The Convention on
the Rights of the Child defines basic rights of children
covering multiple needs and issues. India endorsed it
on December 11, 1992.
Following are a few rights in the
immediate purview of Smile Foundation as well as India.
The right
to Education: 50% of Indian children aged 6-18
do not go to school
Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V,
its 50% for boys, 58% for girls.
The right to Expression: Every child
has a right to express himself freely in which ever
way he likes. Majority of children however are exploited
by their elders and not allowed to express.
The right to
Information: Every child has a right to know
his basic rights and his position in the society. High
incidence of illiteracy and ignorance among the deprived
and underprivileged children prevents them from having
access to information about them and their society.
The right to Nutrition: More than 50%
of India's children are malnourished. While one in every
five adolescent boys is malnourished, one in every two
girls in India is undernourished.
The right to Health & Care: 58% of India's
children below the age of 2 years are not fully vaccinated.
And 24% of these children do not receive any form of
vaccination. Over 60% of children in India are anemic.
95 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see
their fifth birthday. 70 in every 1000 children born
in India, do not see their first birthday.
The right to protection from Abuse:
There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex
workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about
3.3 million between 15 and 18 years. They form 40% of
the total population of commercial sex workers in India.
500,000 children are forced into this trade every year.
The right to protection from Exploitation:
17 million children in India work as per official estimates.
A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion
and not by choice, mostly by parents, but with
recruiter playing a crucial role in influencing decision.
When working outside the family, children put in an
average of 21 hours of labour per week. Poor and bonded
families often "sell" their children to contractors
who promise lucrative jobs in the cities and the children
end up being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic
work. Many run away and find a life on the streets.
The right to protection from Neglect: Every
child has a right to lead a well protected and secure
life away from neglect. However, children working under
exploitative and inhuman conditions get neglected badly.
The right to Development: Every child
has the right to development that lets the child explore
her/his full potential. Unfavourable living conditions
of underprivileged children prevents them from growing
in a free and uninhibited way.
The right to Recreation: Every child
has a right to spend some time on recreational pursuits
like sports, entertainment and hobbies to explore and
develop. Majority of poor children in India do not get
time to spend on recreational activities.
The right to Name & Nationality: Every
child has a right to identify himself with a nation.
A vast majority of underprivileged children in India
are treated like commodities and exported to other countries
as labour or prostitutes.
The right to Survival: Of the 12 million
girls born in India, 3 million do not see their fifteenth
birthday, and a million of them are unable to survive
even their first birthday. Every sixth girl child's
death is due to gender discrimination.
Child
Rights in India: An Introduction
India is a party to
the UN declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959.
Accordingly, it adopted a National Policy on Children
in 1974. The policy reaffirmed the constitutional provisions
for adequate services to children, both before and after
birth and through the period of growth to ensure their
full physical, mental and social development.
Accordingly, the government is taking action to review
the national and state legislation and bring it in line
with the provisions of the Convention. It has also developed
appropriate monitoring procedures to assess progress
in implementing the Convention-involving various stake
holders in the society.
India is also a signatory to the World Declaration on
the Survival, Protection and Development of Children.
In pursuance of the commitment made at the World Summit,
the Department of Women and Child Development under
the Ministry of Human Resource Development has formulated
a National Plan of Action for Children. Most of the
recommendations of the World Summit Action Plan are
reflected in India's National Plan of Action- keeping
in mind the needs, rights and aspirations of 300 million
children in the country.
The priority areas in the Plan are health, nutrition,
education, water, sanitation and environment. The Plan
gives special consideration to children in difficult
circumstances and aims at providing a framework, for
actualization of the objectives of the Convention in
the Indian context.
Status of Children
in India
Recent UNICEF (2005)
report on the state of the world’s children under
the title “Childhood Under Threat” , speaking
about India, states that millions of Indian children
are equally deprived of their rights to survival, health,
nutrition, education and safe drinking water. It is
reported that 63 per cent of them go to bed hungry and
53 per cent suffer from chronic malnutrition.
The report says that
147 million children live in kuchcha houses, 77 million
do not use drinking water from a tap, 85 million are
not being immunized, 27 million are severely underweight
and 33 million have never been to school. It estimates
that 72 million children in India between five and 14
years do not have access to basic education. A girl
child is the worst victim as she is often neglected
and is discriminated against because of the preference
for a boy child.
National Commission
for Protection of Child Rights
In order to ensure
child rights practices and in response to India’s
commitment to UN declaration to this effect, the government
of India set up a National Commission for Protection
of Child Rights.
The Commission is a statutory body notified under an
Act of the Parliament on December 29, 2006. Besides
the chairperson, it will have six members from the fields
of child health, education, childcare and development,
juvenile justice, children with disabilities, elimination
of child labour, child psychology or sociology and laws
relating to children.
The Commission has the power to inquire into complaints
and take suo motu notice of matters relating
to deprivation of child's rights and non-implementation
of laws providing for protection and development of
children among other things.
Aimed at examining and reviewing the safeguards provided
by the law to protect child rights, the Commission will
recommend measures for their effective implementation.
It will suggest amendments, if needed, and look into
complaints or take suo motu notice of cases
of violation of the constitutional and legal rights
of children.
The Commission is to ensure proper enforcement of child
rights and effective implementation of laws and programmes
relating to children- enquiring into complaints and
take suo motu cognizance of matters relating
to deprivation of child rights; non-implementation of
laws providing for protection and development of children
and non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or
instructions aimed at their welfare and announcing relief
for children and issuing remedial measures to the state
governments.
Child
Rights Articles & Preamble
Convention on the Rights
of the Child
Adopted and opened for
signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly
resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989
entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance
with article 49
[Credited to Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights]
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/treaties/crc.htm
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