Protection of child rights in India

Dr. Dharmakanta Kumbhakar

(The writer can be reached at drkdharmakanta@yahoo.com)

India has 440 million children constituting 42 per cent of India’s total population. The Constitution of India guarantees equality before the law to all citizens and pledges special protections for children. In 1974, India adopted a National Policy for Children and declared it a supreme national asset. In 1992, India accepted the obligations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. India has a full-fledged ministry and numerous agencies engaged in child welfare work. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights was set up as a statutory body under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, to protect, promote, and defend child rights in India. The 86th Constitutional Amendment made education a fundamental right for children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. There are various acts like the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986; the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986; the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offense Act, 2012, etc., to protect the child’s rights in India. Though India has adopted several policies and laws for the protection of children’s rights, in reality, millions of children are being deprived of their fundamental rights; they are abused, neglected, and exploited in India. Every child, irrespective of economic status, has rights in the areas of survival, identity, development, protection, and participation, including in urban, rural, and tribal settings.

High infant and neonatal mortality rates, serious threats from infectious diseases, gender inequality, pre-birth sex selections, prevention of girl childbirth, and female feticide are major concerns in child survival. Data from the 2019-20 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) shows that 38.4 percent of children under five years of age are stunted, and 67.1 percent of young children are anemic. Girls are denied their equal right to life. Millions of children lack protection against hunger. The government must invest in child survival. Children should have access to preventive, protective, and curative services, ensuring good quality health needs, nutrition, education, and universal immunisation against preventable diseases.

Birth registration and identity are a child’s first civil rights. India has acknowledged the international standards that recognize all people up to 18 years old as children in 1992. Every child should receive services that support early childhood care and development. They have the right to adequate housing and shelter.

Though free and compulsory education is a fundamental right for children in the 6–14 age group, it is not protected, as half of India’s children of school-going age are not in school. Children with disabilities or special needs are seriously underserved, and only five percent of them receive services of any kind, and only two percent of them can access schooling. Healthcare, nutrition, shelter, and security should be provided for the underserved children. In India, the problems of socially marginalised and economically backward groups are immense, particularly amongst children in urban slums, street and working children, children of construction workers, etc. These children cannot avail themselves of development opportunities. They become addicted to psychoactive substances and get involved in antisocial activities. They should be provided with safe shelter services and opportunities for relevant education and vocational training. The budget allocation for children must be enhanced. Government agencies need to increase their investment in primary education.

Child abuse is a basic violation of a child’s rights. Child abuse is more than bruises and broken bones. While physical abuse is shocking due to the scars left behind, emotional and sexual abuse also leave deep and lasting scars. Ignoring children’s needs, putting them in unsupervised dangerous situations, or making a child worthless or stupid is also child abuse. Regardless of the type of child abuse, it causes great harm to the child. All forms of child labour are the worst kind of child abuse and a negation of basic children’s rights. Although child labour cannot be abolished in the presence of poverty, it is necessary to ensure that working children are not exploited. They must have time for education and receive healthcare.

Children have the right to be protected against all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and corporal punishment. The state needs effective legislation to punish and deter all forms of abuse, exploitation, and trafficking in children, as well as prenatal sex determination, feticide, and infanticide. In developed countries, physicians are required by law to report cases of child abuse and neglect. A similar law in India that makes child abuse reporting mandatory for physicians is welcome.

Not only are atrocities against children on the rise, but they are also being targeted in communal violence and insurgency like never before. They also suffer discrimination and denial in post-riot situations. Children of indigenous and tribal communities suffer neglect, discrimination, and alienation and are affected by armed conflict and other civil violence. They become orphans, losing their parents or relatives in communal violence and insurgency.

Children should have access to contact services to help them in case of emergency or distress. The emergency toll-free phone service for children in distress (Child Line 1098) should be expanded, and awareness should be generated about such help lines. Orphanages and shelter homes are required to assist children without families. Adoption should give first priority to the best interests of the child concerned.

The child protection services must reach rural areas, where a large proportion of the population resides. In villages, the panchayat officials should be given responsibility to ensure that the basic education, nutrition, healthcare and sanitation are available for proper development of every child in their villages. The panchayat should be duty-bound to ensure that every child is in school and thus protected from agrarian and allied rural occupations as a part of family or individual child labour.

The NGOs and administrators of the government should reach out to the neglected, deprived, and abused children for their comprehensive needs, which include education, healthcare, protection, and rehabilitation. There is an urgent need to create an enabling environment through legislation, schemes, and an enhanced budget to address the problem of child abuse and neglect and to protect the fundamental rights of children in India.