More privileges for children

Fifteen years to the day after India ratified the UN Child Rights Convention, child rights activists have put forth a demand for more privileges for children in every domain from education to rehabilitation and from employment generation to social equity.

Addressing mediapersons in the Capital, activists of Child Rights and You (CRY) said children like adults have to bear the brunt of violence and marginalisation.

They cited the example of Singur in West Bengal where the prevalent tension between the State and the people is reflected in the games that children play to buttress their claim.

These activists lamented that children continue to remain an “afterthought and the State has failed to address the needs of children”.

“The discrimination that children face because they belong to marginalised and oppressed social groups and communities is left unaddressed by the State as policies on child rights tend to take an academic view of the needs of a child,” said R.B. Pal, general secretary of the Voice of People, a State alliance of CRY in Uttar Pradesh.

Criticism


The activists were also critical of the fact that children’s issues are not reported in Parliament or to the people of the country.

“Promises remain incomplete, all the commitments that are made are not reported in Parliament…because child rights are not a political issue,” said Ila D. Hukku, Director Development Support of CRY. “Year on year, statistics give us a clear idea of how we are falling short on every front: Whether in critical areas like education, health, protection or less obvious ones caste discrimination or gender parity... a lot remains to be done.”

Pointing out that though children are claimed as priority for the nation, they are “rarely considered when planning the national agenda”, CRY has demanded the States’ accountability on the issue.

CRY wants children to be made “the focal point and touchstone of every policy and plan and States to include voices of marginalised parents and communities when making policy and plans for their children”.



Source: http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/13/stories/2007121352590300.htm


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