearby school and had the same access to children.
   The management of the school from where he was expelled said, “We didn’t want our school’s name to get embroiled in a controversy and the parents of the students who reported this were also keen that the matter be hushed up. So we sent him away. But now we are worried when we see him in a similar position.”
   Most schools faced with such situations, react in a similar manner. “No school will accept that one of its staff is an offender, be it corporal punishment or child sexual abuse. The importance due to this exercise is lost in their image-building exercise,” says Andal Damodran, president, Tamil Nadu chapter of the Indian Council for Child Welfare.
   Schools say the first time such an offence is reported the teacher is called and warned, the second time a memo is given and the offence recorded in the register. “If the teacher continues to beat or abuse children and is unable to control his/her anger then he/she is expelled and the service certificate withheld. But we have had no such cases,” says Chitra Prasad, senior principal of NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
   A national study of child abuse by the
ministry of women and child development in 2005 says that two out of every three school-going children faced corporal punishment. It also says that 53.22% said they had suffered one or more forms of sexual abuse and that 50% of the abusers were persons known to the child or in a position of responsibility, including school authorities.
“School teachers show a high attrition rate and most of the time the new organisation recruiting the teacher is unaware of his/her history and conduct. There is a need for a central database that contains records and observations of such detrimental activities by teachers, which school managements can refer to before employing a person. It could be on the
lines of the records that pop up to show that a person has defaulted on a credit card payment when he tries to get a bank loan,” says Shree Niketan Matriculation School correspondent P Vishnucharan.
Andal Damodran says that while other countries have a registry of child sexual offenders there is a lacuna of such data in India. “To avoid such people from migrating from place to place wreaking havoc, it is not enough for schools to have a code of conduct. Schools must also have a response system through which complaints can be taken and investigated. There should be a two or three-stage inquiry. And schools should make the results of the enquiry known, without worrying about whether it would damage the school’s reputation. The school’s brand value can only increase through this,” she says.
ramya.m@timesgroup.com

‘Set up spl courts for child abuse cases’

Bhama Devi Ravi | TNN

Chennai: Setting up special courts and making radical changes to laws are needed to effectively address the issue of Child Sexual Abuse(CSA), say lawyers and activists. “Often investigation drags on for years, and by then the child is confused whether she was touched on the right or left side first, and similar aspects of investigation,” said All India Federation of Women’s Lawyers national secretary K Santhakumari.
   According to the State Crime Records Bureau report (2008), CSA cases in Tamil Nadu are increasing every year. A child is sexually abused in Tamil Nadu every second day; 265 cases were filed in 2008, 141 in 2007 and 125 in 2006. “But the figures do not reflect reality, since many cases do not get registered,” said Human Rights Court special public prosecutor V Kannadasan. “Only 20% of the accused are convicted and if the chargesheet is filed after 90 days, the accused is entitled to bail while the victim is still suffering,” he said. “The Juvenile Justice Act recommended the setting up of a special police wing to handle such cases but that has not happened,” he added.
   “A special court will have a pan-India jurisdiction and will be in a better position to understand the nuances of such cases, which cannot be clubbed with regular criminal cases,” said Geeta Ramaseshan, a lawyer. “There is a huge area in the investigation process where you need to work with empathy but often policemen misguide families, raising the bogey of social stigma,” she said.
   Five years ago, the apex court (in the Sakshi vs Union Of India case) mandated that questions put to a victim would first be shown to the judge who would pose them to the victim shielded by a screen. Vigorous cross-examination that adults are subjected to should be avoided, it added. However, the ground reality is very different, say lawyers and prosecutors.
   To ensure that victims do not suffer the ignominy of a long-drawn court case, “an amendment in CRPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) is required, which will stipulate the time frame within which the case has to be filed,” said Kannadasan. “This will ensure that prosecution can also have a directive on proceeding with the case, as it does in the case of Domestic violence Act (60 days)” he added.
   As an interim measure, CSA cases can even be handled by Mahila Courts, felt Shantakumari.
   
T H R E E TO U C H I N G RU L E S

Rule 1: It is never all right for someone to touch your private body parts except to keep you clean and healthy. It is never all right for someone older or bigger to ask you to touch their private body parts
Rule 2: If someone tries to break Rule 1, or if you feel confused or uncomfortable about any touch, say “No” and get away
Rule 3: If someone tries to break Rule 1, tell your parents or guardians about it and keep telling until you get the help you need. Never keep secrets about a touching problem

Source: Times of India, Nov 19, 2009

Teacher held for molesting students

Times of India, Dec 12, 2009

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Cuddalore: A headmaster of a private school has been arrested on charges of physically and sexually assaulting four second standard girl students near Chidambaram in Cuddalore district.
   Police said R Arun (27) of Keezhaperambai near Chidambaram, a headmaster in a private school in the same locality, had allegedly subjected girl children to abuse. Children obeyed his instructions, as he used to beat them severely if they failed to do so.
   The issue came to light when one of the girls refused to go to school for three consecutive days and, on being pressed by her parents, informed them about it.
   The enraged parents lodged a complaint with the Annamalai Nagar police station. Sub-inspector Manimalli visited the school and questioned students and staff members.
   “Four girl students pursuing class II in the private school spoke about what their headmaster did to them. There are visible marks of physical violence on the victims’ arms. He also handled science classes for them and used to instruct the four girls to come to his room alone after class hours and molested them,” Manimalli told The Times of India.

HC allows girl to live with adoptive parents

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Caught in an emotional tug-of-war between her adopted parents and biological parents for 17 years, a Plus-Two student has told the Madras High Court that she wanted to live with her adoptive parents.
   “I want to go with my adoptive parents, with whom I have been living for over 17 years now," Madhu poured her heart out before a division bench comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice D Hariparanthaman on Monday. The judges nodded in agreement and permitted the girl to be reunited with her adopted father, SP Nagalingam.
   Madhu was adopted by her own aunt, Nagalingam's wife, in 1992, when she was still a toddler. Now she is studying in a Manali New Town school. A couple of months ago, her biological parents wanted her back for some reason, which included the fact that their only son suffered from certain mental disorder.
   When the adoptive parents turned down their request, the biological parents allegedly forcibly took the girl away while she was returning from her tuition classes. Nagalingam filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court, seeking a direction to the Minjur police to produce the girl in court and set her at liberty.
   As per court orders, Madhu was 'rescued' from her own biological parents and produced in court. With the quarrelling families watching the proceedings from a distance, Madhu spoke out, clearly and coherently. She said she was "very much interested" in living with Nagalingam and his wife, as they brought her up for the last 17 years.
   Expressing her unwillingness to stay with her biological parents, Madhu said she had "no objection to her natural parents visiting her whenever they want to see her — without seeking her custody and without disturbing her studies."
   The judges, impressed at her “strong statement,” said they had no option but to allow Madhu to go with her adoptive parents. They also pointed out that the only allegation levelled by the girl's natural parents was that her adoptive parents were making arrangements to get her married off. However, denying the allegation, the adoptive parents said they were interested in her studies and that no marriage proposal was on. When contacted, the Minjur inspector of police, Mohammed Nasar, said the whole controversy arose because Nagalingam did not follow the mandatory procedures while adopting Madhu in 1992. “It was all in the family, and hence they did not foresee any trouble. Though the families approached the police initially, no complaint was given by either of them. Later, as per court's directions, we rescued the girl,” the inspector said.

Source: Times of India, Dec 12, 2009

Soon, online records of disabled kids

Karthika Gopalakrishnan | TNN

Chennai: Children with disabilities will soon have a comprehensive record online of their personal history, medical intervention and academic performance, thanks to a new software developed by the state authorities of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Promoted as a prototype for national implementation, information from the Data Based Monitoring Software (DBMS) will be uploaded online for the public to have access to the records, authorities said.
   “We wanted to create a child-oriented software to assemble a database on the children since there is no real data source under the Inclusive Education for the Disabled (IED) component of SSA. The software will help avoid wastage of staff time, since officers will not have to visit the districts to collect data,” a senior official associated with the project said.
   The profile of each of the 1,18,151 children with disabilities identified by the state government will be divided into his/her personal assessment record. Along with biographical details, the memorandum will contain information about whether the child attended regular school, received home-based care, was enrolled in a day care centre or was covered by a residential bridge course designed for those with mental retardation.
   “If a child has received home-based care, the software will have a record of the last four visits made. On the other hand, if a child has attended regular school, the DBMS will have details about the school and subject-wise academic achievements in each term. The record will have details of medical camps attended by and health interventions suggested,” the official added.
   According to feedback received from special educators and IED district coordinators at a state-wide meeting recently, authorities said the software would also list out peer groups of children with mental retardation since their support was important to aid the learning process.
   “The software will also hold records of special educators, the number of children they handle, what sort of disabilities the children have, which NGO the special educator belongs to and so on. The system will enable us to compile data based on any type of search query. Since it has not been outsourced, the cost of developing the software was low. We will present the software, complete with all the data by end March or April next year.

Keeping An Account

Disabled children to have a comprehensive record online of their personal history, medical intervention and academic performance
New software developed has been developed by the state authorities of the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
The software will also list out peer groups of children with mental retardation to aid their leaning process
To be uploaded online eventually for public access

Source: Times of India, December 13, 2009

“Child abuse cases on the rise”

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: The criminal justice system has to do a lot more while conducting the trial of cases involving child victims, stressed Madras High Court Chief Justice and a retired Supreme Court Judge.

They were speaking at the fourth annual Tulir-Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse lecture here on Saturday.

In his address, Arijit Pasayat, retired Judge, Supreme Court, said there had been an increasing number of cases of abuse of children, rape being the worst crime of all.

In most cases, courts were helpless, as witnesses did not come forward.

Quoting newspaper reports, he said the National Commission, set up to protect the rights of children in the last one year, received about 700 complaints.

The Judge said there was no severe punishment for offenders of repeated crimes. Though there can be scope for repentance, he wanted punishment to be more deterrent.

“Rape destroys the entire psychology of a child. There are courts dealing with such offences, but such cases must be dealt severely and sternly. We need to have sensitised judges and social advocates,” he said. Talking about improving the atmosphere in trial courts, he said courts should play a purposeful role as delay in trial of such cases would result in threat to the victim. Chief Justice of Madras High Court H.L. Gokhale in his presidential address said Tamil Nadu was better than other States as trials were completed in two years.

Source: the Hindu, Dec 6, 2009

B’lore school forces kids to run around playground

Class 1 Kids Punished For Not Pinning ID Cards To Uniform

Shruthi Balakrishna | TNN

Bangalore: Corporal punishment raised its ugly head once again in Bangalore on Friday. Three six-year-old girls in Class I of a school were made to run 10 times around the school playground (which measures around 60 m x 60 m) and do 50 sit-ups — all because they forgot to pin their identity cards to their uniform.
   What’s worse, it was the school principal and vice-principal who supervised the punishment that morning.
   As it happens, one girl had her ID card in her bag. Her repeated pleas not to be punished fell on deaf ears. When she returned home in the afternoon, she complained of ear pain. Her mother said the girl had complained of breathlessness after finishing 10 rounds. “In spite of that, she was not given water. Though she refused to run, the principal insisted. We took her to a doctor who confirmed that the pain in the external ear was due to holding it during the sit-ups. She is now complaining of body pain.”
   The mother added: “I hate punishment. I don’t punish my daughter at home. She is softspoken and not known to misbehave. I feel children should not be punished at all.”
   The parent of another punished girl said her child had a viral fever last week and been advised complete rest. “I did 10 rounds and 50 sit-ups which was too much,” the girl told STOI.
   Two weeks ago, another Class 1 student had forgotten her ID card and was given the same punishment. This, despite her carrying an injury sustained earlier which had resulted in five stitches to the head.
   On Saturday, the principal of the school located on Kanakpura Road addressed about 50 parents who demanded an explanation on the school’s methods of disciplining children.
   The principal acknowledged that the girls had been punished but it was done to discipline the children. Parents argued it was wrong for a school head to make such statements. The principal finally assured them that such incidents would not happen again.

THE LAW SAYS...    

The Supreme Court, in December 2000, directed the state to ensure that children are not subjected to corporal punishment in schools 
Section 5.6 of National Policy on Education, 1986 states that ‘corporal punishment will be firmly excluded from the educational systems’ 
National Charter for Children 2003 recognizes a child’s right to protection against corporal punishment

Source: Times of India, Dec 06, 2009

Child rapists should be hanged: Ex-judge  

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Punishment for the rape of a child should be nothing less than a death sentence in any court of law, according to retired Supreme Court judge, Jutice Arijit Pasayat. Delivering the fourth annual Tulir Centre for the Prevention & Healing of Child Sexual Abuse
lecture on ‘Improving experiences of child victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system’, Pasayat said that incidents of child rape had gone up alarmingly. All cases of child rape, he suggested, should be moved to fast-track courts to speed up delivery of justice.
   Citing specific cases of child sexual abuse, Pasayat said he often felt the judicial process was cumbersome for the victim and that judgments were lenient. “We may have 9% (economic) growth, but we are heading towards moral bankruptcy if we are not able to control such brutal violence against children,” he said.
   Compared to the legislation in several countries, Indian laws had several lacunae, beginning with the lack of a definition for a child in the Indian Penal Code, according to Pasayat. “Few sections define child sex abuse. In fact, there is no law that deals with repeated offences against the same child. Undue sympathies to those found guilty of child rape are likely to do more harm,” he said.
   Pasayat pointed out that courts should also ensure that a child who had already been physically traumatised should not be put to psychological pain. “Sometimes, child witnesses are also forced to face a similar situation. Defence lawyers force the child to be descriptive about the crime,” he said.

Source: Times of India, Dec 06, 2009

Mother trying to sell newborn held

Two Touts Arrested For Striking Rs 70,000 Deal With Mumbai-Based Man

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai: Turning the spotlight on yet another baby trafficking racket in the region, police nabbed a woman attempting to sell her four-dayold infant for Rs 70,000 in Tenkasi in south Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district. Two women, who are already facing five cases involving the abduction of 15 babies, and had helped 29-year-old Selvi to trade her new-born baby, were also arrested on Thursday.
   Only in June this year, the Tirunelveli police had cracked down on an illegal child adoption racket in which at least 20 babies had been found to have been sold through a private children’s home to childless couples since the year 2006. The incident sent shock waves in the district and opened up a murky world of baby trafficking deals.
   In the Thursday incident, the tip off came from a woman, Saraswathi, who led the police to the culprits even as the booty was being shared and the baby was to be taken to Mumbai. Tirunelveli SP Asra Gargh said Saraswathy had lodged a complaint with the Tenkasi police alleging that a woman, Selvi, was attempting to sell her baby with the help of some women.
   Police rushed a team to a street near Selvi’s house in Tenkasi town and came upon four people, including the two woman brokers, arguing over how to divide the spoils. The baby was yet to be handed over to the buyer. Police picked up Selvi, Subramanian and the two woman touts, Kottaithai and Mayilu.
   Investigations revealed that Saraswathy’s husband Suresh living near Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district was approached by a friend Kannan, residing in Mumbai, seeking his help to adopt a male baby. Suresh in turn sought the help of his uncle Subramanian (50), a paramedic in the Tenkasi government hospital.
   Subramanian contacted M Kottaithai (65), a known baby broker with a track record for sourcing’ babies. Kottaithai and Mayilu, another tout, convinced Selvi (29), living in their neighbourhood and pregnant then with an illegitimate child, to sell the baby after it was born. Selvi, married to Maari, had four children already. Keen to get rid of the baby after its birth, she agreed to the Rs 70,000 deal.
   The money was to be shared among the gang — Rs 15,000 for Subramanian, Rs 15,000 each for Kottaithai and Mayilu, with Selvi settling for Rs 40,000, which included Rs 30,000 for her medical expenses. Selvi went into labour on November 30 and delivered a baby boy, much to the relief of the gang which immediately chalked out plans to take the infant to Mumbai. This was when the police caught them..
   Tenkasi DSP R Seenivasan said all the four including Selvi, Subramanian, Kottaithai and Mayilu were arrested and Rs 65,000 seized from them. Kottaithai and Mayilu had already been booked in five cases of child abduction and kidnapping in 2008 and 2009. The two had allegedly kidnapped 15 children and almost all of them were rescued by the police. Selvi was also sent to the Palayamkottai prison in Tirunelveli along with her baby.
   Kannan told the police that he was unaware that the baby was purchased illegally and that he was under the impression that he was getting it through an adoption centre.
   timeschennai@timesgroup.com

Source: Times of India Dec 5, 2009

Central programme to improve quality of education kicks off

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The state government on Friday announced implementation of the Union government-assisted Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), aimed at improving the quality of secondary education at a cost of Rs 151.44 crore.
   The scheme seeks to ensure universal access to secondary level education by 2017, provide access to higher secondary education by 2020, removal of g e n d e r and socioeconomic bar riers and ensure basic amenities and required infrastructure for schools. The state government had allocated Rs 200 crore in the budget as its share for the scheme. As the Centre had to bear 75% of the project expenditure, it would contribute Rs 113.58 crore out of the
   Rs 151.44-crore needed for the current year, while the state would contribute Rs 37.86, the remaining 25 per cent, an official release said. Under the scheme, a grant of Rs 40,000 each would be given to 4,841 high schools and higher secondary schools at a cost of Rs 19.36 crore, besides Rs 25,000 each for carrying out minor repairs. Also, 200 new high schools would be set up at a cost of Rs 116.25 crore, the release added. As many as 18 model high schools would also be set up in educationally backward districts.

 Source: Times of India, Dec 05, 2009

Equal share for child care not a must: HC

Shibu Thomas | TNN

Mumbai: The law requires a salaried couple who have gone their separate ways to contribute for the maintenance of their child. The Bombay High court in an important order has now ruled that this contribution need not be equal.
   “(The contribution of each parent) is to be decided on the facts,” said a division bench of Justice Sharad Bobade and Justice Shahrukh Kathawalla, while ordering a 28-year-old Pune resident to shell out more money for the maintenance of his child as he drew a bigger salary than his wife.
   Under Section 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the court is empowered to make provisions to decide on the custody, maintenance and education of the child “as it may deem just and proper.” Courts in the country usually abide by the settled principle of law that “the welfare of the child is paramount”. The HC said that other matters such as the parents’ incomes, the child’s needs and the like may also be considered while taking a call on the provision of maintenance for the child of divorced parents.
   “While it is correct that both spouses are obliged to contribute towards maintenance of the child, this need not be an equal contribution,” said the judges.
   Pune residents Rahul (28) and Reema’s (27) marriage broke down soon after the wedding. The custody of their minor son was given to Reema. Since both the spouses were salary earners, the family court rejected Reema’s application for alimony, but asked Rahul to pay Rs 800 as monthly maintenance for their three-year-old son. Reema then moved the high court, seeking an enhanced maintenance amount. The high court agreed that a maintenance of Rs 800 was paltry. The HC referred to the fact that Rahul’s monthly salary was Rs 10,000, while Reema earned just Rs 3,000 per month. “He (Rahul) is obliged to provide maintenance proportionate to his earning and bearing in mind the needs of the child,” said the court directing Rahul to pay Rs 1,500 a month towards maintenance of their son.

Source: Times of India, Nov 29, 2009

Malnutrition reaches epidemic proportions in Madhya Pradesh

Mahim Pratap Singh

Malnutrition, especially among tribals here, is much higher than in sub-Saharan Africa: Report

‘Children appear extremely weak, show malaria and dengue like symptoms and die within 4 days’

JHABUA (M.P.): Malnutrition has reached epidemic proportions in most parts of Madhya Pradesh, with children being the most vulnerable group.

This, along with a general deterioration in the health conditions of children and continuing government apathy towards tribal regions, has resulted in a large number of child and infant deaths being reported.

Over 25 children died in two villages of the Jhabua district in the past four weeks. Agasia and Madarani villages, falling in the Meghnagar block of the predominantly tribal district, registered 27 deaths since October 19.

Alarmingly enough, most of these children were in the 0-6 age group and most weren’t even registered at the local anganwadi centre. Agasia and Madarani are just a small part of the larger story that has emerged. Recent reports from Sidhi district mention the death of 22 children in 48 days since August 2009. Malnutrition, especially among the tribal populations of the State, according to the reports of the Supreme Court Commissioners and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, is much higher than in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-III, 60 per cent of the children in the 0-3 years category in Madhya Pradesh are malnourished, while 82.6 per cent in this category are anaemic. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the State stands at 70/1,000, while the same indicator for tribal areas is 95.6/1,000.

In October, Hindu The first reported severe malnutrition among the Kol tribal group in Jawa block of Rewa district. Recently, the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an international appeal to several organisations urging them to persuade the State government to address the issue. The AHRC report mentions that over 80 per cent malnourished children are in Rewa.

The deaths in Jhabua have reportedly been caused due to symptoms resembling those of dengue and malaria along with high incidence of anaemia. However, the alarming levels of malnutrition in the region could be the primary cause, leading to a fall in immunity levels.

“We have discovered 14 deaths till now and the primary causes are severe malnutrition, anaemia and falciparum malaria,” says Meghnagar Block Medical Officer (BMO) Vikram Verma.

“Anganwadis are located far from these regions and the ANMs [Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives] too hardly ever reach there. This, along with the remoteness of these tribal regions, compounds the problem. We are taking this seriously and efforts are on to address the situation.”

While the BMO’s statements acknowledge the seriousness of the situation, the ambiguous position of the Health Department comes to the fore with an entirely different version of the story from the joint director of Health. “There have been only four deaths and that too, in early October. I have ordered action against the supervisor and the ANM and served a show cause notice on the BMO over the delay in reporting this situation,” said K.K. Vijayvargiya. He refuted any role of malnutrition in the deaths. “Although the reasons are not clear, there definitely is no malnutrition, maybe just seasonal fever.”

The apathy and indifference displayed by the health officials have led the villagers to seek medical help from quacks and private practitioners. “The children here appear extremely weak and show malaria and dengue like symptoms and die within an average span of four days,” says Ajit Singh, a local journalist.

While the Health apparatus is obviously not serious about handling the issue, other social welfare schemes do not seem to be helping either. The fathers of all the four children who died in Agasia village were not with their families as they had migrated to seek employment since their National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme cards were being withheld by the village sarpanch.

The displacement of tribal groups from their traditional forest dwellings, where they had access to minor forest produce like berries and other fruits to feed their children, has made matters worse in a scenario where the Public Distribution System shops in tribal areas often open only once a month.

The last reports received from the region said one more child died in Madarani. The situation in Agasia, where four deaths have taken place, was deteriorating, with eight children in the 0-6 age group being critical. The district administration’s response, however, continues to be cold.

Source: The Hindu, Nov 28, 2009

CRY on a signature campaign to bring amendments to Act

Staff Reporter

A child participating at a public hearing in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: Child Rights and You (CRY) held a “Public Hearing” on equal education to all here on Friday, as part of their nationwide campaign inviting people to sign a charter to the Government asking for three amendments to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

The charter demands that children below six years, as well as between 15 to 18 years are included in the main provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. It states that the Act should ensure there is a school with qualified teachers and proper facilities within a kilometre of any habitation. Another demand is that 10 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product be allotted to education.

According to Regina Thomas, Director of CRY, the Act has several gaps that will result in unequal access to the fundamental rights of children. By garnering public support for the charter, CRY hopes to bring the Government’s attention to the need for the amendment of the Act. “We have already finished the public hearing in Kerala, and we will be conducting it in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh after the one in Karnataka,” she said.

The signed charter will be presented to the Governors of the respective States over the next month, and at the final public hearing in Delhi on December 11 — which is the anniversary of the day India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child — it will be given to President Pratibha Patil. “We hope to collect half a million signatures from across the country,” she added.

At the public hearing, the children said they had to drop out of school for various reasons such as poverty and bad quality of education, discrimination against the Dalit students, and owing to inadequate facilities in anganwadi schools.

The panel listening to the hearing included C.K. Dwarakanath, Chairperson, Backward Classes Commission Karnataka, Mathew Philips, Director, South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring and Nandini of Action Aid.

Source: The Hindu, Nov28, 2009

Pilgrimage centres turning into sex hotspots: Report

Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: The search for the divine has ended at more earthly pleasures. Two independent studies have pointed to a disturbing trend that pilgrimage centres are changing complexion to become hubs for sex tourism. Alarmingly, it is children that are the most vulnerable.
   A nationwide study by NGO Gram Niyojan Kendra commissioned by the ministry for women and child development — that studied 68 places of tourist interest — found that after major cities and places for sightseeing, pilgrim centres were a growing hub. Incidentally, the report said that domestic tourists were “overwhelmingly involved” in sex with commercial sex workers while foreign tourists were “engaged” in paedophilia and sex with minors through short-term marriages.
   The study, however, clarified that foreign tourists visiting India for sex were restricted to a few places rather than the entire country.
   A study by Bangalore-based NGO Equations earlier this year has said that increasing number of cases of child abuse were being reported from pilgrim sites like Tirupati, Guruvayoor and Puri. The study — ‘Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism: The Indian Context’ — looked into exploitation of male children, but pointed out that the same was true for women as well..
   Both reports have also pointed to the lack of legislation at the state level or detrimental measures to control sex offenders from revisiting sites. Troubled by reports of such blatant violations, the Union tourism ministry is now working on a code of conduct for ethical tourism. In a high level meeting recently, the ministry has decided to lay down terms and conditions involving major stakeholders like tour operators, hoteliers and taxi owners. “We are very disturbed by these reports. We will, in coordination with the UNODC and NCW, work to create awareness,” Sujit Banerjee, tourism secretary, said.
   Among the issues that the ministry has on its agenda are cancellation of licences or registration of hotels, tour operators, tourist guides in case charges are proved against them for being party to child abuse and restrict the entry of foreigners found guilty of sexual abuse.
   The ministry has also urged states to enact a legislation along the lines of Goa Children’s Act 2002. The ministry is also keen on sensitising state governments to create tourist police that are trained and equipped to handle the issue.

Source: Times of India, Nov 25, 2009

Film fest to mark day for prevention of child abuse

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: ‘Not seen, not heard’, a two-day film festival to mark World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, will begin on Friday. It will kick off with Marina Zenovich’s ‘Wanted and dead’ on the year-long events following the arrest of filmmaker Roman Polanski on charges of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. The films covers a wide area, including media attention, clips from Polanski’s films and the way the case played out in the court of a personality-driven judge. The screening at South Indian Film Chamber will be followed by a panel discussion on preventing child abuse.
   On Saturday, the Barry Levinson-directed ‘Sleepers,’ revolving around four friends getting abused in jail and a thirst for revenge 13 years later, will be screened at the US Consulate. This will be followed by Denzel Washington’s ‘Antowne Fisher’ about a violenceprone sailor facing up to his painful past and working up the courage to trace his family.
   Entry is free for the festival being organised by the US Consulate General, Tulir-Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), the Madras Film Society and Indo-Cine Appreciation Foundation. Seating will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Source: Times of India, Nov 24, 2009

Diarrhoea, pneumonia, not AIDS the biggest child-killers

Hanoi, Vietnam: Diarrhoea doesn’t make headlines. Nor does pneumonia. AIDS and malaria tend to get most of the attention.
   Yet even though cheap tools could prevent and cure both diseases, they kill an estimated 3.5 million kids under 5 each a year globally — more than HIV and malaria combined.
   “They have been neglected, because donor or partnership mechanisms shifted their emphasis to HIV and AIDS and other issues,” said Dr Tesfaye Shiferaw, a UNICEF official in Africa. “These age-old traditional killers remain with us. The ones dying are the children of the poor.”
   Global spending on maternal, newborn and child health was about $3.5 billion in 2006, according to a report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That same year, nearly $9 billion was devoted to HIV and AIDS, according to UNAIDS. Pneumonia is the biggest killer of children under 5, claiming more then 2 million lives annually or about 20% of all child deaths. AIDS, in contrast, accounts for about 2%.
   If identified
early, pneumonia can be treated with inexpensive antibiotics. Yet UNICEF and the World Health Organization estimate less than 20%of those sickened receive the drugs. A vaccine has been available since 2000 but has not yet reached many children in developing countries. The GAVI Alliance, a global partnership, hopes to introduce it to 42 countries by 2015.
   Diarrheal diseases, such as cholera and rotavirus, kill 1.5 million kids each year, most under 2-years-old. The children die from dehydration, weakened immune systems and malnutrition. Often they get sick from drinking dirty water. The worst cholera outbreak to hit Africa in 15 years killed more than 4,000 people in Zimbabwe last year. The country recently reported new cases of the waterborne disease, and more are expected as the rainy season peaks and sewers overflow.
   Rotavirus, a highly contagious disease spread through contaminated hands and surfaces, is the top cause of severe diarrhoea, accounting for more than a half million child deaths a year.
   A vaccine routinely given to children in the U.S. and Europe is expected to reach 44 poorer countries by 2015 through the GAVI Alliance. “Every child in the United States gets it, even though they have access to clean water and hygiene,” said John Wecker, of the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, a Seattle-based nonprofit that is part of the vaccine alliance. “The only effective way to prevent these deaths is through vaccination.” AP

Source: Times of India, Nov 22, 200

Incidence of rape shot up by 733% since 1971: Study

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The incidence of rape has risen 733% between 1971 and 2001 — and no, there are no decimal points missing in that figure. That’s just one of the facts in Prajnya’s report, ‘Gender violence in India’, released in Chennai on Monday.
   The report, released before the start of Prajnya’s 16-Day Campaign Against Gender Violence, is a compilation of statistics and is aimed at drawing attention to the need for better monitoring of gender crimes.
   “The report gives details on six forms of gender violence — rape, honour killings, domestic violence, child marriage, pre-natal sex selection and dowry deaths, which are muchdiscussed but still under-researched,” says Swarna Rajagopalan of Prajnya Trust, an NGO working on peace and security issues.
   During the 16-day campaign from November 25 to December 10, Prajnya will hold an event a day at different locations. “We’ll be having poetry readings, workshops with nursing students, theatre workshops, symposia on mental health and even a kutcheri to get people from different backgrounds to talk about gender violence,” says Anupama Srinivasan, campaign co-ordinator. For details, log onto www.prajnya.in/16days.

 Source: Times of India, Nov 24, 2009

No need to involve cops in adoption cases: HC

Chennai: Ruling on a guardianship case on Friday, Madras high court Justice K Chandru said delay in disposing off adoption cases by district courts should be dealt with strictly by the HC. The present guardianship case relates to a petition by a person called N John in 1999 for appointing him as guardian of his cousin’s minor children.
   When the matter came up for hearing in September 2009, the HC directed the registry to call for details of such pending cases from all courts dealing with adoption and guardianship cases. The courts were also directed to give reasons for pendency. The subordinate courts said that the pendency was on account of delay in submission of reports by probation officers and scrutinising agencies. Justice Chandru said the courts must not involve probation or police officers in such matters.
   In case of any doubt about the bonafides of adoption or guardianship application, then the courts could call for reports from scrutinising agencies like the Indian Council for Child Welfare or the Indian Council for Social Welfare.
   “Adoption and guardianship issues entirely come under the family law jurisprudence. Therefore, the question of involving either the police or probation officers and letting them loose on the parents is unwarranted,” Justice Chandru said.

Source: Times of India, Nov 22, 2009

HC criticises lower courts for delaying adoption cases

  Subramani | TNN

 Chennai: Slamming subordinate courts for inordinate delay in disposing of adoption and guardianship cases, the Madras high court has said that they must clear such cases with the utmost sensitivity and diligence.
   As on date more than 970 cases, filed under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act and the Guardians and Wards Act, are pending before various courts in Tamil Nadu. Many of them are pending since 2006.
   Delivering the order in a guardianship case on Friday, Justice K Chandru said that the Supreme Court had laid down a timeframe of two months to conclude such cases. Scores of cases were pending for more than three years in some courts in the state. “It is a disquieting factor to see that the current pendency of cases in some districts show an alarming picture and slackness in dealing with such matters, despite the binding law laid down by the Supreme Court,” he said.
   Such defiance shown by district courts should not be tolerated by the HC, which should take a serious view of the matter, Justice Chandru said.
   The case relates to a petition filed by N John in 1999, seeking to be appointed guardian of his cousin’s two minor children. The parents of the children had died and John, a retired government employee, and his wife had been taking care of them, the petition said.

SPEEDING UP SYSTEM

·         970 cases pending before various courts in state, some since 2006  

·        Apex court wanted such cases to be concluded in two months, says HC

·         Defiance by district courts should not be tolerated, it says

·         No need to involve probation or police officers in such cases

·         Presenting minor children in courts for every hearing not necessary

Source: Times of India, Nov 22, 2009

Chennai   

Major role for schools in preventing child abuse

Meera Srinivasan

Experts believe that sustaining such efforts is real issue

Schools should pay attention to their screening and recruitment process

CHENNAI: Several events were organised in the city on Thursday to mark the ‘World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse.’ However, some activists and experts believe that sustaining such efforts is the real issue. They feel every day ought to be a ‘prevention of child abuse day’.

From abusing children emotionally for “poor academic performance” to sexual abuse, many children are being subjected to a lot of abuse, if reports of incidents highlighting these are an indication. But, there is something everyone can do to prevent this.

For instance, Lady Andal Matriculation School has been taking several efforts in this direction. In particular, it lays emphasis on generating awareness of child sexual abuse (CSA). Vice-principal Rathi Radhakrishnan says: “Everyone tends to brush such things under the carpet, saying child sexual abuse should not be there in schools. But, the truth is that it is there. Acknowledging the possibility [of CSA] is very important.”

From inviting experts in the field to address students, to sensitising teachers, the school has been taking up several efforts. “We even address the little ones in our Montessori sections about who can hug them, and how they should identify inappropriate, unacceptable behaviour of adults.”

Jayashree Padmanabhan, principal of Gill Adarsh Matriculation School, also thinks it is important for children to be given opportunities to speak out. “We wanted to know their opinion on child abuse and we organised events such as oratorical contest, debate and slogan-writing competition today [Thursday]. They came up with some very insightful thoughts.”

Underlying the role of schools in creating awareness, Tulir — Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse has initiated ‘Daring to Care,’ a school-based campaign.

The initiative seeks to rope in city schools into the space of prevention of CSA. “Many schools have been extremely cooperative. Some have even distributed flyers to their kindergarten children with their school’s logo on them,” says Vidya Reddy, executive director, Tulir. Safe schools acknowledge and accept the possibility of abuse in and out of school. “They talk about it, giving children a notion of their safety,” she adds.

Schools should pay attention to their screening and recruitment process. “They have to see what kind of training is given to teachers on child protection, what measures are taken to maintain safety in schools, whether there is a code of conduct and questions such as, How do you report an allegation of abuse? And how do you address it?”

Complaint cell

The School Education Department launched a complaint cell (Number: 28273591) two years ago. According to a senior official at the Directorate of School Education, the cell does get calls from students reporting sexual abuse. “But, the number of such calls has come down.” The Chief Education Officers have been given instructions to deal with such cases “responsibly.” And responsibly would have to be taking the matter to the police immediately, and not merely transferring teachers, which is a common practice, say activists.

Interest to spread the message from different quarters is a promising sign. An online network of mothers, www.chennaimoms.com, has been sending out messages to parents on the possibility for abuse online and the need for Internet safety. “Many children spend considerable time online. Many parents said they did not know that such threats existed and seemed happy to become aware,” says Bhavani Raman, founder, chennaimoms.com.

Source: The Hindu, Nov 20, 2009

Children of a lesser god in tinsel town

Bharati Dubey | TNN

Mumbai: “Mere charon bachche shooting mein jaate hain,’’ says 32-year-old Sarita, carrying her year-old son Santosh. “Even this one has earned his first salary shooting for Jeevan Saathi,’’ she adds, naming a popular soap.
   Sarita’s kids take turns bunking school to go for 8-hour shooting shifts. They come home with less than Rs 100 each. “We need the money to pay the rent. My husband is a tailor but doesn’t earn enough. My mother-in-law also lives with us. How will we feed so many mouths without help from the kids?’’ she reasons.
   Children from slums in Jogeshwari, Bandra, Thane, Chembur and Borivli run after shooting co-ordinators, demanding work in film and television. Even if that means making Rs 100 when the actual amount that is allegedly paid to the supplier by a producer is close Rs 500 (a junior artiste registered with the junior artistes’ association gets about Rs 783 per shift).
   “Kids need to report at 6.30 am for an 8 am call time,’’ says a shoot co-ordinator. “Most of the money is spent on travelling. Of the amount given to us, almost 50% of the amount is taken away by the one who supplies the junior artistes. The rest is shared between me, the helper and the child artiste.’’
   Radha (36) earns about Rs 100 as a helper who takes kids to shooting locations. “Once on a shoot, a kid wanted to use the bathroom. With no toilets around, I had to take her behind the bushes. After we returned, the production guy scolded me for delaying the shoot. We were there since 8 am but the first shot was canned only at 2 pm,’’ she recounts.
   Mohsin (11), who has done bit roles in Jyothi, Uttran, Jeevan Saathi and a few films, says, “Sometimes we don’t get food on the sets. Then our co-ordinator buys us vada pav.’’
   “I remember a serial where a rain song was being canned. While the child star and lead actors were whisked away to their vans in towels, these kids were left shivering in wet clothes,’’ says a helper. “A child junior artiste makes between Rs 60-100 per shift on TV. Almost 50% of this is taken away by the artiste supplier,’’ says a co-ordinator.’’
   Sonjoy Wadhwa, the producer of serials such as Jyothi and Balika Vadhu refutes charges that junior child artistes are paid less. “I don’t know what suppliers pay but we pay them as per the rules. Most children in our serials are sourced through proper production executives,’’ he says.
   Parvez Shaikh, an artiste coordinator, says the job scene for junior child artistes has dropped after Slumdog Millionaire. “It’s getting difficult for me and the children of Garib Nagar in Bandra,’’ he says. “The children keep coming to ask for work but there’s not much to offer now.’’
   Sometimes the need for money is so great that the slum kids are sent to work in any circumstances. Dinesh Chaturvedi, general secretary of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, spotted a junior child artiste vomiting. “But his mother would not take him home. The children work in poor conditions but nobody comes to complain for fear of losing out on money,’’ says Chaturvedi.

Source: ToI Nov 17, 2009

UP IN ARMS

Plan to amend RTI Act invites protest from activists

Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: With the government’s tacit acceptance of the fact that amendments to the Right to Information Act (RTI) were on the agenda, activists are planning to step up protests and garner support from political parties.
   On Saturday, DoPT secretary Shantanu Consul admitted that the government was deliberating on amendments to the Act even as he assured activists that the changes would only be finalised after a public consultation.
   National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) member and RTI activist Nikhil Dey said even as it waited for the government’s draft version, organisations were working to gather support at the state level. “We will be organising state level agitations to resist changes to the Act and also petition political parties to take public position against amendments,’’ Dey said. He added that the “threat’’ to changes in the legislation were very real but the battle was far from over.
   The NCPRI had organised a protest march in Delhi on Saturday and hopes to keep up the momentum.
   “If it requires, we will approach the Congress leadership. We have reason to believe that there are sections within the party who do not support the amendments even as there are some who are determined that these changes come through,’’ Dey said.
   Among the proposed amendments that are currently being considered by the government are discouraging “vexatious and frivolous’’ requests for information and exempting matters that are “discussions or consultations before a decision is arrived at’’— a euphemism for “file notings.’’
   RTI activists pointed out that two current nation-wide studies, one under the aegis of the Centre and the other by people’s organisations (RaaG and NCPRI), have both concluded that the main constraints faced by the government in providing information is inadequate implementation, the lack of training of staff and poor record management.
   Neither of these studies has concluded that the occurrence of frivolous or vexatious applications is frequent enough to pose either a threat to the government or to the RTI regime in general.
   “Certainly, no evidence has been forthcoming in either of these studies that access to “file notings” or other elements of the deliberative process has posed a major problem for the nation.
   On the contrary, many of the officers interviewed have candidly stated that the opening up of the deliberative process has strengthened the hands of honest and sincere officials,’’ an activist said.

Source: ToI, Nov 17, 2009h

Bombay HC framing new rules for international adoptions

Swti Deshpande | TNN

Mumbai: International adoptions hold a fascination for many adoption agencies across the country. For the child, it is an opportunity to get a family’s love. But in a rising number of cases, children put up for adoption abroad are abandoned or forced to return to India. When that happens, they often have nothing to fall back on. To ensure a safety net for cross-border adoptions, the Bombay high court is for the first time suggesting the establishment of a National Children’s Trust Fund.
   Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud is in the process of finalising guidelines on foreign adoptions and steps that need to be taken to ensure the children’s welfare. On Friday, at an in-chamber hearing in which Asha Bajpai of TISS and additional solicitor general Darius Khambatta participated, the court considered shortlisting several systemic changes to the procedure. The judge said that children who are abandoned or forced to return cannot be left to chart their course through unknown territory and without institutional help. In a radical proposal, it was suggested that $5,000 should be deposited by each foreign adopting parent before the adoption is finalised. The funds thus collected would then be used for supporting children who return to India.
   In one case, still pending before the Bombay HC, Jennifer Haynes (27) adopted 20 years ago by a US couple, was sent back on certain charges. She moved the HC, saying she has no identity left and nowhere to stay. In another case, a 14-yearold girl also adopted by a US family, was sent back after she developed psychiatric problems. The question is who should fund her treatment—Wide Horizons for Children (WHC), the adoption agency that had placed her for adoption and then flew her back in September 2008 or Central Adoption Resources Agency which gave the permission to bring her back or the Indian Council for Social Welfare under whose care she is now. The Indian council wants the adoptee parents and the WHC to pay for the treatment.
   The HC has said that proper psychiatric evaluation prior to such international adoptions is also a must. Advocate Jamshed Mistry, who has dealt with several cases of foreign adoptions, said that records of foreign adoptions must be scrupulously kept by the agency that facilitated it for the 60-year period as mandated by the Hague Convention to which India is a signatory. But the practice is sometimes not followed. On adoption by a foreign national, the process of naturalisation of the child ought to begin immediately.

Source: ToI, Nov 17, 2009

SC notice to Centre on child labour

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL pointing out a loophole in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, permitting families to engage their minor sons and daughters in rolling beedis.
   A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam issued notices to the ministries of labour, women and child development and health and family welfare on the PIL filed by NGO “Health for Millions”.
   Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Anand Grover said the proviso to Section 3 of the 1986 Act created the mischief as it “permits employment of children in hazardous processes of beedi rolling being carried on in workshops as part of family labour”.
   This negated the object of the social welfare legislation to ameliorate and mitigate the distress of working children, he said. “While Section 3 precludes employment of children in factories manufacturing beedis on the ground that the beedi making process was hazardous to children, the proviso permits children to be employed in beedi making processes as part of family labour in workshops,” the NGO said pointing out the dichotomy. TNN

Source: Times of India, Nov 17, 2009

Child Rights

Dissolving dreams

Alamin Ali is a precocious 13-year-old with big dreams. He wants to live in a big house and drive a big car. At 13, he does know quite a bit about houses. He makes bricks for a living. He wakes up at 6 a.m. to go to work in the brick kiln with his parents till about 11.30 a.m. After a break he does another back-aching stint from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Alamin etches his dreams on paper, in drawings, of living some day in the big houses that he helps build.

November 14-21 is the UN Child Rights Convention (UNCRC) week. This year is significant because it is 20 years since the CRC was signed. India is one of the signatories to the Child Rights Convention. However, little has changed on the ground for millions of children in the country. India's report card on the status of its children is not a cause for celebration this Children's Day.

Article 32 of the UNCRC recognises the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that interferes with a child's education or harmful to the child's health or physical, mental or social development. Brick kiln work is one such hazardous and exploitative form of labour recognised by the International Labour Organisation (Convention 182) as intolerable.

Amending the law

Alamin is one of 13 million children below the age of 14 who are engaged in child labour in India. Though the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act does ban child labour, it only applies to those categories of work that it deems “hazardous.” This is unacceptable as any form of child labour is a complete violation of children's rights. Until the law is amended to ban all child work and more importantly, the law is effectively enforced, India can only get a 2 out of 10 on our report card on how it fares in the treatment of its children. Also, more importantly, the social and cultural sanction of child labour must end.

Article 28 of the UNCRC recognises the right of the child to education... “and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, the State parties shall, in particular: (a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all...”

Seven million children are still out of school in a country where education is a fundamental right. The majority of these tend to be the most socially excluded groups such as disabled children, children of migrants, street and working children. Crucially, only 47 per cent of children finish elementary schooling with 20 per cent dropping out by Grade II. True , advances have been made with the Right to Education Bill being passed this year and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan making some headway. While many more schools may have been opened, whether children actually learn within schools is debatable. Our schools and education system must be made inclusive and relevant to the most marginalised and underprivileged children in society and quality of education improved to meet diverse needs. Until this happens, India can only get a 4 out of 10 on the report card.

Preventable tragedies

Article 6 of the UNCRC recognises the inherent right of every child to life. In India, a tragedy quietly unfolds everyday across villages and towns but receives scant or no attention. According to government sources, 45 children die every hour due to respiratory infections! One child dies every two minutes due to diarrhoea! Over four lakh children die within the first 24 hours of life every year in India mainly of diseases that are easily treatable and even preventable. Despite a decade of rapid economic growth, India's record on child mortality at 72 per 1000 live births is worse than that of neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh. India ranks 171 out of 175 countries in the world in public health spending, and nearly 50 per cent of India's children remain malnourished. Despite myths that the costs of reducing child mortality are high, there are examples from within India itself that low-cost interventions could prevent children dying needlessly by up to 70 per cent if provided universally. On present trends India will only reach the Millennium Development Goal 4 on reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2020. India can get no more than a poor 2 out of 10 on this report card.

India's progress can only be measured by the progress it makes in securing the rights of its children. This is critical to ensuring sustainable progress in social and economic productivity. We owe it to the future of our country, our children, that we invest in their well being. Only then can we truly celebrate a day dedicated to children.

Ananthapriya Subramanian works with Save the Children.

Source: The Hindu: Nov 15, 2009

Amendments to Right to Information Act on the anvil

Vidya Subrahmaniam

Activists led by Aruna Roy submit letter containing their misgivings

“RTI constrained by inadequate implementation, lack of trained staff, poor management”

New Delhi: The Department of Personnel and Training (Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions) has admitted that the government is considering amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2005.

The admission, which came at a meeting between RTI activists and DoPT Secretary Shantanu Consul on Saturday, ended the suspense over whether or not the government was contemplating amendments to the RTI.

Speculation in this regard started following a meeting that the DoPT had with Information Officers on October 14 where a proposal for the amendments was formally put on the table. However, the government refused to confirm or deny the move, leading to a growing anxiety in RTI circles.

Significantly, Mr. Consul assured the delegation led by Aruna Roy of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), that the amendments will only be introduced after hearing the views and objections of civil society groups. He said the department would initiate a “transparent and consultative process,” including putting up the draft amendments on the DoPT website, to enable public and civil society participation in their implementation.

Mr. Consul also said the amendments would not go through if civil society groups were able to convince the government that they were not necessary, and the purpose for which they were being considered could be met in other ways.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of activists from the NCPRI and other organisations gathered at Jantar Mantar to warn the government against tinkering with the RTI Act, 2005.

The delegation that met Mr. Consul presented him a letter containing their misgivings over the proposed amendments. The letter was signed. among others by Ms. Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shekhar Singh of the NCPRI and Annie Raja of the National Federation of Indian Women.

Apprehensions

The signatories said they had apprehensions that the government was moving towards amending the RTI and cited as evidence the October 14 meeting between the DoPT and Information Officers.

The RTI activists also wrote to the Prime Minister on October 20, which was signed by dozens of public-spirited citizens. The letter argued that the proposed amendments — envisaging exemption from disclosure for official discussions and consultations (previously known as file notings) and prohibition of frivolous and vexatious complaints — far from strengthening the Act, as promised by the President in her June 4 address to Parliament, would in fact emasculate the Act.

The letter quoted two nation-wide studies, “one done under the aegis of the government,” to make the point that RTI was constrained, not by issues being considered for amendment such as frivolous complaints and file notings, but by inadequate implementation, lack of trained staff, and poor management. There was no suggestion in either of the studies that RTI work was hampered by “frivolous or vexatious” applications or by disclosure of “file notings,” it said.

The letter said: “This government gave its citizens the RTI Act, and there has been no crisis in government as a result of its enactment. In fact… its use by ordinary people is helping change its (the country’s) image to that of an open and receptive democracy. An amendment in the Act would be an obviously retrograde step, at a time when there is a popular consensus to strengthen it through rules and better implementation...”

Source: The Hindu, Nov 15, 2009

Court directions on dealing with victims of child sexual abuse

Staff Reporter, The Hindu,  Oct 24, 2009

“Children are the weakest and most vulnerable section of human population”

One cannot be sure all cases of sexual abuse against them are reported to police”

CHENNAI: Expressing concern over “alarming” increase in the number of children being subjected to sexual abuse, the Madras High Court has issued a series of directions to the State government, Police Department as well as trial courts on how to deal with such victims.

Dismissing a bail application filed by a person accused of raping his 15-year-old daughter, Justice K.N. Basha said: “Children are the weakest and most vulnerable section of human population… One cannot be sure that all cases of sexual abuse against them are reported to the police.”

The judge directed the government to take immediate steps to prevent child abuse besides rehabilitating the victims. He suggested the setting up of separate legal cells for handling child sexual abuse cases in coordination with Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) in the districts.

Police officers were directed to depute women personnel to interrogate the victims of sexual abuse through in-camera proceedings with the assistance of CWCs. Repeated medical examination of such victims should be avoided. Women doctors should be engaged, wherever necessary.

Providing police protection to the victims and complainants during the course of investigation and expeditious completion of trial were the other directions. Judicial officers were asked to conduct such cases on a day-to-day basis in respect of examination of victims and witnesses.

“Children have been declared national assets. Hence, it is a legal as well as moral obligation to take care of their welfare and protect them against all sorts of exploitation — social, moral, religious or otherwise. It is high time the government takes steps as directed by this court,” Mr. Justice Basha observed.

He recalled that a study conducted by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development along with UNICEF had found out that 70 per cent of children did not complain to anyone. Two out of three children had been physically abused. Persons in trust and authority were found to be the major abusers.

Results of another study conducted in 2007 revealed that 53.22 per cent of children faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. Children on the streets, at work and under institutional care reported the highest incidence of sexual assault.

The saga of the second girl child

M. P. PADMAKUMAR

The saga of the second girl child makes the case for some wilful introspection by all and sundry in these heady times. In scores of low to upper middle class households, this second-person-singular happens to be the most unsolicited intruder into the peace and tranquility of the delicate domestic air.

Her arrival many a time unsettles the delicate balance of equations in households to the extend that fathers go gloomy, mothers end up cursing themselves and the elder sibling, though happy, yet unhappy over the prospects of dwindled future shares. Yet, despite the ominous presence of utrasonograms and deceitful in-laws, the second girl child makes her unpleasant mark in the households of uninspired, yet benevolent parents, even though to be eternally chided, perhaps unknowingly, over the slightest of pretexts. She is the bad omen of the ever-wavering modern middle class, not to speak of the classes lower to it. She arrives mostly at the most inopportune time when the family, after experiencing the perils of and coming to terms with the not-so-pleasant event of the arrival of the first girl child, in all desperation pins hopes on the next progeny, is all eager and hopelessly poised for the revelations of the cruel and impassionate ultrasonogram.

As the female doctor, always in hushed guilt-ridden tone, reveals the news, the father braves a smile that resembles an unshaven premier of a failed country and the mother yet again in all sobs, wilfully taking the blame for herself and future generations. Yet like in all magical societies of all banana republics, the girl survives, consistently crushed by the weight of her legacy, that is never to leave her at the least till she had set up her own household to perpetuate it still further.

Betrayal

And, alas, the egalitarian society too, the illogical legislative musings of which incidentally is the cause of this piece, despite all the rhetoric, betrays her in every significant way that law could lay hands on. Ironically enough, in the name of the girl child, it crucifies the second sibling of the same sex. Laws of the egalitarian land shamelessly stipulate that the sops for the single girl child, if ever any, vanish the moment the second girl arrives on the screen. Unlike China, where single child norm is in practice, this country has not as yet made one family one child a norm. Yet, to those who brave the irresistible temptations of ultrasonograms and intended misconceptions, life is even made harder, for the crime of deciding to opt for the hard way of the second girl.

The hapless parents are constantly at a loss to fathom why on earth the alms for single girl child vanish the moment the second sex of the same feather is born. Is it not politically correct to double the benefit when the next girl arrives at least to clear off the stigma of her birth and to offset the unbalance it creates? If, for the argument that the parents who sacrificed the benefits of a could-be male child by sticking to one girl sibling only must be compensated through law, then much in the same breath can it not be argued that the parents of the second girl child must be more vigorously lauded for resisting the temptations of female foeticide? Are not these sops for the single girl child indirectly abetting the termination of the second one of the same gender? Are not the visionaries formulating such politically correct laws not privy to the common sense that single children growing up in lonely surroundings end up problem children more often adding up staggering counselling costs to the society? Can a step in the right direction make the distance twice further? All these and more are questions that make the saga of the second girl child all the more poignant and also a true indicator of the yet another paradox of the times we are in.

Source: The Hindu, Nov 15, 2009

Teacher asked to pay Rs 1L for parading student naked

Sun, Nov 15 09:46 AM

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) A Delhi court has directed a retired school teacher to pay a compensation of Rs one lakh to a student for parading him naked for taking bath in a water tank in the school premises 12 years ago. Additional Sessions Judge Pratibha Rani ordered release of convict P C Gupta (65) on probation of good conduct for two years, allowing his appeal against one year jail term and a fine of Rs 2,500 awarded to him by a Metropolitan Magistrate.

"I do not find any special reason for not granting probation to the appellant (Gupta) especially when he has faced the agony of trial for 12 years and is no more in service so as to be in a position to repeat the offence," the court said. Even though the act of Gupta needed to be condemned, the sentence was "disproportionate" to the nature of offence, the court said.

It, however, directed Gupta to deposit Rs one lakh which would be paid to the victim as compensation. The counsel for the student, on his part, had opposed grant of probation to him contending if such benefit was extended to such type of teachers, it would send a wrong signal to the potential offenders.

According to the counsel, the victim, a student of Government Boys Sr Secondary School here, was beaten up mercilessly on September 25, 1997 by Gupta and was not even allowed to put on his clothes as he was caught taking bath in a water tank of the school. .

Source: Times of India, Nov 15, 2009

Virus can exploit your PC for child porn

Pranksters, Paedophiles Can Tap Comps Without Users’ Knowledge To Remotely Store Their Stash

   Of all the sinister things that internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.
   Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses — the malicious programmes better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it’s your reputation that’s stolen. Paedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they’ll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal websites.
   Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer — and might not realize it until police knock at your door.
   An Associated Press investigation found cases in which innocent people have been branded as paedophiles after their coworkers or loved ones stumbled upon child porn placed on a PC through a virus. It can cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove their innocence.
   Their situations are complicated by the fact that actual paedophiles often blame viruses — a defense rightfully viewed with skepticism by law enforcement.
   One case involved Michael Fiola, a former investigator with the Massachusetts agency that oversees workers’ compensation. In 2007, Fiola’s bosses became suspicious after the internet bill for his state-issued laptop showed that he used 4 1/2 times more data than his colleagues. A technician found child porn in the PC folder.
   Fiola was fired and charged with possession of child pornography, which carries up to five years in prison. He endured death threats and he was shunned by friends. Fiola and his wife fought the case, spending $250,000 on legal fees. They liquidated their savings, took a second mortgage and sold their car. An inspection for his defense revealed the laptop was severely infected. It was programmed to visit as many as 40 child porn sites per minute — an inhuman feat. While Fiola and his wife were out to dinner one night, someone logged on to the computer and porn flowed in for an hour and a half. Prosecutors performed another test and confirmed the defense findings. The charge was dropped — 11 months after it was filed.
   At any moment, about 20 million of the estimated 1 billion internet-connected PCs worldwide are infected with viruses that could give hackers full control, according to security software maker F-Secure Corp.
   Paedophiles can tap viruses in several ways. The simplest is to force someone else’s computer to surf child porn sites, collecting images along the way. Or a computer can be made into a warehouse for pictures and videos that can be viewed remotely when the PC is online.
   But paedophiles need not be involved: Child porn can land on a computer in a sick prank or an attempt to frame the PC’s owner. In the first publicly known cases of individuals being victimized, two men in the UK were cleared in 2003 after viruses were shown to have been responsible for the child porn on their PCs. AP

Source: Times of India, November 11, 2009

A home away from home for underprivileged, disabled kids

D Madhavan | TNN

Kancheepuram: A rehabilitation centre with state-of-theart facilities for mentally-challenged and differently abled children was opened on Monday by state social welfare minister Geeta Jeevan at Agali in Kancheepuram district. Labour minister TM Anbarasan was also present on the occasion.
   The Rs 3 crore centre, a joint venture of Chennai-based NGO Pathway and US-based Sabin Children’s Foundation, has a diagnostic and testing wing and units for special education, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy/audiology, multi-sensory therapy and recreational therapy. There is also a medical unit.
   Apart from the rehabilitation centre, the 25-acre Pathway Agro Farm also has a dormitory for 250 children. Both buildings are disabled-friendly with ramps and other facilities.
   A library, where special children, including those with autism, will have special toys which will be used for therapeutic purpose, also forms part of the project.
   Geetha Jeevan released a book, “A leaf in the storm,” which traces Pathway’s growth through the years on the occasion.
   William Sheffield, a US judge and a founder of Sabin Children’s Foundation, said: “Our association with Pathway is 22 years old. The dedication shown by Pathway in taking care of these children is remarkable.”
   For over a decade, Pathway has been running a matriculation school for underprivileged children and disabled kids with separate hostels for boys and girls on the premises of the agro farm.
   When ADSN Prasad, an audiologist and founder of Pathway nearly three-and-a-half decades ago decided to start a home for underprivileged and disabled children, especially mentally-challenged ones, he had none to support him except his sister, who is herself disabled. His sister’s social exclusion from her own family and from society at large convinced young Prasad to dedicate the rest of his life to the care of disabled children, especially mentally-challenged ones, as well as underprivileged kids.
   Initially, in 1975, Prasad set up a home in Tiruvanmiyur with 10 mentally-challenged children to help them integrate with normal children. Now, after all these years, Prasad says he has been able to help nearly 22,000 children (both orphans and disabled kids) get on with their lives with personal care and training. He has also been able to establish centres in Mamallapuram and Agali.
   “The idea is to help these special children learn to cope like normal children in several ways. In our centres, children with special needs have the opportunity to mix with others (orphans) and thus achieve physical, educational, recreational, social and economic integration through various activities,” he told TOI on Monday after the inauguration of the rehabilitation centre.
   madhavan.d@timesgroup.com

Source: Times of India, Nov 10, 2009

Guntur   

‘RTI Act implementation dismal in State’

Special Correspondent

GUNTUR: Andhra Pradesh is ranked second from the bottom in the list of State Commissionerates of Right To Information based on their performance.

A study conducted on the performance of these commissions vis-À-vis implementation of the Right To Information (RTI) Act showed that if someone filed an appeal with a commission, there was a 27 per cent chance that he/she would get the information. If there was a favourable order from the commission, there was still only a 39 per cent chance that one would get the information.

These were some of the interesting findings of the largest ever study conducted by the Public Cause Research Foundation to assess the performance of the Information Commissions across the country.

Out of the 100 people who approached Information Commissions, only 27 finally received information, which showed the level of implementation of an Act that was in vogue for the past four years. For the purpose of analysis, this unit of performance parameter related to RTI was christened Overall Public Satisfaction (OPS).

Based on the data received from all the State Commissions and Commissioners, the PCRF ranked on this parameter, said Guntur District United Forum On RTI Campaign chairman P.C. Sai Babu.

It was found that Karnataka toped the list with 55 per cent OPS and West Bengal was at the bottom with 6 per cent OPS. Andhra Pradesh, with 10 per cent compliance rate, was a bit better, which meant out of 100 people only 10 finally got information compared to the national average of 27 persons going satisfied.

The top five commissions were (ranked on OPS): Karnataka (55 p.c.); Kerala (52); Punjab (47); Orissa (37); and Assam (37). The five from the last were: West Bengal (6 p.c.); Andhra Pradesh (10); Uttarakhand (13); Maharashtra (14); Chief Information Commissioner (19).

Source: The Hindu, Nov 4, 2009h

Rape games invade Indian PCs

Authorities Toothless as Violent Sex Games Rule. Central Crime Branch Yet to Scan Game VCDs, Regulatory Body Says It Does Not Have Resources

Arun Ram | TNN

Chennai: If you are worried about the effect of violent computer games on your child, here’s a shocker: sex games with graphic visuals, including those which test the player’s ‘raping skills’, are making their way here, mostly from Japan.
   Rapelay, a 3D game created by a Japanese firm, Illusion, with a ‘storyline’ prodding the player to rape a woman and her two daughters in a moving train, a park and a restroom, is among the ‘hot picks’ in the grey market. A source involved in marketing of foreign goods with suppliers in Chennai’s Parrys and Burma Bazaar markets told TOI that he sold 20 copies of Rapelay last week to customers who had placed orders in advance and that 50 more copies are expected in a fortnight. The game is available in other metros, including Delhi, he added.
   These are mostly pirated copies made from an original smuggled in from Japan or ordered through online shopping websites earlier. Several websites like Amazon.com had removed Rapelay from its virtual shelves after protests in July.
   Gamers say several such hentai (Japanese porn) games are also available on the net and can be downloaded on to mobile phones as well. “Young people addicted to these games may start seeing violence as an integral part of sex. While films make children emulate characters, such games where the player is the character can make them act it out,” warns sexologist D Narayana Reddy.
   The authorities appear to be either oblivious to the danger or just helpless. The central crime branch police said it has not come across such games. The Computer Emergency Response Team of the IT ministry, which has the mandate to ensure cyber safety, says its focus is elsewhere. “Our primary job is to prevent cyber crimes that threaten national security. When such offensive websites are hosted in other countries, there is little we can do,” says its senior director BJ Srinath. This puts the onus on families to install parental control software to block access to such sites.

Authorities toothless as violent SEX GAMES RULE

CENTRAL CRIME BRANCH IS YET TO SCAN GAME VCDS, REGULATORY BODY SAYS IT DOES NOT HAVE RESOURCES
Chennai: It all started with a pop-up. Gautham Rao, a Class 12 student in Hyderabad was surfing the net last October when the window showed a beautiful woman and prompted him to ‘dress her up’ using a variety of attires displayed on the screen. Rao spent hours dressing her, and later, undressing her. A list of similar sites took him down a dark virtual tunnel lined with bizarre games, where the player takes scores of avatars to undress and grope women of all ages, profiles and ethnicities. It took a few months before Rao’s parents discovered the boy’s horrible pastime and got him counselled by an expert.
   A year later, the internet
is today littered with games that
allow players not just to undress and grope women characters, but to tie them up, torture and rape them. While violent sex games are getting more real with 3D animation and special effects, the authorities seem to be either ignorant or helpless. “We have not come across any such game CDs during our raids,” says C Sridhar, superintendent of police, Central Crime Branch. What he does not say is that the police, while seizing CDs of pirated movies and porn films, seldom look for game CDs.
   Cyber Society of India, which works in the area of internet security, is also yet to study the matter in detail. “We are an NGO with no criminal jurisdiction. We mostly deal with online credit card frauds and cyber crime, but now we think we need to look at online safety from the angle of such offensive games too. In fact, this was in the agenda of a meeting of the society on October 23,” says society secretary V Rajendran, who adds that the new IT Act which came into effect on October 27 has empowered the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (Cert-In) under the IT ministry to monitor and block offensive content.
However, Cert-In says it does not have the resources to monitor and block the scores of websites that offer rape and other violent games. “Only if there is a specific complaint about, say child pornography, can we step in,” says a senior official. “We are aware of websites with violent sex as content accessible from India, but it is technically unfeasible to block all these sites. When the servers of these websites are situated outside the country, we cannot do much. Pursuing cases against offenders is also a longwinding process.”
That puts the onus on parents. Says Bhavani K Raman, founder of Chennaimoms.com, an online community of mothers that discusses internet safety: “Parents must be aware that many phones and gaming consoles like PSP and playstations have built-in wireless access. So it is wise to install parental control software to restrict access.” The control software allows you to block certain sites or make only some sites accessible for children and tells you the sites visited and the duration.
   Another concern is about browsing centres making all kinds of websites accessible to children. Despite guidelines issued by the police, net cafes do not run an age check on visitors nor do they have firewalls. “The most important thing,” Raman says, “is to create awareness in the child. Talk to your child about the danger and downside of using these games and sites. An informed child is a safe child.”

Parents Beware

Use parental control software that helps you select sites
Use kid safe browsers like Kidzui and Kidrocket
Use settings in search engines to exclude adult material from results
Upgrade your browser as the latest versions have better security settings
Keep the computer in a place where everyone could see the monitor
Check browser history after your child uses the computer
Monitor their computer usage in browsing centres, which are becoming hotspots for gaming and adult material
Talk to your child about the danger of using adult sites

Aid for child illnesses stalls amid focus on AIDS fight

Celia W. Dugger

The disparity in American spending on AIDS and the big child killers — pneumonia and diarrhoea — remains stark

Experts agree there is tremendous potential to lower child deaths from diarrhoea and pneumonia substantially

Diarrhoea kills 1.5 million young children a year in developing countries — more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined — but only four in 10 of those who need the oral rehydration solution that can prevent death for pennies get it.

“All the attention has gone to more glamorous diseases, but this basic thing has been left behind,” said Mickey Chopra, chief of health at UNICEF, which is trying to put diarrhoea back on the global health agenda. “It’s a forgotten disease.”

His observation lies at the heart of a wider debate over whether the United States and other rich nations spend too much on AIDS, which requires lifelong medications, compared with diarrhoea and the other leading killer of children, pneumonia, both of which can be treated inexpensively.

The debate is flaring at a time of great opportunity and risk. Recent data has documented remarkable progress in reducing child mortality and treating people with AIDS. Foreign assistance, which has often delivered disappointing results, is helping save millions of lives, the new figures show.

But as the United States and other rich nations hit by the global financial crisis face their own daunting challenges, there is heightened competition for foreign assistance. President Barack Obama has proposed a 2 per cent increase in HIV/AIDS spending for 2010 and a 6 per cent rise for maternal and child health, according to the Global Health Council, but the disparity in American spending on AIDS and the big child killers remains stark.

In Africa’s two most populous nations, Nigeria and Ethiopia, the number of people who died of AIDS in 2007 — 237,000 — was less than half the 540,000 children under 5 who died of pneumonia and diarrhoea. But this year, the $750 million the United States is spending on HIV/AIDS in the two countries not only dwarfs the $35 million it is spending there on maternal and child health, but is also more than the $646 million it is spending on maternal and child health in all the world’s countries combined.

“AIDS is still underfunded, no question,” said Jeremy Shiffman, a political scientist at Syracuse University who has documented global health spending patterns. “But maternal, newborn and child mortality is a tremendous tragedy and gets peanuts.”

Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel — a bioethicist, White House official and brother of Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff — has contended that international aid for health is limited and would save more lives if increases focused on maternal health and the “mundane but deadly diseases” that kill young children. Such choices are necessary, he and a co-author wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April, “if the United States is going to shoulder the burden of choosing which lives to save in the developing world.”

Wrong-headed idea

Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Columbia University economist, countered that wealthy donors still spent far too little on global health and rejected what he called the wrong-headed idea that “we need to make a terrible and tragic choice between AIDS or pneumonia.” The United States has invested heavily in the fight against AIDS, and other wealthy nations should pick up more of the cost of other global health priorities, he said. “Rather than tearing down what’s working, we should continue to invest in what’s needed,” he said.

Mr. Obama has promised to put greater focus on child and maternal health and proposed a 53 percent increase next year in money to fight malaria, a major killer of African children, the Global Health Council estimated. But he has also committed to major increases in money to fight AIDS in coming years that, if enacted, would ensure AIDS remained America’s global health priority, constituting over 70 per cent of its global health spending, he said.

International commitments to combat HIV and AIDS rose at an average annual rate of 48 per cent from 1998 to 2007, reaching $7.4 billion and making up almost half of donor financing for global health, according to Prof. Shiffman’s analysis of data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Still, more than half the people with the disease who need drug treatment still are not getting it. Two million died in 2007, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The toll of women and children who die of easily preventable or curable conditions is even higher. Pneumonia alone killed two million children under age 5, and diarrhoea 1.5 million more, out of the almost nine million young children who died last year.

Dr. Olivier Fontaine, who described himself as the only person at WHO working full time on childhood diarrhoeal diseases, said health ministry managers in poor countries know diarrhoea is a crucial cause of child mortality, but focus on other diseases that have gotten more attention and financing from abroad.

Two days after her month-old son’s bout of diarrhea began, Marcia Mankense, 23, took him to a hospital here in Johannesburg where a doctor administered fluids through an intravenous line threaded into his scalp. Before his birth, she said, no one told her she should give him oral rehydration salts — known as ORS — as soon as he got diarrhea, though she was counselled on the need to get tested for HIV. Nor did anyone give her a packet of the salts to take home.

“He’s my firstborn and I know nothing about kids,” she said, exhausted next to his crib after days of vigil. “I just feel like I need to be here for him. What if he’s crying?”

Public health experts agree there is tremendous potential to lower child deaths from diarrhoea and pneumonia substantially. New methods of distributing rehydration salts and cheap zinc tablets, also recommended for diarrhoea, are being tested, including giving them away during national campaigns to hand out antimalarial bed nets and to vaccinate children against measles.

Popularise ORS

“Everyone should have ORS at home like we have Band-aids,” Fontaine said.

For an extra $3 billion to $4 billion in coming years, children in poor countries could be inoculated against pneumonia and the rotavirus that causes about a third of diarrhoea deaths, according to the GAVI Alliance, a broad group of donors.

On the diarrhoea ward at the hospital in Johannesburg, most of the babies and young children had mothers patiently sitting next to their cribs, comforting them. But one little boy, 2 months old, was alone. His mother, a 10th grader, was at school. He had come in dehydrated, with sunken eyes, too enervated to even cry. But after being given fluids intravenously, life flowed back into him.

When he howled, a nurse or one of the mothers would look into his eyes. He would fall quiet, his cries muting to soft mewling, his eyes widening curiously.

“He wasn’t even crying when he got here,” Mankense said happily. “Now we can hear his voice. He’s naughty!”

— © 2009 The New York Times News Service

Caught in the crossfire  

Extended Custody Battles Following Acrimonious Divorces Leave An Indelible Mark On Children, Even Though The Law Seeks To Look After Their Best Interest

Priya M Menon | TNN

   Over the last few months, seven-year-old Aditya Chandran’s face has been on every news channel and newspaper. For two years, the young boy moved from city to city with his mother Vijayasree Voora, who had fled the US with him after courts granted custody to his father V Ravi Chandran.
   While the divorced parents continue to battle it out, the little boy’s life is on hold — with no home, school or friends. Aditya’s case may be a high-profile one, but there are many children in India who are caught in the crossfire of custody battles being fought in family courts every day.
   “With increasing marital discord, there are obviously more custody battles,” says advocate Geetha Ramaseshan, who has been handling such cases for 27 years. “In India, there is no concept of joint custody so one parent will have primary custody while the other has visitation rights,” she says. And in cases of acrimonious break-ups, one parent can find ways to get around the visitation rights granted. A visit to a grandparent could end up entailing a visit to the court first.
   “Urban upper-class or upper middle-class parents often don’t see how damaging this could be to the child because their own problems are too immediate for them to see the bigger picture,” says Ramaseshan.
   It’s only when the child begins exhibiting signs of stress that parents seek help. “Parents invariably come to me after trauma has been produced,” says psychiatrist Vijay Nagaswami. The signs are usually a fall in academic performance, problems socialising with friends at school, or clingy, overdependent behaviour.
   “If your parents are going through a divorce, you are affected, no matter how old you are. But, the younger you are, the more difficult it is to cope,” says Magdalene Jeyarathnam, director of Center for Counselling, who has been working with children in custody battles for over two years.
   The children are torn between having to choose between parents. “For instance, there was an eightyear-old who was having dreams about leaving his mother to go live with his father and he was very upset about it,” says Magdalene. After a few sessions, she discovered that the boy, who was living with his mother, had become closer to his father after the divorce as his father was spending more time with him during the weekends he spent with him. “These feelings worried the child and he overcame them only when his mother assured him it was all right,” says Magdalene. “Since they spend weekdays with one parent and weekends with another, they have to adjust to living in two different homes,” she says. It could be a little detail like forgetting a textbook in one of the homes that makes them sad and upset.
   Both psychiatrists and counsellors feel that it requires maturity on the part of parents to ensure that the child is not traumatised by the divorce. “If divorce inevitable, you should try and make the environment as conducive as possible, not speak badly of the other parent and, while the child adjusts to a new situation, give him/ her a long rope and resolve your own issues as amicably as possible,” says Nagaswami.
   Ramaseshan says that she has seen tremendously mature parents who, no matter how bitter the battle has been, have not let their divorce affect the child and maintain flexible routines. “But these are very few in number,” she adds. “When there is a child involved, the relationship between parents and child doesn’t end even after divorce, so there is a need for greater intervention to make it less adversarial, open dialogue between parents and encourage good psychological counselling, which the legal system should provide,” she says.

Source: Times of India, Nov 8, 2009

Speed up probe into sexual offence cases, says HC judge

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Despite the presence of numerous laws to protect women and children, the number of sexual offences was growing, and expeditious investigation and a better conviction rate were the need of the hour, said leading members of the judiciary.
   “It is a difficult and sensitive subject, and even if investigation is fast, cases are often not handled with proper sensitivity,” said Justice M Sathyanarayanan of the Madras high court, speaking at the launch of a book, ‘Sexual offences against women and children’, by B Senguttuvan, an advocate, here on Saturday. In the book, Senguttuvan calls for procedural changes in the trial of sexual offences.“I hope the book will help judges, lawyers and the teaching faculty,” said Justice Sathyanarayanan, “A perfect attitude towards sex could result in a decline in sex crimes, since perversion of the mind is one of the causes for sexual crimes against women and children.”
   Former judge of the Madras high court, V Kanagaraj, felt that a holistic approach would help in imparting justice to victims. “There must be a special law and a dedicated wing to handle such cases. Special courts should hear them,” he said, adding, “These can be established by central institutions without leaving it to the state governments.”
   The spirit, rather than the letter of the law, was what was likely to bring about a change, felt N R Madhava Menon, chairman, Centre-State Relations Committee.
   “The biggest challenge in addressing the issue of sexual abuse lies with the social purpose of the law, which can only be achieved by creating awareness and sensitising lawyers, the police and the prison staff on how to treat a victim. Providing a lawyer to the victim in the name of legal aid is not enough. A victim does not need money but companionship, rehabilitation and help in overcoming trauma,” he said.

Source: Times of India, Nov 8, 2009

New scheme to cut infant, maternal mortality rate

Aarti Dhar

288 districts account for 80%

of maternal and infant deaths

Focus on remote areas and those with high SC, ST presence

NEW DELHI: Aimed at reducing the infant and maternal mortality rate, a new programme, Navjat Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram, has been launched to train health care providers at health centres across the country.

They are imparted training in resuscitation, prevention of infections and hypothermia, and in early initiation of women to breastfeeding the new born, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said at a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his ministry.

Another priority area would be strengthening the government’s resolve towards population stabilisation. Eleven States and Union Territories have already reached the replacement level of total fertility. In the coming months, the Ministry would focus on Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which have high total fertility rates (TFR).

“Though achievement of a TFR of 2.1 by 2010 seems impossible, as we were at 2.7 in 2007, we will make all efforts to ensure that we move closer towards replacement levels by 2015,” Mr. Azad said.

This exercise helped to identify 288 districts which account for 80 per cent of maternal and infant deaths; and primary health centres and community health centres that are geographically remote and difficult to access within villages and blocks which have a high percentage of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. “In these areas, we are now formulating a comprehensive package of additional incentives to health workers and doctors. We intend to give special focus on new-born care, as nearly 23 per cent of the neonatal deaths occur in the first two days of birth,” he said.

Asphyxia, hypothermia and sepsis are major causes of such deaths.

“We still have a long way to go to achieve our goals related to maternal mortality, infant mortality and total fertility ratio, the burden of disease on account of malaria and TB and other infectious diseases, and universal immunisation,” the Minister said, adding he had asked officials to focus on the most difficult and inaccessible areas.

Source: The Hindu, Nov 8, 2009

Dutchman held in city for child pornography  

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The cyber crime police on Saturday arrested Will Heum (56), a Dutch national living in Chennai, for uploading child pornographic materials on the internet. Police recovered his personal computer and pornographic materials from his house.
   Heum is already facing a case in a Chengalpattu court for sexually abusing children of Little Home, an orphanage he had opened near Mamallapuram. He was arrested in May 2002. Out on bail and living in a rented house in Choolaimedu, he was uploading pictures of children being sexually abused, police said.
   This is the first case of child pornography to be registered in the country under the IT Act, which came into force on October 27. Heum was booked under Section 67-B of the IT Act, 2008, which deals with digital child pornography, and remanded in judicial custody after being produced before the XI metropolitan magistrate court in Saidapet. The IT Act spells out a maximum punishment of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
   It was a tip-off from the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre in Germany through Interpol that led to the arrest of Heum, who has done bit roles in Tamil movies.

CHILD PORN CASE

Arrested Dutch citizen’s computer to be screened

Chennai: The cyber crime police on Saturday arrested Will Heum (56), a Dutch national living in Chennai, for uploading child pornographic material on the internet.
   The police recovered his personal computer and pornographic material from his house. It was a tip-off from the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre in Germany through Interpol that led to the arrest of Heum.
   Initial inquiries revealed that he had uploaded video clips of foreign children. “We are interrogating him about the source of these clips. We have to verify the seized computer accessories to check if he had uploaded clips of Indian children too,” a police officer said.
   “It was an example of good coordination between the city police and the international agencies. Cyber crime has no geographical barriers,” central crime branch DCP C Sridhar told TOI. The seized computer and accessories will be scanned for data at the new cyber lab attached to the city police commissioner’s office.
   Heum was arrested in 2002 after a boy complained that he had been sexually abused. Heum came to India 30 years ago for “social work” after his wife’s death. He stayed in Mamallapuram, where he started an orphanage.

Source: Times of India, Nov 8, 2009

 Chennai   

Netherlands national held for uploading child porn pictures

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Officials of the Cyber Crime Cell apprehended a Netherlands national here on Saturday on charges of uploading pornographic pictures of children on the Internet.

Acting on information passed on by the Interpol, investigators raided the premises of the suspect at Choolaimedu and arrested him late on Friday. Pornographic CDs containing obscene clips and pictures of children/adults and electronic gadgets used to upload them on a site “ www.rapidshare.com” were seized, the police said.

W. Williams (56) of Amsterdam came to India about 30 years ago on a tourist visa. He stayed on in the guise of a social worker. A case of child abuse and passport violation was registered against him by the Mahabalipuram police in 2002.

A child protection centre in Germany had alerted the Interpol on the offensive pictures being uploaded on the website. Chennai Police Commissioner T. Rajendran had directed Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Crime Branch) C. Sridhar to investigate. A special team of the Cyber Crime Cell led by Assistant Commissioner of Police M. Sudhakar had been formed.

“We are investigating the source of the seized materials. The CDs, laptop, CPU, pen drives and other tools are being analysed. This is the first case being registered after Information Technology Act 2008 was amended. The accused has been booked under Section 67 B (abusing children online),” Dr. Sudhakar said.

Though the accused was arrested from a house on Ponnusamy Vadhiyar Street, the police are also investigating his earlier places of stay, acquaintances and antecedents. “This explains the character of cyber crime and how international cooperation is essential in combating such offences. Williams was using a high-speed internet connectivity to commit the offence,” Dr. Sudhakar said.

According to the Kancheepuram district police, Williams was arrested for allegedly abusing children in Poooncheri. He had operated a ‘Little Home’ for orphans. “The accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. After release on bail, he absconded,” a police officer said.

Source: The Hindu, Nov 8, 2009

Burden of education is bending child’s back: PIL

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

“I have investigated and found that an average child carries, strapped to his back, like a pack-mule, not less than six to eight kilograms of books, notebooks and other paraphernalia of modern education in addition to lunch box and water bottle...”
— Novelist R K Narayan,
   speaking in the RS
Chennai: That was more than two decades ago. The speech shook up the system for a while, even prompting some boards to consider guidelines to restrict the physical load imposed on a child by a school. But as the memory of Narayan’s speech wore off, so did the concern.
   Today, the weight of a school-going child’s bag is once again back in focus. This time as the subject matter of a public interest writ petition in the Madras High Court, seeking to ensure that a child does not have to carry a bag with textbooks and notebooks weighing more than 10% of his or her body weight.
A division bench, comprising Justices R Banumathi and N Paul Vasanthakumar, has admitted the petition filed by Vanishree Gnaneswaran, a resident of Purasawalkam, citing international norms and issued notices to the TN school education department. The petitioner said the heavy bags borne by students led to backaches and postural problems and even muscle spasms and neck/shoulder pain. School children carrying heavy bags develop a slump over a period, she added.

Storage space in schools can reduce bag burden


Chennai: Weight of a schoolgoing child’s bag is once again in focus. This time as the subject matter of a public interest writ petition in the Madras HC. The petition is seeking to ensure that a child does not have to carry a bag with textbooks and notebooks weighing more than 10% of his or her body weight.
   A division bench, comprising Justices R Banumathi and N Paul Vasanthakumar, has admitted the petition filed by Vanishree Gnaneswaran, a resident of Purasawalkam, citing international norms and issued notices to the Tamil Nadu school education department.
   Vanishree said the burden was acute in the case of students of private schools and wanted the court to direct the authorities to modify timetables so that there was no need for all books to be brought to school everyday.
   Reacting to the PIL, teachers told TOI that it was possible to reduce the weight of a bag to 1/10th of a child’s weight if schools maintained storage space.
   “We distributed the monthly curriculum for each subject to parents and said they could remove the binding of the textbooks since this adds to the weight of the bag,” a teacher of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in the city said.
   Teachers of higher classes were reluctant to consider the proposal. They said it would require planning by teachers to decide chapters that would be covered over a month and inform the students in advance.
   A circular issued to all CBSE schools in January reminded them of the need to restrict the number of textbooks prescribed by the NCERT for each class.

A fifth standard student on an average carries the following items in his school bag everyday

·         10 Text Books

·         10 Note Books

·         Water Bottle

·         Lunch Box

·         Instruments/Pencil Box

·         Sports Gear

Approximate weight carried by a kid is 10kg.

Source: Times of Inda, Nov 2, 2009

Bedi a favourite for top RTI job

 Abhinav Garg & Anil Singh | TNN

 New Delhi/Mumbai: The issue of who gets to succeed Wajahat Habibullah as the country's chief information commissioner has taken on an interesting dimension with RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, film star Aamir Khan, social activist Anna Hazare and a procession of renowned personalities mounting a vigorous campaign for the baton to be handed over to the first woman IPS officer, Kiran Bedi.
   Hazare, Aamir and a host of eminent persons have written to PM Manmohan Singh as well as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi making a strong pitch that Bedi had the best credentials for the job that is crucial for promoting transparency in governance. “If you are appointing another person, please let us know how that person is more suitable than Kiran Bedi,” says the letter.
   Signatories include Subhash Chandra of the Zee group, while several other celebrities such as Narayana Murthy of Infosys, are sending their letters on Monday.
   The letter comes in the wake of fears that the hard-earned, albeit limited, progress made to secure for citizens the right to information is in serious risk of getting reversed with bureaucracy invoking the specious plea of public interest to negate the gains. A recent study showed that less than one-third of the RTI applicants get the information they sought.
   The judiciary has only grudgingly warmed up to warm up to the idea of public disclosure of assets of judges, and the initial resistance seems to have encouraged the bureaucracy.

RTI activists wary of babus influencing CIC’s selection

New Delhi/Mumbai: As a matter of fact, secretaries of key ministries at the Centre are meeting on Tuesday to discuss whether public servants should be made liable to disclose their assets under RTI Act.
   The CIC under Habibullah had several run-ins with the bureaucracy as it sought to push the transparency envelope. Though he did not always succeed in the face of entrenched opposition, the country's first chief information commissioner, with access to the top echelons of power, often managed to hold his own.
   Information rights activists are wary of bureaucracy seeking to influence the selection process to help install someone as the CIC who will not be a hurdle in their efforts to reclaim lost ground.
   “We have learnt that the government is appointing a person of its choice as CIC this week without the wide consultation that is needed for it,” said Kejriwal, echoing the fear that an attempt would be made to roll back the progress in making transparency a right available to every Indian citizen.
   Obviously, the two information commissioners — M M Ansari and A N Tiwari — who are in contention for the job don't inspire much confidence among the activists. They cite the findings of a study analysing the performance of information commissioners to justify their scepticism as well as why they consider Bedi to be the ideal replacement for Habibullah.
   The CIC is chosen by a three-member panel comprising the PM, Opposition leader and a Cabinet minister nominated by the PM (Veerappa Moily). The post is at par with the chief election commissioner’s and the term is five years or up to the age of 65.
   Section 12(5) of the RTI Act states: “The chief information commissioner and information commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.”
   To give such persons a fair chance to apply, RTI activists say, the government must cast its net far and wide, all over India and in all walks of life. It must advertise the position, attract a good number of candidates and select the best from among them with proper screening procedures. Handpicking people from a small inner circle at DoPT, PMO and Central Information Commission, as it is doing now, is a sure way of “defeating excellence, nurturing mediocrity and protecting vested interests” within the administration, say RTI activists.
   Speaking to TOI, Bedi said the news that Aamir and Anna Hazare had recommended her name was “interesting”. However, the former cop wondered if such recommendations mattered. “I wonder if these letters carry any weight with the government. If the responsibility comes through, I will serve the country but won't take any salary,” Bedi said.

Assessing RTI Guardians

The performance of the 2 Information commisioners in 2008, according to a study by an RTI activist group

M M Ansari | Denied information in 28% cases

Out of 1238 cases of RTI violations, he imposed penalties in 3 cases, or roughly 0.2% cases

On the ‘Overall Public Satisfaction’ count, Ansari notches 15% i.e. of 100 people who filed appeals before him, only 15 finally got information A N Tiwari | At the top of the list amongst all Information Commissioners in the country in rejecting information, as per the study. Rejected or remanded back almost 60% of total cases filed before him, the highest among all Information Commissioners in India

In balance cases in which he ordered that info be provided, 40% got information
Overall Public Satisfaction: 16%

 Kiran Bedi should be appointed as she has the best credentials for a person who will be demanding transparency in governance on behalf of a billion Indians. If you are appointing another person, please let us know how that person is more suitable

 Letter written to PM by prominent members of civil society, including Anna Hazare, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and Zee group’s Subhash Chandra

 Several others, including Infosys mentor Narayana Murthy to send their letters supporting Bedi today

Source: Times of India, Nov 2, 2009

Drive to register children’s homes

T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI: The State government has launched a drive on registration of children’s homes.

District Collectors, Superintendents of Police and the district-level officials of the Social Welfare department have been advised to survey such homes and inform those who manage the homes regarding the legal requirement of registration, a senior official in the State Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme department says.

Under an amendment made in 2006 to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, all institutions, run by the State government or voluntary organisations, for children in need of care and protection should be registered. They should register themselves with the District Social Welfare Officers, the official explains.

Though the law stipulates that the registration should be made within six months of the commencement of the amendment, greater thrust is being given to ensure its implementation.

According to a conservative estimate, there are 200 children’s homes in the State. The registration is essential as this will help the authorities to prevent abuse of children and human trafficking, the official says. Besides, the registration has become essential if children’s homes are to avail themselves of assistance being given by the Central government. The recently-launched Centrally-sponsored scheme, Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), offers the scope for the Central assistance.

Aimed at creating a safe and secure environment for the children who are in need of care and protection and for those who are in conflict with law, the ICPS brings under one umbrella several existing child protection programmes — Programme for Juvenile Justice, Integrated Programme for Street Children and Scheme for Assistance to Homes [Shishu Greh] to promote in-country adoption — and initiates new interventions.

One of the features of the scheme is to support the creation of new institutional facilities and maintenance of existing institutional facilities. For each child in institutional care, an individual care plan will be developed by the agency concerned in consultation with the District Child Protection Society (DCPS) within a month. Once agreed upon by the DCPS, the individual care plan shall be forwarded within a fortnight for approval to the Child Welfare Committees (CWC)/Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB). The agency will report to the DCPS on the execution of the individual child care plan within six months of the care plan being approved by the CWC/JJB.

Source: The Hindu, Oct 23, 2009

No Let-up in infant mortality rate

U Anand Kumar | ENS

New Delhi, October 27, 2009

DESPITE the implementation of various schemes such as Janani Suraksha Yojana and  Newborn Suraksha Karyakram, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has not come down in the last three years on expected lines.

According to the sample registration to the sample registration system of the Registrar General of India, the IMR in the country has come down marginally in the last three years from 57 per thousand births to 53.  The IMR rate in the country has come down from 57 per thousand births in 2006 to 53 in 2008.

IMR is the number of deaths of infants under one year per thousand births.  Though the IMR rate is decreasing every year in the last three years in the Southern States, in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka it is high compared to Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

According to sources in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, though the trend seemed to be downwards in the Southern States, marginal decrease in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is still problematic.

This, despite Andhra Pradesh implementing Rajiv Arogya Sree Scheme and Centre implementing its programs.  The IMR rate in Andhra Pradesh has come down from 56  per thousand births in 2006 to 52 in 2008.  Similarly, IMR rate in Karnataka has decreased from 48 per thousand births in 2006 to 45 in 2008.

In Tamil Nadu, the IMR rate has come down from 37 per thousand births in 2006 to 31 in 2008.  The IMR rate in Kerala has come down from 15 per thousand births in 2006 to 12 in 2008.

 However, in Orissa, the IMR rate has come down from 73 per thousand births in 2006 to 69 in 2008.

- - - -

Finally, new cyber law comes into force

Swati Deshpande | TNN

Mumbai: The country’s cyber law has finally caught up with cyber criminals. Eight months after it received Presidential assent, the amended Information Technology Act of 2008 came into force on October 27. The amended Act has spread its net to tackle more offences, including cyber terrorism, wifi hacking, sending and viewing child pornography, video voyeurism, identity theft and even spam. But at the same time, it allows the government to intercept information and snoop on its citizens.
   The original Act had effectively just one criminal Section 66 for cyber crime and it was widely worded, but vague. The new Act covers a range of crimes that attracts punishment from a three-year jail term to a life sentence.
   Section 66F is the cyber terrorism and life sentence section. It applies in cases where wi-fi is misused to send terror mail. Any electronic activity that goes against the nation falls under this section. Online child pornography or child abuse is a strict no-no under Section 67B, and would attract a prison term of five years for the first offence. Data theft is a criminal offence as well, and cyber law experts say punishing it would increase India’s standing across the globe.
   The IT Act of 2000 — the first big step to regulate cyber transactions, e-commerce and prevent computer-based crimes — was modified after much delay in December 2008, and received Presidential go-ahead in February 2009.9.
   Known as The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, it harmonises various e-services, strengthens laws on cyber terrorism, recognises phishing as a crime, and for the first time, identifies child porn as a separate offence.
   With the virtual world shrinking, protection of data security and privacy assumed importance, as did protection of critical information infrastructure for national security. These areas were vulnerable under the old Act, said experts.
   Critics say the flip side is that it gives unfettered power to the government to monitor all e-traffic. The information could be misused, say cyber activists. The central government, though, says safeguards have been put in place to check misuse.
   Welcoming the Act, cyber expert Vijay Mukhi said it was long overdue. “Now, many people who earlier shied away from going to court or police will feel emboldened to file cases.’’

Source: Times of India, Oct 28, 2009

No DNA tests on flimsy grounds in divorce cases

Says Child Born In A Marriage Is Presumed To Be Legitimate

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that DNA test to determine the paternity of a child, especially when the parents are in the midst of a divorce suit, could not be allowed by the judiciary on flimsy grounds as it had serious repercussions. If a husband, who files a divorce suit against his estranged wife, did not question the legitimacy of their child at the trial court stage, he was barred from doing so in appeal before the HC, said the apex court. For, a child born in a marriage is presumed to be legitimate, it added.
   Allowing the appeal of the wife and setting aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order directing DNA test on the child, a Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R M Lodha said, “It was not open to the HC at the appellate stage to direct DNA test to be performed on the child.”
   The wife, alleging harassment at the matrimonial home, had gone to her parents house and gave birth to a child there. The husband, during pendency of his appeal in the HC, had moved an application seeking DNA test on the child. The wife opposed it saying the husband had never questioned the paternity of the child at the trial court stage.
   “Since the husband has made it a prestige issue, and it appears to this court that in case the DNA test confirms that the son is from the husband, then the family can be reunited,” said the HC, and allowed the DNA test. Frowning at the HC order, the SC Bench said, “When a child is born in a marriage, there is presumption of his legitimacy and the presumption of legitimacy largely depends on the presumed fact that the parties to a marriage have necessary access to each other when a divorce petition is filed and specially when the husband did not assert that the son was a consequence of illicit relationship (of the wife) with some third person.”
   In the absence of any reason except on the ground that the husband had made a prestige issue about the paternity of the child, a direction for DNA test could not have been passed by the HC, said Justice Chatterjee writing the judgement for the Bench.

 Source: Times of India, Oct 26, 2009

Is it the survival of the fittest?

 Today’s students are under pressure to perform and be on the top always

 I answer in the affirmative. It is an “Yes”, with the spiralling parental demands pushing the children to outgrow their age on a hastened “fasttrack”. The constant query as to how soon a child’s “metamorphosis” graduates her to being an adult, with endless short-cuts on every facet of development ( no one could help the physical part), puts huge pressures on the child to “jumpstart” right from the cradle days.
   Having to disengage from childhood as a child is a colossal task when the residues of the “yet unattainable adulthood” are still seen in some of us adults.
   Where parental aspirations demand select peer groups for their wards, where bridging the learning gaps amongst different generations of learners and the privileged rest is a challenge for the educator for whatever reason, where instructional tools go amiss to transcend language and competency barriers, where various factors impose a strain on the students, where numbers in the classroom and any open spaces challenge the identities of children, where media overplays the “reverence” of the “examinations” of life, where the schools and the parents join hands to escalate the unwarranted fever in the children to face the “ultimate” competition in every small appraisal, where adults scatter so much for their children to pick up , but don’t have the time to tell them what to pick up or how to make that their possession, where there is always a smarter and a faster “rat”, what hope can the adults have?
   We may just be leaving behind a generation fighting for possession, always in need to stay ahead in a rat race.
   I feel that purposeful education, which is a desideratum, should be activated, practised and achieved. Let’s work together to release all the undue stress and give our children the platforms to develop their own identities and thrive in all that they enjoy and benefit from, while holding only the essentials in grooming and citizenship building.
   And yes, the media has a big role to play.
Dr. Bhavanishankar Subramanian, Senior Principal, Lalaji Memorial Omega International School, Kolapakkam

 Perform or perish?

Source: Times of India, Oct 27, 2009

Is it the survival of the fittest?

 Today’s students are under pressure to perform and be on the top always

 I answer in the affirmative. It is an “Yes”, with the spiralling parental demands pushing the children to outgrow their age on a hastened “fasttrack”. The constant query as to how soon a child’s “metamorphosis” graduates her to being an adult, with endless short-cuts on every facet of development ( no one could help the physical part), puts huge pressures on the child to “jumpstart” right from the cradle days.
   Having to disengage from childhood as a child is a colossal task when the residues of the “yet unattainable adulthood” are still seen in some of us adults.
   Where parental aspirations demand select peer groups for their wards, where bridging the learning gaps amongst different generations of learners and the privileged rest is a challenge for the educator for whatever reason, where instructional tools go amiss to transcend language and competency barriers, where various factors impose a strain on the students, where numbers in the classroom and any open spaces challenge the identities of children, where media overplays the “reverence” of the “examinations” of life, where the schools and the parents join hands to escalate the unwarranted fever in the children to face the “ultimate” competition in every small appraisal, where adults scatter so much for their children to pick up , but don’t have the time to tell them what to pick up or how to make that their possession, where there is always a smarter and a faster “rat”, what hope can the adults have?
   We may just be leaving behind a generation fighting for possession, always in need to stay ahead in a rat race.
   I feel that purposeful education, which is a desideratum, should be activated, practised and achieved. Let’s work together to release all the undue stress and give our children the platforms to develop their own identities and thrive in all that they enjoy and benefit from, while holding only the essentials in grooming and citizenship building.
   And yes, the media has a big role to play.
Dr. Bhavanishankar Subramanian, Senior Principal, Lalaji Memorial Omega International School, Kolapakkam

 Perform or perish?

Source: Times of India, Oct 27, 2009

Comics take med science to kids

M Ramya | TNN

Chennai: Superheroes taking a trip down the food pipe to fight asthma, workers toiling in an insulin factory called pancreas, white blood cells in commando fatigues fighting invaders called microbes — medical awareness is taking an all-new avatar in the form of comic books.
   Targeted at adolescents between 10 and 15 years of age, the UK-based Medikidz comics are coming to India with an array of glossy, engaging tales with medical conditions as the themes. The stories are told through the adventures of five superheroes — Pump, Chi, Skinderella, Gastro, Axon and his pet robot Abacus.
   Written and reviewed by doctors, the books take the readers on a tour of Mediland, a giant living planet which is shaped like the human body.
   Author and CEO of Medikidz Dr Kim Chilman Blair says, “There was a time when doctors used to take a pad and draw a heart and tell patients what a block in the heart was and how it could lead to a cardiac arrest. Now they don’t have the time to explain anything. We have noticed that children are more likely to take their medications regularly if they know what they are fighting.”
   Chennai-based diabetologist Dr V Mohan says comics are an effective medium to tell children about medical conditions. “The comics can motivate them to prevent and fight disease,” he says.
   First launched in the UK in mid-September, Medikidz has also been coming out with pamphlets and brochures, and runs an interactive website consisting of a virtual tour of the human body, a child-friendly medical encyclopaedia and an integrated social network for children to globally connect around illness and disease. “This project is about assuring the right to health education of children,” says Siddhartha Jegannathan, director (India), Medikidz.
   He says talks are on with the ministries of health at the state and national levels to make it available for children in government schools and hospitals. “We are translating the content into Hindi at the request of the health ministry,” he says. “The health secretaries of various states, including Tamil Nadu, have taken samples for evaluation.”

CAPED CRUSADERS GIVE TIPS ON ILLS TO CHILDREN

NOW YOU CAN FOLLOW THE ADVENTURES OF FIVE SUPERHEROES AS THEY BLEND MEDICAL FACTS WITH COMIC BOOK FUN
Chennai: When Sanjana Ramesh (13) was diagnosed with diabetes six months ago, she was only told the name of the condition and to take insulin regularly. “When I asked the doctor what was happening to me, she told me ‘You are becoming too sweet.’ I don’t know if they thought I was too stupid or if they were worried about scaring me. I tried searching the internet and in medical books, but those details were too heavy for me,” Sanjana says.
   Every day doctors diagnose children like Sanjana with medical conditions they don’t understand. But the launch of Medikidz could change the situation where parents and paediatricians feel that children are too young to understand medical concepts or that they are better off not knowing. Medikidz presents medical conditions, their prevention and treatment through the adventures of five superheroes — Pump, Chi, Skinderella, Gastro, Axon and his pet robot Abacus. For example, the book on asthma shows the superheroes passing through the food pipe of a giant human model and experiencing spasms of the respiratory tract.
   “Medikidz has done a great job by coming up with a product to empower ill children with the information they need. So they can get better medical care, in partnership with their doctor. Information therapy can be powerful medicine,” says Dr Aniruddha Malpani, medical director of the Health Education Library for People in Mumbai, which provides free materials for patient education.
   Dr Kim Chilman Blair and Dr Kate Hersov from New Zealand created Medikidz to empower children with medical information that will help them take charge of their health. So far the team has created 42 titles of around 30 pages each. “We want to cover 300 topics, including the most common and the rarest conditions. The books won’t answer all your questions, but they will start a dialogue on the subject. We tasted success when a child with epilepsy told us that he could tell other children why he had to take anti-convulsion pills every day – that he didn’t have to hide his condition from his friends anymore,” Dr Kim says. They are working on A(H1NI1) flu, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism now.
   Medikidz has also published brochures explaining how MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds, Xrays and bone scans work and what the equipment does, so children are not nervous when they enter the machines. More titles are on the way. Siddhartha Jegannathan, director – India, Medikidz, says, “We want the brochures in all diagnostic labs and hospitals that conduct these tests, so that children can read them before they take the tests. This way they’ll be less nervous and there will be no need for sedation.”
The current series is targeted at children aged 10 to 15 years. A new series for children of five to 10 years will be out in six months.
Medikidz is in discussion with Philips Healthcare for funding their book on sleep apnea. Vice-president and business head of Philips Healthcare India Anjan Bose says, “We find that when information on medical conditions are provided in booklets, they are just left on the table, but this novel way of reaching the message to the people will help people go for check ups on time because they will know the complications that could arise out of neglecting such a condition.”
ramya.m@timesgroup.com

Source: Times of India, Oct 27, 2009

At least one child rescued from city streets everyday

 K Praveen Kumar | TNN

Chennai: A wing of the police that deals with runaway children—The Juvenile Aid Police Unit — says it rescues, on average, more than one child a day from Chennai’s streets. It says, for these kids from different parts of the state, all roads and rails lead to Chennai.
   The unit, which has 26 members, scans places like the Chennai Central railway station, the Egmore railway station, Koyambedu bus terminus and the Marina Beach for children wandering without adult supervision, and rescue them.
   “We work in two shifts — from 7 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 7 pm. When we find kids looking lost or who don’t have an escort, we try to locate their parents. If we fail at that, the kid is sent to rescue homes run by the government or NGOs as we cannot keep the child with us beyond 6 pm,” an officer attached to the unit said.
   “It’s not always bouquet for us,” said the officer. “Some parents even shout at us for admitting the children in a rescue home.”
   Most of the children are returned to their parents through the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) but some remain in the homes till they turn adults. Separately, there is a large number of children working as labourers in the city.
   Though reasons why children flee their homes are umpteen, poverty and torture by parents stand out. “Most runaway kids say they were paddled at home by their parents, at times by father who is sloshed; some just hate going to school. Extreme poverty is also a reason,” another police officer attached to the Unit told The Times Of India.
   In 2008, the unit rescued 474 children — 437 boys and 37 girls — from different parts of the city. They managed to send 282 boys and 20 girls back to their parents through the CWC. This year, till October 17, 385 children — 369 boys and 16 girls — were rescued. The unit reunited 131 boys and three girls with their parents through the CWC. The rest remain in children’s homes.
   In 2008, 38 children were sent to juvenile homes in other parts of the state; this year, so far, 26 have been sent to other homes in the state. The unit also rescued children from other states, who had come down to Chennai after leaving their homes. In 2008, 23 such children, including 13 girls, were rescued and handed over to their parents. This year, till July, 29 such children were rescued.
   The sources in the special unit say this situation could worsen if no intervention is made quickly. “Of late, the crimes committed by juveniles are on the rise. If we fail to detect and rescue them, they can easily be lured into the criminal world by elements on the prowl,” the officer said. “It is a very delicate situation. The juvenile homes for child convicts are already full,” the official added.

RESCUE MISSION    

In 2008, police rescued 474 children — 437 boys and 37 girls. They managed to send 282 boys and 20 girls back to their parents through the CWC
   In 2009 (till Oct 17) 385 children were rescued — 369 boys and 16 girls. The unit reunited 131 boys and 3 girls with their parents
   In 2008, 38 children were sent to juvenile homes
   In 2009, 26 children were sent to juvenile homes

Sources: Times of India Oct 27, 2009

Chennai   

Home for HIV+ children opened

Staff Reporter

 CHENNAI: “I have been living away from home for many years,” says eight-year-old Vasavi (name changed). She does not know for how many years and has only a smile to offer when asked about her parents.

She is one of the 57 residents of the Community Health Education Society (CHES) home ‘Ananda Illam’ for HIV positive children which was inaugurated in Ernavakkam village, Tiruvallur, here on Tuesday.

The home is equipped to house 100 children and the Emirates Airline Foundation which funded the project has undertaken to pay for the maintenance of the home for the next 20 years.

P. Manorama, director of CHES, said that 90 per cent of HIV positive children acquire the disease during pregnancy or child birth. “These children are stigmatised for no fault of theirs. They need care and support.”

She added that 23 children in the home are currently on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and the facility offers 24-hour medical support.

Mohammed Al Khaja, Emirates’ senior vice-president and founding member of the Emirates Airline Foundation, said the funding was entirely through the donations made by passengers. “Passengers drop money in an envelope which is kept in every seat. None of them look at the religion, culture or nationality of the beneficiaries. This facility for HIV positive children is proof enough to show that a little change can change a lot in the world,” he said.

He, however, added that the home was accessible only to a few children and the government has to step in to reach out and rehabilitate the thousands who need such care.

Bimal Charles, project director, AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) project, said that the government has set up a corpus fund of Rs.5 crore in the recent budget for this purpose. “It will be used to provide education and health for infected as well as affected (loss of a parent to HIV) children.”

According to him, there are 17,000 HIV positive children in the State and homes are not the only solution. “To let the children live in their own community instead of isolating them would be the best solution. This will also help in avoiding stigma,” he said.

K. Meer Mustafa Hussain, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University said “The State has taken a lot of efforts to provide treatment to mothers. But the children are ignored and this scenario has to change.”

Source: The Hindu, Oct 21, 2009

Chennai   

Early schooling robs children of joy teaching & Learning

Ajai Sreevatsan

“The State system of anganwadis and primary schooling is much more humane”

CHENNAI: To be a child is to stand with curious eyes and stare at the mystery before oneself. It is when ‘skills’ such as walking, talking and climbing trees are learnt and remembered for a lifetime. It is part of the wonder years of one’s life.

But with the advent of competition and family environments where both parents are working, these skills are increasingly learnt within classrooms.

The changing landscape of early-phase schooling has been a point of debate for some time and a comprehensive review of primary education in England for 40 years has reopened issues surrounding the right age for a child to start schooling.

The 608-page Cambridge University study says introducing children at the age of five into the constraints and discipline of a classroom – a throwback to Victorian days – provided little benefit and could even be harmful.

“Tamil Nadu is the only State where a child is allowed to enrol in class I if he is 4 years and 10 months old”, says Balaji Sampath, an Ashoka award winner for contributions to the field of education. “This happens nowhere else in the world. At that age children in schools are forced to learn something which they are not ready for.”

“Schooling is not the problem, but what they do at school matters. There has to be more focus on pre-primary education and we have to reconfigure milestones that we set for children,” he adds.

Sumitra M. Gautama, teacher at The School, says that while a primary education system which focusses on nutritional needs and providing a play environment for kids who are 5 to 6 years old is welcome; classroom education can be detrimental for the development of the child.

“Private schools have a lot to learn from the State board in this regard. The State system of anganwadis and primary schooling is much more humane,” she says. “It is ironic that the more affluent you are, the greater the chances of you putting your child through a competitive education system at a very young age.”

The widely accepted norm of sending children to school at 5 is a colonial hangover. It was left behind by the British education system. Many Commonwealth countries have a similar norm.

Interestingly England’s tradition of starting school at five originated from the requirements of Victorian factory owners in the 1870 Elementary Education Act.

“Five was picked not for education or child-development reasons, but in an attempt to service the demands of industry,” the Cambridge study says. “Clearly the earlier children started, the sooner they would finish.”

According to Lakshmi Vijayakumar, a child psychiatrist, even if children are sent to school they have to gain a variety of learning experiences till they are 8 or 9. They have to touch and feel instead of reading textbooks because it is the age in which their sensory and motor systems are developing. What some children do at age 5 in class I is disturbing. Learning has to be made fun at a young age,” she says.

Source: The Hindu, Oct 25, 2009

Chennai   

Need for more adoption agencies stressed

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: The need to set up more adoption agencies in the State was stressed by child welfare agencies at a sensitisation programme on adoption here on Wednesday. UNICEF child protection specialist R. Vidya Sagar said that though Chennai had eight adoption agencies, other districts had only 11 agencies and this was not enough to spur adoption of abandoned children.

Releasing a ‘Compendium of guidelines on adoption,’ Social Welfare Minister Geetha Jeevan said the government will work towards setting up more adoption centres.

Very high demand

“The demand for children is very high and this compendium is meant to serve as a guide for would-be parents,” she said. She said efforts would also be made to ensure speedy processing of adoption procedures, as it would otherwise be a deterrent to adoption.

Commissioner of Social Welfare M.P. Nirmala said that since 2001 the State had received 2,454 children, mostly girls, through the cradle baby scheme, of which 953 had been returned to parents who came claiming them later. The rest were mostly given up for adoption, she said.

Craving for love

Juvenile Justice Board member Sujata Srinivasan said childless couples could go for adoption instead of opting for expensive infertility treatments as hundreds of children lay abandoned in orphanages craving for love. Advocate D. Veda said renewal of licences for adoption agencies took very long and these should be processed faster.

Unauthorised agencies offering children for adoption would also come under the government scanner once rules laying down minimum standards for running an adoption agency are gazetted, officials of the Social Welfare Department said.

Auctioning children

Ms. Srinivasan said many unregistered agencies were literally auctioning children for a price. “Many nurses in government hospitals have a close network with child adoption agencies, who immediately intimate them about a child being abandoned,” she said.

Indian Council for Child Welfare (Tamil Nadu) vice-president Andal Damodaran said that though efforts were on to bring in a common law for adoption, this was not possible now because of objections from certain social groups. “However, a clause has recently been included in the Juvenile Justice Act, under which anyone who wishes to be a parent, single or married, with sufficient income to support a child, can adopt one,” she said.

Several childless couples who had adopted children shared the joy of parenting at the event. One of the foster parents raised concern regarding television serials which spread wrong messages about adopted children.

Responding to queries regarding issue of birth certificates to foster parents, Ms. Nirmala said copies of birth certificate of the adopted child could be obtained from the Corporation or Municipality with the name of foster parents in it. She also clarified that it was not necessary for childless couples to prove their infertility in order to adopt a child.

The compendium said more information about adopting a child in Tamil Nadu could be obtained on http://www.tn.gov.in/

adoption.

Source: The Hindu, October 22, 2009

Chennai   

Court directions on dealing with victims of child sexual abuse

Staff Reporter

THE Hindu, Oct24, 2009

“Children are the weakest and most vulnerable section of human population”

One cannot be sure all cases of sexual abuse against them are reported to police”

FOR KIDS, HOMES TURN TORTURE CELLS

 Man Arrested For Locking Up Son

Counsellors See Increasing Instances of Corporal Punishment By Parents

Priya M Menon | TNN

 Chennai: Many parents would have seen their children come back from schools traumatised and bruised — telltale signs of corporal punishment — but now, schools and counsellors are reporting an alarming rise in the number of school-going children being physically abused by their parents.
“We have seen a number of cases where children from the age of three to 16 are whipped with belts by their pare n t s, ” says Magdalene Jeyarathnam, who runs Center for Counselling, which has been working with children for the past four years.
“Less than two weeks ago, we had a 13-year-old referred to us by his school authorities because he was using foul language and showing aggressive behaviour,” says Jeyarathnam. The school was planning to expel him. However, a few sessions with the counsellor revealed that he was being beaten up his father. “His whole body bore marks of the torture,” she says. “We contacted the father and he admitted that he knew what he was doing was wrong, but did not know what else to do. Parents often vent their frustration on their child,” says Jeyarathnam.
Work-related stress, marital and family problems and unrealistically high expectations from the child are some of the common factors that trigger physical abuse. The abuser can be either be father or mother. Instances of parental abuse usually surface when a teacher or a parent refers the child to a school counsellor. “Abused children usually exhibit aggression in class, won’t complete classwork and their academic performance plummets,” says Dhanalakshmi Rangaswami, a school counsellor.
   The counsellor then spends a few sessions trying to strike a rapport with the child. “In the case of very young children, we engage them in activities or story telling sessions and they slowly open up; sometimes with horrific stories” says Dhanalakshmi. Like the seven-year-old who was being beaten up by his father who was also abusing his mother. Or the 15-year-old who was being hit by her mother who is traumatised by her husband’s extra-marital affair.
   “Many children are also severely ‘punished’ for not studying enough; parents choose schools with care and spend a lot on fees and want their children to excel,” says counsellor M Subhashini. “Some of them have very unrealistic expectations. For instance, a 12-year-old was made to study till midnight and wake up again at 4 am to study and was hit
   if he did not obey.”
   Once the issue comes to
   the attention of the counsellors, they report it to
   the principal and call in
   the parent. “We are
   careful not to antagonise the parent and instead enquire how they deal with their child. Some of them admit they do resort to corporal punishment, but many just outright deny it,” says Dhanalakshmi. “We do ask them to go for proper counselling and seek help.”
   There is little else they can do. “We can’t simply call Childline as we don’t know what will happen to the child after that. There are no good centres or foster care facilities where a child can stay temporarily while the matter is being resolved,” says Jeyarathnam.
   Andal Damodaran, president, Indian Council for Child Welfare, agrees. “Under the Juvenile Justice Act, the parent can be classified as an unfit parent and the child as an abused, but we should be very careful before doing that,” she says. “Institutionalising children is not the solution; we don’t have homes suited for children from the middle or upper class; we need special smaller homes where counsellors can attend to smaller numbers of children.” In some foreign countries, a child is put in foster care with foster parents who are trained to care for such children and come from a similar social status. “Given the Indian scenario, such a thing becomes difficult as we have to look at many parameters, including religion. We have to place a child in a family situation that is similar to the one he comes from,” says Damodaran.
   The solution, she feels, lies in counselling. “In nearly 80% of the cases you don’t need to separate the child from the parent. School counsellors should be trained to handle parents and refer them to specialist counsellors. Many of them surprisingly do go for counselling as they are anxious parents who think what they are doing is for the best,” she says.

priya.menon@timesgroup.com

YOU CAN HELP PREVENT IT

Dial up:

If you suspect a case of child abuse, contact the Childline by dialling 1098 or call the nearest police station, which will contact Childline

You are safe:

Caller’s identity will be protected. Though action will be taken on the basis of even anonymous calls. Childline co-ordinators say that leaving the contact details of the caller will help them verify the case

Is it genuine:

Childline co-ordinators usually don't rush to the place as soon as the complaint is made. They will verify whether the complaint is genuine with neighbours, especially if the child is being abused by family members

Can't act on their own:

Childline coordinators can only rescue a child with the help of labour inspectors in the case of child labour or the police in other situations

Who decides:

To rehabilitate the child and decide on his future, the case will be presented before the Child Welfare Committee, a judicial body that has the right to order a child to be removed from the custody of his parents if needed

 Source: Times of IndiaoI Oct 21, 2009

Migrant workers’ children miss out on schooling

Vidya Venkat

Makeshift: Children at a transit school in Mahindra World City.

CHENNAI: Eight-year-old Mariamma goes to ‘school’ carrying 11-month-old Hema, her sister, on her hip. The transit school operates out of a tin shack in the middle of a labour camp for construction workers at Mahindra World City, a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near Chengalpattu. The class comprises a mixed group of children aged between five and 14, and is managed by a single teacher. Though universal primary education is a right with the passage of the Right to Education Bill recently, migrant children are visibly losing out on this entitlement. Officials of the Kancheepuram district administration say the itinerant nature of migrant workers makes it difficult to make arrangements for formal schooling of their children.

T.K. Elumalai of Rural Development Trust, a non-governmental organisation that runs transit schools, says that in Mahindra World City alone an estimated 600 children aged below 14 are out of school.

He says their transit schools operate on a shoestring budget and without State support no quality education can be offered to these children. Even the construction companies that employ these workers contribute nothing towards the education of their children, he says.

“We have been regularly petitioning officers of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan to start a bridge course for the children in the camp, but there has been no response,” he says. He adds that recently a petition was also forwarded to the Kancheepuram District Collector demanding proper schooling facilities for these children here.

R.Rajeshwari, a Telugu teacher employed by the NGO to handle children in one of the labour camps here, says that of late many children from Hindi-speaking States are also coming in and she is unable to manage them as language is a barrier. She says that besides facilities such as a proper school building and books, these children also need more teachers who can connect with them in their language.

Mr. Elumalai says the migrant workers’ children are also losing out their childhood to adult responsibilities. At a labour camp at Mahindra World City, Aasa Ram, a migrant worker from Bihar, says that usually “elder children are engaged to look after younger siblings when the parents go out to work.” When asked if he has tried enrolling his children at a nearby government school, he says it is too far away.

Mr. Elumalai adds that the denial of education to migrant workers’ children is linked to poverty and exploitation of their parents at the hands of contractors.

It is a common sight on the Mahindra World City premises to see the children of migrant workers roaming about aimlessly for most of the day. Many are also seen picking garbage disposed of by the companies operating here as their parents get to make an extra buck this way.

SSA State project director R.Venkatesan says that though they held regular executive committee meetings to take stock of the out-of-school children in the State, as far as approvals for setting up new facilities are concerned, it is the responsibility of the District administration.

When contacted, Kancheepuram Collector Santosh K.Misra said he had distributed some books for the children in the labour camp there last year. He added that the situation would be reviewed again.

Source: The Hindu, Oct20, 2009

Call to protect girls

Staff Reporter

KARUR: There is a need to prevent sexual assault on girl children. Governmental agencies, voluntary organisations, other institutions and individuals could play a vital role in this regard, speakers opined at a workshop on “Preventing sexual assaults on girl children” conducted here recently.

They took note of the fact that reports of sexual assault on girls were on the rise with every passing year. While the judiciary and the police with the active assistance of the executive were taking steps to contain the menace, incidents keep on rising, they observed calling for more concerted efforts on the part of the government to prevent such events. While mostly the assaults were related to workplaces, the more dangerous assaults pertained to family and community, said Raja, Coordinator of Psycho Trust that organised the workshop. Lethargic attitude prevailed towards even accepting such demoralizing events and taking corrective steps should be our priority, he added.

A large chunk of the world’s girl child population lives in India and naturally the assaults too assume large proportions. That called for concerted, immediate and concrete action to prevent sexual crimes against them, Mr. Raja said.

“One problem that governmental organisations and voluntary agencies came across while dealing with the issue, was the exceptionally high incidence of child labourers. Higher the number of child labourers bigger the problem. A practical mode of eliminating sexual assault on girls in workplace was by totally eliminating child labour,” said Sumathi and Nalini of the Psycho Trust.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Gnana Sivakumar, said that the police were taking steps to monitor child trafficking. That had led to several girls being saved. Multi level monitoring by the security agencies had greatly reduced the crime of child trafficking. Stray incidents that mar the society’s reputation needed to be tackled in a coordinated manner, he observed.

Police Inspector A. Udayakumar, Sub Inspector P. Mallika and programme coordinators Thirumurthi, Jayaprada, Hema, Yavana rani, Kalavathy, Kathirvel and Victor spoke.

Source: The Hindu, Oct20, 2009

Cops rescue 5-yr-old locked up by dad for over 2 months

A Selvaraj & M Ramya | TNN

Chennai: A startling case of child abuse came to light on Monday after a five-anda-half-year-old boy was rescued from his house in Trustpuram, Kodambakkam, where he was confined to a room for more than two months by his father.
   Inspector S Vijayakumar found the child hidden behind a slab in the kitchen, occupying the place meant for the LPG cylinder. Child rights activists said the boy had sustained emotional scars, besides other visible marks (that look like pinch marks) all over his frail frame.
   The emaciated boy was kept in the house, where his father’s extended family lived. The child had been confined for more than two months by his father, Paneerselvam, a clerk with a high court lawyer. Neighbours said the boy had told them that the injuries on his forehead were caused by blows dealt by his father.
   The boy’s plight was known when a neighbour called up Childline (1098) last week. Childline activists visited the house and made inquiries.

Childline took police help to rescue locked-up child

Chennai: Childline activists sprang into action the moment they got a call about a boy being locked up in his house for more than two months by his father. When they made inquiries, the inmates of the house told them that there was no child satisfying the description in the household. “His aunt showed us a one-and-a-half-year-old child and told us that there was no other child in the house. She said they would not dream of mistreating a child because children are like god. So we didn’t press the matter further,” said Childline co-ordinator C Sridevi.
   But the volunteers didn’t give up. They traced the caller who had tipped them off and tried to track down the child. They finally found him with injuries on his forehead, too traumatized to give them details of his condition.
   “We went to his house with the police and rescued the child at 1 am this morning. The child was too weak to talk. He couldn’t even stand on his own. We are waiting for the doctor’s report to find out if the boy is weak because he is malnourished or because of a medical condition,” Sridevi said.
   Sources said Pannerselvam neglected the boy as he resembled his mother, while showering attention on younger son Karthik, who looked like the father. Tired of the quarrels with her inlaws, the boy’s mother, Lourdu Mary, left the household six months ago to live with her parents in Sevvapet, leaving behind her sons.
   Neighbours told the police that following his mother’s departure, the boy turned a recluse and refused to eat. The change in his behaviour caused inmates of the household to isolate him.
   “The neighbours told me about the boy’s illegal detention. I tried to contact the family members but they refused to speak to me,” said Gopalakrishnan, a resident of the locality, who filed a complaint.
   Personnel at the Kodambakkam police station said, “We have informed the boy’s mother about the incident and will pursue the case if she lodges a complaint against her husband.”
   The boy has been admitted to the Government Children’s Hospital in Egmore. Medical investigation is on. 
   

Source: timeschennai@timesgraoup.com

UN body to monitor delivery of basic services in states

 Millennium Campaign Officials Say India’s Track Record Poor

 Himanshi Dhawan | TNN

New Delhi: Despite India’s dramatic economic growth, its performance in social indices or achieving millennium development goals (MDGs) continues to lag behind. The United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) is now working on a monitoring mechanism to assess implementation of public service schemes. UNMC has held preliminary consultations with states like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh which are at the forefront of battling with issues like poverty, low infant and maternal mortality.
   UNMC director Salil Shetty said, “This year’s mobilisation will place particular emphasis on telling world leaders that their track record on women’s rights, maternal mortality and hunger is unacceptable. We are in the process of putting in place a tracking system to monitor delivery of basic services.”
   He said, “Citizens refuse to accept that world over 70% of the people living in poverty are women and children and 500,000 women die annually in the process of giving life, and they are demanding urgent action from their leaders.”
   For instance, the country is suffering alarming hunger and is ranked 66th out of the 88 developing countries. About 30% of the total population lives below the poverty line and more than 200 million people are malnourished.
   According to UNMC, India’s track record in certain indices is “off-track” and requires a re-assessment of strategy like policies in tackling maternal and infant mortality. Malnutrition contributes to over 50% child deaths while there are 450 maternal deaths per 1,000 live births.
   The problem, according to the Shetty, is more in six states and 200 districts, with Dalits, adivasis and women being the worst affected. While low resource allocation is a concern, officials feel that it is the delivery mechanism that must be tightened. The monitoring mechanism is likely to target this loophole through civil society involvement.
   Referring to UPA’s schemes like rural employment guarantee scheme, right to education Act and the proposed food security Bill, Shetty said, “There is political will and we can see that in the superstructures that have been created. But implementation is altogether another issue.”
   Nearly all schemes are dependent upon state governments for their implementation and this Shetty feels leaves much to be desired. UNMC’s ‘Stand up & Take Action’ is an effort to create awareness amongst people about their rights.

Unhealthy trends

30% of total population of the country lives below poverty line India has lowest child immunisation rate in South Asia There are just 927 girls under 6 years for every 1,000 boys, down from last decade's 945 Pupil dropout ratio has increased to 50% in the last 5 years

Source: Times of India, October 19, 2009

BID TO CONCEAL INFORMATION

 Govt depts twist RTI clause to reject pleas

Jeeva | TNN

Chennai: Government departments seem to have found a new way to avoid replying to queries under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. Many public information officers (PIOs) are now rejecting RTI queries by quoting Section 7 (9) of the act which allows the authorities some leeway in presenting data to applicants in case the form in which it is sought is time-consuming.
   Section 7 (9) of the act says, “the information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it will disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.”
   The Tamil Nadu State Information Commission, quoting Section 7 (9), refused last month to furnish the copies of orders in which it had recommended disciplinary action and imposed penalty against PIOs for turning away applicants without complying with RTI provisions. The commission rejected the plea despite the section stipulating that info should be provided in the format in which it is sought or in the form in which it is immediately available.

Interpretation of RTI Act wrong, allege activists


Chennai: The Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC), quoting Section 7 (9), refused last month to furnish the copy of orders in which it had recommended disciplinary action and imposed penalty against PIOs for turning away applicants without complying with RTI provisions. In its reply to the application filed by R D h a k s h i - namoorthy of Ashok Nagar in Chennai, the commission said that the work of collecting details (to provide the copy of the orders sought) would be impractical in view of the burden relating to increasing number of complaints it was receiving.
   However, the reasons provided by the TNSIC have been criticised by social activists, who say wrong interpretation of RTI provisions has begun to dilute the purpose of the Act. “No public authority can deny information unless queries attract the exemptions and reasons mentioned in Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act. Section 7 (9) only enables the public authority to provide the information in the form it is available, if furnishing the information in the form in which an applicant seeks, would disproportionately divert resources,” said Venkatesh Nayak, coordinator of the New Delhi-based Common Wealth Human Rights Initiative. “Section 7 (9) is not a ground for rejection of RTI queries. Misinterpreting the provision for refusal of information can certainly be challenged in court,” said S Murugan, an advocate practising in the Madras high court.
   In another recent instance in which an RTI application was rejected, V Gopalakrishnan, a resident of MGR Nagar, had sought to know the total number of resolutions passed by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board from its inception, pertaining to allotment of tenements and vacant lands, but the board, quoting the same section, replied that it could not provide the information. Gopalakrishnan has now filed an appeal with the State Information Commission, challenging the rejection.
   In yet another case, the state housing and urban development department gave a similar reply to an applicant who raised queries pertaining to allotment of Tamil Nadu Housing Board flats and plots in Chennai. Such interpretation of Section 7 (9) is the second such stumbling block which RTI applicants have faced in recent times. Before this, some PIOs had sought to fob off inconvenient questions by demanding exorbitant amounts to reveal information and categorised them as 'further fee' by wrongly interpreting Section 7 (3) of the Act.

Source: Times of India, Oct 19, 2009

Adoption Law: Hindu Law Gets A New Secular Touch

A landmark Bombay high Court Judgement this week has stated that a couple can now adopt an abandoned girl even if they already have a daughter. Justice DY Chandrachaud held that the nine-year-old Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (2000) would prevail over the 54-year-old Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, which prohibits same-gender adoption.

Source: Tehelka, Oct 3, 2009 (Vol 6, Issue 39)  

4 yrs after RTI act was passed, children get to know its power

 M Ramya | TNN

 Chennai: Four years after the landmark Right To Information Act was enacted, academics are gearing up to educate schoolchildren on the provisions of the act and tell them how it can empower the common man.
   The Tamil nadu Science and Technology Centre is marking RTI week celebrations from October 6 to 12 by organising a special lecture on ‘RTI – Provisions and Cases’ on October 12, the day the act was enacted four years ago. K Krishnakumar, joint secretary to the government in the Personnel & Administrative Reforms department, will deliver an interactive lecture on the subject on Monday.
   “The purpose of the RTI Act is to remove corruption from society. We felt the need to instill in the minds of young children the thought that it is the duty of government officials to provide information and service to the common man. This will help prevent them from bribing people to get information or the required service when they grow up. As the Tamil nadu Science and Technology Centre is interested in providing information to the public, we wanted to educate children in this regard,” said Dr P Iyamperumal, executive director of the centre.
   Students of Shree Niketan Matriculation School in Tiruvallur are being encouraged to seek information through a scheme called the RTI@School. Launched two weeks ago, the scheme encourages students to ask for information from various departments, ranging from transport and administration to examinations, through a process similar to that specified in the RTI Act. The children can ask for information on any aspect pertaining to the school, from how a paper is evaluated and teacher assessment to how sports teams and leaders are selected, even fees.
   “In our country, people are scared, almost apologetic, to seek information. Such mentality is bred when the person is still in school, where children are prevented from asking questions. In our schools, what information children get is what the school managements want to provide. Also, the RTI Act is a fantastic piece of legislation and I want schoolchildren to be aware of its power and know how to use it. We tried teaching children the provisions of the act during the GK period, but one day when I sat in the class I found it boring, so we thought of this scheme,” said school correspondent, P Vishnucharan.
   In the school, a student can place his application in a dropbox; the information is furnished in 10 days. It is either emailed or the student can collect it from the information commissioner, a teacher children are comfortable with. Students from Classes VI upwards can use the scheme to get information. “The first week, we didn’t have too many queries, but last week we received 23. It’s a start. We’ve covered only 75% of the issues that we want to make it transparent. We’re adding things as we go,” Vishnucharan says. 

Source: ramya.m@timesgroup.com, Times of Inda, Oct 12, 2009

URBAN-RURAL GAP STILL WIDE

Secondary education is lagging behind, says World Bank study

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 New Delhi: Caught between the emphasis on elementary and higher education, secondary education has suffered in the country, a World Bank report has said.
   Calling secondary education a “forgotten middle”, Sam Carlson of the World Bank, who prepared the report, pointed out how investment in secondary education had declined. While primary education gets the largest share of 52% of total spending on education, secondary education, which plays an important role in building up a skilled workforce, gets 30% of the spending, the report said.
   Higher education gets 18% of the total spending on education. India’s gross enrolment rate at the secondary level of 52% is far inferior to the GERs of countries like Vietnam (72%), Sri Lanka (83%) and China (91%).
   Carlson said the newlylaunched Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan has tremendous potential to bridge the gap in secondary education. World Bank is in the process of lending $500 million loan for RMSA. Projections, Carlson said, suggested an increase in absolute demand for secondary education between 2007-08 and 2017-18 of around 17 million students per year, with total enrolment growing from 40 to 57 million students.
   The report said there was a 40% point gap in secondary enrolment rates between students from the highest and lowest expenditure quintiles.
In addition, it said there was a 20% point gap between urban and rural secondary enrolment rates, and a persistent 10% point gap between secondary enrolment rates of boys and girls.
   Secondary enrolment also varies from state to state. From 22% in Bihar to 92% in Kerala and from 4% in Jharkhand to 44% in Tamil Nadu. In some states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, enrolment of the general population at secondary level is 80% higher than for SCs, STs and Muslims.
   The report has recommended innovative public-private partnership models including reform of the grant-inaid system, public classroom and school construction in rural areas, training and hiring of teachers and introduction of double-shift teaching.
   To raise demand for higher education, the Bank said number and quality of class eight students should be increased, there should be a provision of financial and in-kind assistance for poor and disadvantaged students. Emphasis has also been put on strengthening secondary education teacher training colleges, peer-based development of teachers, teacher performance standards and increased community monitoring of student learning.
   The World Bank report, while recommending India to become part of international benchmarking like Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), carried out a test on the basis of published test items in schools of Rajasthan and Orissa. It was found that students’ average scores placed them below 43 of the 51 countries tested, just above South Africa and Ghana. However, top 5% of students performed far higher, on average, than most of their peers around the world

Source: Times of India, Oct 6, 2009

JUVENILES AT TIME OF INCIDENT

 HC releases 2 Coimbatore blast convicts

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 Chennai: The Madras high court on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of two young men, serving life sentences in connection with the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts, on the ground that they were juveniles at the time of the incident and should have been tried under the Juvenile Justice Act.
   A division bench comprising Justice Prabha Sridevan and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, setting Mohammed Amjad Ali and Mujibur Rahman free, said: “Though the appeals have been heard, we feel that if the juveniles are entitled to the protection of the Act, they need not be in detention even for one day unnecessarily.” Amjad Ali who completed 17 years and one month on February 14, 1998 — the blast date — and Mujibur Rahman who completed 16 years and 10 months were charged with planting bombs that went off, causing destruction of life and property.
   Under the Juvenile Justice Act 1986, only persons aged below 16 years were considered juveniles. The age limit under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2000 was enhanced to 18 years.
   Rules and guidelines on handling juveniles and implementing the amended legislation was framed by the Centre in 2007. As per the rules, once a juvenile completes 18 years, he should be shifted to a Borstal School, where he shall be kept till he turns 23. No person convicted under the amended JJ Act shall be kept in the Borstal School after he attains the age of 23. The applications filed on behalf of Amjad Ali and Mujibur Rahman before the division bench last month contended that they should have been released in 2003, soon after they attained 23 years of age.
   Allowing the applications, the judges said the inquiry against the juveniles should have been conducted only by the JJ Board and not the court. “Since these two have been in confinement for the maximum period for which they could have been detained in the special home as per the Act, we do not think that any purpose would be served by remitting the matter to the Board for conducting the proceedings against them. Instead, they shall be released from custody, unless their custody is required in any other case.”
   Hoping that the youth
would understand the purpose for which the Act had been enacted, the judges said that they should realise their social responsibility. “The objective of the Act is that the juveniles who have been in conflict with law will learn that they should be integrated socially and they should be free of stigma that criminal proceedings might inflict on them.”
   The special court for the Coimbatore bomb blasts cases awarded life term to 43 persons, including SA Basha. Forty-one persons filed appeals against their conviction and sentence. While Basha chose not to challenge the trial court order, another convict died during the proceedings. With the imminent release of these two youths, the appeals before the division bench concern only 39 life convicts.

Source: Times of India, Oct 7, 2009

25 million more children will go hungry by 2050

Suzanne Goldenberg

GRIM SCENARIO: Sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia will be the most vulnerable to food shortages.

Twenty-five million more children will go hungry by the middle of this century as climate change leads to food shortages and soaring prices for staples such as rice, wheat, maize and soya beans, a report says.

If global warming goes unchecked, all regions of the world will be affected, but the most vulnerable — south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa — will be hit hardest by failing crop yields, according to the report, prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The children of 2050 will have fewer calories to eat than those in 2000, the report says, and the effect would be to wipe out decades of progress in reducing child malnutrition.

The grim scenario is the first to gauge the effects of climate change on the world’s food supply by combining climate and agricultural models.

Spikes in grain prices last year led to rioting and unrest across the developing world, from Haiti to Thailand. Leaders at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh last week committed $2bn to food security, and the United Nations is set to hold a summit on food security in November, its second since last year’s riots.

But the U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is pressing the World Bank and other institutions to do more. He said the industrialised world needs to step up investment in seed research and to offer more affordable crop insurance to the small farmers in developing countries. Though prices have stabilised, the world’s food system is still in crisis, he said at the weekend.

“Ever more people are denied food because prices are stubbornly high, because purchasing power has fallen due to the economic crisis, or because rains have failed and reserve stocks of grain have been eaten,” he said.

Even without global warming, rising populations meant the world was headed for food shortages and food price rises.

‘The food price crisis of last year really was a wake-up call to a lot of people that we are going to have 50 per cent more people on the surface of the Earth by 2050,” said Gerald Nelson, the lead author of the report. “Meeting those demands for food coming out of population growth is going to be a huge challenge — even without climate change.”

After several years in which development aid has been diverted away from rural areas, the report called for $7bn a year for crop research, and investment in irrigation and rural infrastructure to help farmers adjust to a warming climate. “Continuing the business-as-usual approach will almost certainly guarantee disastrous consequences,” said Nelson.

The G20 industrialised nations last week began discussing how to invest some $20bn pledged for food security earlier this year.

Some regions of the world outlined in the report are already showing signs of vulnerability because of changing rainfall patterns and drought linked to climate change. The British development charity Oxfam yesterday launched a $152m appeal on behalf of 23 million people hit by a severe drought and spiralling food prices in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda. The charity called it the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa for a decade, and said many people in the region were suffering from malnutrition.

But southern Asia, which made great advances in agricultural production during the 20th century, was also singled out in the IFPRI report for being particularly at risk of food shortages. Some countries, such as Canada and Russia, will experience longer growing seasons because of climate change, but other factors — such as poor soil — mean that will not necessarily be translated into higher food production.

The report was prepared for negotiators currently trying to reach a global deal to fight climate change at the latest round of U.N. talks in Bangkok. It used climate models prepared by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia to arrive at estimates of how changes in growing seasons and rainfall patterns would affect farming in the developing world and elsewhere.

Without an ambitious injection of funds and new technology, wheat yields could fall by more than 30 per cent in developing countries, setting off a catastrophic rise in prices. Wheat prices, with unmitigated climate change, could rise by 170 per cent -194 per cent by the middle of this century, the report said. Rice prices are projected to rise by 121 per cent — and almost all of the increase will have to be passed on to the consumer, Nelson said.

The report did not take into account all the expected impacts of climate change — such as the loss of farmland due to rising sea levels, a rise in the number of insects and in plant disease, or changes in glacial melt. All these factors could increase the damage of climate change to agriculture.

Others who have examined the effects of climate change on agriculture have warned of the potential for conflict. In a new book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilising to Save Civilisation, Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, warns that sharp declines in world harvests due to climate change could threaten the world order. He saw Asia as the epicentre of the crisis, with the latest science warning of a sea level rise of up to six feet by 2100.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

Face-off over “borrowed babies” in reality show

Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI: A face-off between NDTV Imagine and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) appears to be on the cards over reality show ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh’ in which television couples are made to look after “borrowed” babies.

Days after the NCPCR complained to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the channel on Friday said it disagreed with the Commission, adding that it would take all appropriate steps to protect “our broadcast rights.”

“Child rights’ violation”

The NCPCR’s contention is that the show violates child rights as it entailed star couples taking care of babies “borrowed” for the programme. According to NDTV Imagine Ltd., the NCPCR sent a notice asking it to stop the telecast immediately.

Expressing surprise over the notice, the channel, in a statement, said the NCPCR had neither approached it nor the BBC — the format owner and producer of the show — to seek clarifications.

The channel pointed out that ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh’ was an adaptation of the BBC’s ‘Baby Borrowers,’ which has been aired successfully in many countries.

‘Parents supervising’

The statement pointed out that the children’s biological parents supervised proceedings through cameras in adjacent rooms and had the freedom to intervene if they perceived the slightest risk to their child.

Source: The Hindu, Oct 04, 2009

Food survey may replace BPL census

Subodh Ghildiyal | TNN

New Delhi: The Centre is mulling a ‘food survey’ to identify beneficiaries of the proposed National Food Security Act. The survey will be designed to draw up a list of people in need of subsidised foodgrains, separate from BPL list which is used for targeted subsidy schemes.
   The idea of food survey, first-of-its-kind, is still a test balloon being discussed in the government. But the PMO’s mention of it to rural development (RD) ministry lends weight to its prospects.
   In another far-reaching move, the Centre has asked the RD ministry if BPL survey could be dispensed with and replaced by food survey.
   The RD ministry conducts the BPL survey which entails a household identification of the poor based on a fixed criteria of poverty.
   The proposed food survey is to identify a “food insecure target group” based on food security norms.
   What makes it a radical idea, even if there are questions on its feasibility, is that it would identify families which do not get enough food as per the definition of food security. Clearly, the section to benefit from the NFSA is seen to be different from the BPL who are beneficiaries of subsidy schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana, SGSY, Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension and the like. A food survey different from a BPL survey is likely to inflate the list of beneficiaries.
   The move to draw up a separate list for the NFSA, a mega poll promise from the Congress, is significant as it would seek to steer clear of the BPL and go deeper into who is in need for subsidised foodgrains.
   The BPL list has long been a contentious issue, with Centre and states giving different numbers of poor, leading to serious distortion in foodgrain supply in the PDS.
   However, some see the proposed separation as a means to contain the financial burden of welfare schemes. The N C Saxena Committee’s criteria for identifying the poor will increase the spend on social schemes targetted at the BPL. A section believes that the new criteria should be used only to identify the segment the NFSA will cater to, thereby freezing the expenditure on other schemes at current levels.

Food For Thought

The proposed survey is to identify a food insecure target group based on food security norms
It will identify families which do not get enough food as per the definition of food security
It will be different from the BPL survey that entails a household identification of the poor based on a fixed criteria of poverty

Source: Times of India Oct 02, 2009

Govt to crack down on abusers of women

Centre’s Alert To States In Wake Of Increase In Honour Killing And Trafficking Cases

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 New Delhi: In the wake of recent ‘honour killings’ which were backed by traditional village ‘khap panchayats’ in Haryana villages, the Centre has directed all states across the country to vigorously enforce laws for the safety of the fairer sex and take all preventive measures to stop all kind of human trafficking.
   In a strong advisory enlisting 31 “urgent actions”, the Union home ministry also asked states to even undertake “a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the machinery in tackling the problem of women”.
   “Despite several steps being taken by state governments, the picture still is very grim and disappointing. Complaints are still being received regarding nonregistration of FIRs and unsympathetic attitude of police personnel towards rape victims and victims of violence,” said minister of state for home Ajay Maken on Saturday, referring to the advisory issued on September 4. The steps suggested include gender sensitization of police personnel, adopting appropriate measures for swift and salutary punishment to public servants found guilty of custodial violence against women, minimising delays in investigation of murder, rape and torture of women, setting up of ‘crime against women cell’ in all the districts across the country and setting up special women courts.
   The ministry also asked the states to increase the overall representation of women in police forces at all levels so that they constitute 33% of the force. A similar advisory on preventing and combating human trafficking was issued on September 9. It referred to cross-border trafficking that is being done to exploit women and children for commercial sexual exploitation, child labour, forced labour, bonded labour or illegal organ removal.
   Maken said: “In this regard, the ministry had earlier convened a meeting of the nodal officers for human trafficking of various states and UTs in August and pushed forward the agenda of coordinated and intensive efforts against trafficking.”
   The key points in the second advisory include implementation of legal provisions in the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956; Juvenile Justice Act, 2000; Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006; capacity building of the State machinery; prevention of trafficking; investigation and prosecution and rescue and rehabilitation measures.
   The states and UTs have also been asked to convey to the Centre the present status within one month. The key points have been worked out in collaboration with the ministries of women and child development, labour and employment and health and family welfare.

FAIR APPROACH

The Centre has issued a strong advisory to all states enlisting 31 urgent actions:

Gender sensitization of cops

Adopt appropriate measures for swift and salutary punishment of public servants found guilty of custodial violence on women

Minimise delays in the investigation of murder, rape and torture of women

Set up ‘crime against women cell’ in all districts

Form special women courts

Source: Times of India, Sep 21, 2009

Audio-book to make kids aware of unsafe affection

 Shreya Roy Chowdhury TNN

 New Delhi: Being petted is not always pleasant. And if the intention behind the fondling is less than innocent, kids get the creeps. The problem lies in getting them to speak up.
   A Hindi audio-book on ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ touches instructs kids on personal safety, telling them to trust their instincts and disclose their experiences to adults — all through a mix of story-telling and songs. A booklet accompanies the disc.
   ‘Gudgudi Karna, Gale Lagana: Sparsh Ke Niyam Sikhiye (Tickling, Hugging: Learn the meaning of touch),’ for children below 12, will be released by Delhi high court chief justice A P Shah on September 23.
   Rahul Bose, whose directorial debut, ‘Everybody says I’m Fine’ (2001) addressed the issues of child abuse, has lent his voice for the 13-minute recording.
   According to a 2007 Government of India study, nearly 53% of all children have faced sexual abuse, ranging from inappropriate groping to rape. In most cases, the perpetrators were known to the victims.
   Further, there was very little difference between the number of reports from boys and girls.
   Appropriately, the first story in the book, which has a young boy being grabbed by a peanut-seller, dispels the myth that girls are more vulnerable to abuse than boys.
   Not available in general bookstores, one thousand copies of the Hindi version will be distributed free of cost by child rights group Terre des Hommes (TDH) in Delhi, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar and other stateswheretheir projects are under way. ‘‘We have about 60 projects running in north India.
   The book will be used at all of them, immediately after release,’’ says Kishore, programme coordinator at TDH. Formal schools will also be approached.
   TDH is in discussion with the department of social welfare on the possibility of using the book in Delhi’s government schools.

Source: Times of India, Sep 21, 2009

Toilets still a dream in villages...

 SANITATION RAISES A STINK IN RURAL INDIA AS CAPITAL JAZZES UP

 Nirmala M Nagaraj | TNN

 Bangalore: They wait for the dark, so they can slip out and relieve themselves. For women in the rural areas, even a toilet with a door is a luxury, forget our urban sanitaryware and bidets.
   A World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme paints a sad picture of India’s villages, saying 50% of the country’s women lack basic toilet facilities. So do men, and children grow up without them.
   The study of individual household levels of sanitation coverage revealed that Union territory Dadar and Nagar Haveli has less than 1% and Manipur just 7% sanitation coverage, while Sikkim and Kerala are the only two states which have more than 100% coverage. Though progressive, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Punjab have less than 40%.
   India’s national sanitation and hygiene programme—the Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP)—was launched in 1986 and was evolved into the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in 1999, operating in more than 578 districts of 30 states/Union Territories. It is resourced with over $1 billion. Yet, 55% of rural households are still without toilets and rural sanitation coverage is limited to 21.9%, according to the 2001 census.
   The programme has also neglected school sanitation, though the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has shown that adequate sanitation facilities would lower dropout rates by 64%, improve enrolment rates by 48% and curb absenteeism by 3%. The TSC was later revitalised under the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, but with its pace of implementation, the Millennium Development Goal of universal access to toilets by 2012 remains a distant dream.
   Recognizing it as an important determinant, one of the main objectives of the National Rural Health Mission has been to provide access to sanitation and water. Even four years after the mission was launched, most states are yet to have a Village Health and Sanitation Committee (VHSC).
   Despite the policy and funds, this programme, too, has been going on a very slow and uneven pace. For instance, in Karnataka’s Gulbarga, the sanitation coverage is less than 10% and metros like Bangalore it is just about 55%. Only a few states like West Bengal, where a higher proportion of women elected representatives participate in governance, have shown significant progress in implementing the programme with a coverage of over 70%.
   Such scarce sanitation facilities trigger health problems. Every year, India sees 1.25 lakh new cases of cervical cancer that is principally caused by lack of adequate sanitation facility. Poor hygiene leads to a decrease in genital tract immunity, making women prone to the disease.

Source: Times of India, Sep 21, 2009

Legalizing homosexuality will adversely affect children: Panel

Says It Will Affect Emotional And Psychological Growth Of A Child

 Nandita Sengupta TNN

New Delhi: Legalizing homosexuality will lead to the crumbling of society’s basic family unit, which in turn, will adversely impact childhood. In a nutshell, that is the biggest concern of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), which has covered the legal, societal and health impacts of legalizing homosexuality in its petition to the Supreme Court that runs into almost 50 pages.
   “The petition’s three main points are: adverse impact on society at large, impact of legalisation on children and the effect on the life patterns of homosexuals who have a certain way of life,” says chairperson, DCPCR, Amod Kanth. The concept of childhood is all about the family unit, says Kanth. “Siblings, parenthood, marriage and family are all societal institutions which form childhood,” he says. Legalizing homosexuality can result in society’s current constructs crumbling, thereby leading to issues like “value disorientation that can torment the child, creating an identity crisis,” says the former cop who runs an NGO Prayas.
   Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and the religious right have already denounced Delhi High Court’s July judgment on reading down of Section 377 decriminalising homosexuality. Their stand gets a fillip with the statutory body thinking on similar lines.
   “What is abnormal till age17 yrs, 364days,can’tsuddenly become all right when you turn 18,” says Kanth, finding in the reading down the seeds of unrest. “The court is saying homosexual behaviour is normal,butitis evidenced that these are actually aberrations. As a result, when it is legalised, it will confuse children and will have adverse impact on his emotional and psychological growth,” he says.
   The petition questions whether the judgment has not excluded constitutional morality from social morality as well. “Social context is the determining factor with regard to abnormal behaviour, so surely we need to look at the implications there?”
   Agreeing that ‘recasting the law’ is the best way forward, Kanth emphasises that 100% cases under Section 377 relate to kids. “It’s the only law that provides some protection to children,” he says. An umbrella law for children’s rights is nowhere on the horizon so for the statutory body, Section 377 is the only safeguard.
   While it is argued that additional laws for children can be the way out, more laws is something advocates are wary of. “Too many laws lead to confusion. Section 377 shouldn’t apply to consenting adults. That’s it,” says advocate Pinky Anand.
   Kanth adds that the plea is thoroughly researched and drawn up by a battery of world-renowned experts, psychiatrists and psychologists, such as Dr Shridhar Sharma, of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences,who alsosetup the Goa Mental Hospital. “There is enough material that says gay populations have higher incidence of STD, HIV etc. So why promote behaviour that leads to this?” questions Kanth.
   Other than that, Kanth says there are related issues of adoption by homosexual couples, issues of foster care.

TIMES VIEW

Those who argue that the Delhi High Court’s judgment decriminalizing homosexuality will hurt child rights need to think again. All that the HC ruling has done is to let consenting adults have same sex relationships without fear of arrest and prosecution. This in no way hurts children. These critics of the judgment say that it could break up the institution of heterosexual families and hence harm children. That is a strange logic. Surely, children living in a family where one (or both) of the parents is unwillingly trapped in a heterosexual relationship are more likely to have to deal with a troubled home. Forcing people to go against their sexual inclinations is a poor way of trying to give the child a secure home environment.

Source: Timesof India, Sep 18, 2009

TN to ensure 10 yrs of compulsory education

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 Chennai: After the successful implementation of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the state, the Tamil Nadu government has plans to ensure 10 years of compulsory school education in the state.
   The objective was to provide compulsory education to all children till SSLC. The state has drawn a timeline to give quality higher secondary education to all those below 18 years by 2020.
   To kick-start the scheme, Tamil Nadu government will open 20 model schools this year, said chief minister M Karunanidhi while addressing collectors and SPs at a conference on Thursday.
   Under the SSA, nearly 70,000 dropouts were brought to schools and the dropout rate was brought down to 1.23% in 2007-08 from 1.91% during 2005-06 in elementary schools. Karunanidhi also said the dropout rate in high schools has come down to 1.90 % from 4.08%.
   Stating that the common board of school education system will be implemented in the state after careful consideration, the chief minister sought the cooperation of district collectors.

Source: Times of india, Sep 28, 2009

Red tape holds up adoption of over 30 kids

 New Delhi: At least 30 abandoned and orphaned children—many with special needs and all in line for international adoptions— have been waiting to be placed in families. The delay is not in finding families that are willing to accept these children but because of bureaucratic delays in government.
   The situation has reached such a head that a Singapore-based NRI waiting for clearances to adopt a child has even complained to the PMO about the inordinate delay. According to sources, there are nine domestic and two international agencies whose licence—to allow them to conduct intra-country adoptions—has been up for renewal. However, delays within the nodal Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) and the ministry of women and child development (WCD) have put a spanner in the works for children being kept by these agencies.
   According to Mumbai-based agency Bal Vikas’s managing trustee J Panigrahi, there are 11 children whose paperwork is complete and are awaiting adoptions. “Most children are slow learners and have special needs. They are headed for US and Denmark,” she said.
   India placed 821 children for intracountry adoption in 2008 but the number has been declining. When asked about the delay adoptions, CARA chairman J K Mittal said, “The matter is under consideration in the ministry. I hope this will be resolved very soon.”
   Sources, however, said CARA officials had been delaying renewal of licence of adoption agencies in anticipation of specific orders from the WCD ministry.
   “For the past 11 years, CARA has been clearing all files related to renewal of adoption agencies but now the secretary has asked for specific orders from the ministry for the same work,” a source said.
   An office-bearer of a Chennai-based agency said they had placed 18 children last year. “This year, we have nine cases pending. These are children with serious disabilities like a heart disease or blindness. These are always the toughest to place. But the worst is to have to wait endlessly for approvals,” she said.
   A Kolkata agency official said they had an 18-month-old child who weighed only 800 grams at birth. “We have brought her up in swabs of cotton and now she is alright. We have found a family for her but she and 4 others are waiting for a nod from the ministry,” she added. Amongst the countries where these children are headed are US, Sweden, UK, Singapore and Denmark. Singapore-based NRI M Marirajan, a prospective parent, has complained to the PMO about the delay in getting a no-objection certificate prompting him to ask the WCD ministry for an explanation.

 Himanshi Dhawan TNN, Times of India, Sep 14, 2009

Sharp decline in out-of-school children

 Only 80 Lakh In 6-14 Age Group Not Going To School In ’09 Compared To 1.3 Cr In ’05

 New Delhi: In another feather to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s cap, the number of outof-school (OOS) children in the 6-14 age group has come down dramatically from 1.34 crore in 2005 to 80.4 lakh in 2009. 
In percentage terms, 4.22% of the total children in this age group are not going to school as per the latest figures. The first survey of 2005 had showed that 6.94% children in this age group were OOS.  

This has been revealed in the comprehensive survey by Social Research Institute of Indian Market Research Bureau of OOS children in the country. The survey, done for HRD ministry, corroborates the prestigious private survey by Pratham. In early 2009, Pratham had put OOS children at 4.3%. 

The big news is Bihar’s success story and Rajasthan and UP’s poor performance. The north-south divide is also clear. Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have OOS children ranging between just 0.38% in Kerala to 1.4% in AP. 

Right now the basic figures of the survey, conducted in January 2009, have come out and more facts will come once the report is finalised. But sources involved with the survey said there has been a significant decline in OOS Muslims, STs and girl students. However, the decline is not significant in case of SC children. Decline in OOS girl students is a testimony to the success of Kasturba Gandhi Ballika Vidyalaya. 

In 2005, when the first survey was carried out, Bihar was the second worst performer in terms of OOS children — 31.7 lakh constituting 17% of children in the state in the 6-14 age group. Now, only 13.15 lakh are OOS. In percentage terms, this is just 7%.

In Rajasthan, OOS children’s number has gone up. In 2005, 6.9% or 7.95 lakh children were OOS. Now it is 10 lakh taking the OOS children to 8.21%. Sources said the state’s poor performance can be attributed to lack of proper SSA monitoring. UP showed negligible decline in OOS children — from 8.15% in 2005 to 7.58% now. Numerically, it declined from 29.95 lakh during the first survey to 27.64 lakh. Bengal and MP, among the bad performers in 2005, have also done well. While Bengal has brought down its OOS children to 5% from 8.67% in 2005, MP figure is down from 8.63% to 2.45%. From 12.13 lakh OOS children, Bengal now has 6.77 lakh while MP has 3.06 lakh from 10.85 lakh.  

-          Source: Akshaya Mukul | TNN. The Times of India, Sep 13, 2009

Divorced dads unite for custody rights  

Swati Deshpande | TNN

Mumbai: With more and more men finding themselves locked in slow-moving and often bitter legal battles to get at least shared legal custody of their kids, some feisty fathers are banding together in Mumbai.
   The result of the bonding—between dads as diverse as businessmen and bankers and callcentre executives and ad agency creative heads — is a new group called Children in the Centre (CITC). The group’s aim is to support and fight for the rights of mostly fathers, but mothers who are temporarily separated from their kids during messy divorce battles are welcome as well.
   The data from the family court in Bandra show there were 7,781 matrimonial cases pending as of July 31; 178 of them were custody petitions.
   The group of interim noncustodial parents (parents without custody of their kids as of now) has about 15 members and most of them are fathers. It is quietly working away to emphasise “the importance of involvement of both parents in the child’s development’’.
   Their experience is that family courts often swing totally one way or the other as child-custody battles usually end with one parent getting full control over the minor; the other parent is allowed only partial access during weekends or school holidays. The implementation of an access order is, however, another uphill battle as a non-custodial parent has to contend with the whims of the custodian parent.
   One young father, a teacher, whose marital slowdown began with a divorce petition (withdrawn later), is now fighting for greater access of his only child living with his wife; she is refusing to come back but wants to be maintained. The visits in the children’s access room on the family court premises are sporadic but he is happy when he sees the child.
   Mridula Kadam, a specialist in matrimonial law cases, said married men mired in marital problems were increasingly becoming aware of the importance of being a father. “As divorcing couples are growing younger (with a majority of the cases falling in the age group of mid-20s to mid-30s), divorcing fathers in Mumbai are maturing and are not relinquishing their responsibility and in fact want to play an equal part in raising their child,’’ she said.
   There is some amount of role-reversal too. “When both parents are working, sharing duties in the upbringing of their child is sometimes a direct fallout. I have had cases where fathers are not averse to restructuring their work to be able to spend more time at home with the baby,’’ Kadam said, adding: “It’s no longer that a man slams the door shut on the marriage, wife and children and is happy to pay out a small alimony and start life afresh.’’
   Fathers clearly want to have a greater say in their children’s development. Fund manager Mahesh Shah (name changed), after a near four-year separation since his wife left home along with their only daughter, has had no father-daughter time. “Each time I want access to her during school holidays, I have to make applications to the court. Access is otherwise only allowed for two hours every 15 days in the 200-sq-ft room on the court premises. The court has tried to brighten the room but it is still dreary with broken toys scattered around and is hardly a place where precious time can be spent with one’s child. The few chairs make it difficult for an extended family gathering and grandparents especially find it difficult to sit there.’’
   Added another parent: “I travel 18 km every morning just to wave at my daughter when she reaches school in Andheri at 7.30 am; out of sight may mean out of mind.’’
   One father recently could not get his son to stay over on his birthday. Lawyers say there needs to be legal reforms, especially when it comes to child access and custody in India.
   Another CICT member said: “An issue that is often overlooked is the child’s mental and emotional development. There is no evaluation done and we hope to emphasise that childrearing should be shared equally by both parents. CITC’s goal is to strengthen family relationships by providing significant quality time and support to kids coping with divorce.’’  

Source: Times of India, Sep 9, 2009