Weekly Newsletter-3 (April)

Police to ensure child rights are protected in city

 CHANDIGARH: Taking a huge step forward in protecting child rights, UT police has been made accountable for proper implementation of Juvenile Justice Act 2000 in the city. The National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Delhi, has appointed a representative for ensuring the Act is implemented in Chandigarh.A representative of the commission, Utsav Bains, has started working along with an inspector-rank official of UT police in this regard. Read More...

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-18/chandigarh/29443000_1_child-rights-ut-police-ncpcr

Candlelight vigil in memory of killed child

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) Scores of people today assembled at India Gate here this evening to pay homage to a 10-year-old boy killed by his employer here recently and to take a pledge to end the practice of child labour. A candlelight vigil was organised by child rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan in memory of the child, who was beaten to death on April 15 night. The employer, who is also a relative of the murdered kid, has been arrested by police. The first candle was lit by the victim's mother. Former child labourers presented songs while people read out a vow to boycott products of child labour. Participants lighted candles and also took pledge to end child labour. Read More...

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/candlelight-vigil-in-memory-of-killed-child/658799.html

36 child labourers rescued in Delhi

In three separate rescue operations, 36 child labourers were rescued and 11 factories were sealed in the capital, a child rights NGO which assisted in the operations said Tuesday.

A statement by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) said that 13 children were rescued from a factory in New Seelampur in northeast Delhi and 15 from Khureji Khas area of east Delhi Monday by a joint team of Delhi Police, the labour department and activists. After rescuing the children, six factories where they were employed were sealed. According to the statement, the children were employed in the zari (embroidery) industry and in making of bakery products. "The children in both the areas were working in pitiful conditions and all were victims of trafficking for bonded labour from the state of Bihar. On an average, they used to work for 12-15 hours everyday and were getting Rs.20 per week as wage," the statement said. Read More...

 http://www.deccanherald.com/content/154909/36-child-labourers-rescued-delhi.html

India bans child labour in circuses

NEW DELHI — India's Supreme Court on Monday banned travelling circuses from employing children and ordered the government to conduct raids on all performing companies to rescue minors.The court edict followed a petition lodged by a children's rights group that has lobbied for full implementation of Indian child labour laws, which are regularly flouted by circuses.Children are often trained to perform high-wire acrobatic acts, juggling stunts and other attractions for audiences in India, where circus companies move from town to town throughout the year."The court has ordered the government to rescue all children below 14 years of age and also instructed them to formulate a rehabilitation policy for the minors," said Colin Gonsalves, a lawyer for the Save the Childhood Movement, which brought the case. Read More... 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGGdTiqgh6VJtruIftkmGvi06SOw?docId=CNG.981d52aeb3029bd82089f9134b3c511a.741

Death of Child Labourer: NCPCR Voices Distress

In the wake of the death of a 10-year-old boy here after being allegedly beaten up by his employer, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights today said authorities will have to pull up their socks to stop practices like child labour.
Moin, a child from Bihar working in a beedi unit in Bharat Nagar area of the city, died after allegedly being thrashed on Saturday night.
Asked about the incident, NCPCR Chairperson Shanta Sinha said it is a matter of "great distress" that child labour is still prevalent and felt that the authorities concerned will have to do more to stop the practice. Read More...

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?719297

Srishti Puri ‘n Prakriti Sareen

Weekly Newsletter-2 (April)

Child rights panel begins probe

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which had swung into action following a report 'Monster cops torture minor' published in Hindustan Times on April 2, has recorded statements of police officials and a medical officer who had examined the victim. Read More..

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Child-rights-panel-begins-probe/Article1-684563.aspx

Lets unite for the cause of education

With parents and teachers having raised their voice over issues ranging from the medium of instruction in schools to the change in class timings, it goes to show that issues relating to education have taken centre stage and the current academic year is ending on a positive note. Uniting for the cause of education and asserting one's rights has been an interesting development. Read More..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Lets-unite-for-the-cause-of-education/articleshow/8002284.cms

14 child labourers from Bihar rescued in Delhi

PTI | 06:04 PM,Apr 13,2011

New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) Fourteen child labourers, all trafficked from Bihar and working in leather goods factories in central Delhi, were rescued by authorities today. The raid was conducted by officials of Task Force on Child Labour, Delhi Police, Labour Department and members of NGOs Salam Balak Trust and Human Rights Law Network. The children, trafficked from Purnea district in Bihar, were working in factories in Sadar Bazar. "They were being forced to work for 12-14 hours a day. Read More..

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/14-child-labourers-from-bihar-rescued-in-delhi/647113.html

Children go missing from state-run juvenile homes in Karnataka

Children’s homes across Karnataka are fast turning unsafe for the residents. Here are some grim facts. As many as 891 kids have gone missing from 33 homes located in various districts of the state. Read More.. 

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_children-go-missing-from-state-run-juvenile-homes-in-karnataka_1531734

New Act to regulate private school fees

TNN, Apr 15, 2011, 07.44am IST

HYDERABAD: The state government has decided to come out with a new Act that would prevent private schools from increasing their fees every academic year. K Parthasarathi, minister for secondary education , announced on Thursday that following the example of Tamil Nadu, the state government was thinking of enacting an Act that would regulate the fees in private institutions in the state.

The Act will also lay out rules that will have to be followed by the secondary education department while granting recognition to private schools. The state's initiative for the new Act is part of the mandate of the Right to Education (RTE) Act that stipulates new legislation to control private schools. Also, a high court order issued in 2010 had directed the department to come up with fresh rules of fee regulation. Read More..

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-15/hyderabad/29421236_1_private-schools-fee-hike-fee-structure

Srishti Puri ‘n Prakriti Sareen – Newsletter Team-Manorath.

Weekly Newsletter-1 (April)

After doing various roles on big screen, Rani Mukherjee is set for a new role in real life - she endorses Procter & Gamble's Shiksha programme and urges everyone to contribute to help educate as many people as possible.Procter & Gamble (P&G) has tied up with the NGO Child Rights and You (CRY) for Shiksha programme and under this some part of the proceeds generated from the sale of a P&G product such as Tide, Ariel, Vicks, etc. will go for children's education in the country. Read More..
http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?ID=ENTEN20110172987&keyword=bollywood&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&nid=96676


Two-year-old John Ronaldo lies limply in the paediatric ward of St John’s Hospital. His parents say he has suffered a brain damage after a respiratory attack, while the hospital wants to discharge him, after bearing the treatment cost for the last 10 months. Read More..
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/152287/hospital-asks-brain-damaged-child.html


Child marriages may not be rampant, but adolescent marriages are. Girls below the age of 18 are pushed into marriage, and also childbirth. Consequently, about 20% of deliveries occur among girls in the 15-19 age group, leading to an increase in maternal mortality rates. Read More..
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-06/bangalore/29389074_1_child-marriages-mental-health-questions


According to UN Commission on Human Rights, trafficking means recruitment, transportation, sale or purchase, harbouring or receipt of any person by threat or use of violence. A report by the National Human Rights Commission of India said that nearly 40,000 children are abducted every year of which about 11,000 remain untraced. Read More..
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/community-involvement-key-to-curbing-child-trafficking/643849.html


The 2011 census reveals our abysmal child sex ratio. Is it poverty, deep-rooted cultural conditioning or our ignorance about what it means to be a woman? An IAS officer may not have the remedy, because India needs to convert minds subliminally for a real change. Read More..
http://www.livemint.com/2011/04/08203732/Why-we-hate-our-girls.html?h=B


Srishti Puri ‘n Prakriti Sareen – Newsletter Team-Manorath.

‘Right’ ya ‘Wrong’

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Kajal, Kavita, Sumit, Shiva and their 4 friends who will finally be able to enroll themselves in a school. I along with my fellow volunteers at CRY will be getting them admitted to the Khezarabad MCD School.
Today when I went to the community at Taimoor Nagar to enlist the names of the children who have not yet been admitted to any primary school, I saw a number of them playing in the narrow lanes of the unregistered slum. These were supposed to be the school hours for most children of their age. I realized that this task was almost done for me. But to my surprise or dismay I was told that not even one of them needed an admission. In fact all of them were already enrolled. Somebody there told me that most of them there couldn’t even spell or write their name properly. Just then I remembered something similar which I had witnessed earlier, my perception for which had totally changed after I saw this. I was however able to list out the names of the ‘Lucky 8’(The literacy rate of India suggests that most people here have not been so ‘Lucky’).
I would now tell you that ‘something similar’ which I already seemed to have gone through. It was rather an experience back in April last year when I used to volunteer for another NGO. There I happened to teach a child who was in his 3rd standard. Having started my duty in high spirits, after just two weeks I was all out of patience. Not because I was bored, rather it was because each day we sat to study, I had to remind them the basic alphabets. He knew far less than most of the other children of his age do. At that time all I could do was pity him for his lack of attention. Maybe he could not grasp things as quickly as his classmates.
But it was today that I got the reason behind Nikhil’s condition. Is it that somewhere we are failing in assessing the children right? Mere promoting them to next level or class will not solve the problem but an honest attempt to assess them right and to bringing them at par with other children will definitely make a difference.
Unhappy and highly dissatisfied with our present education system, I thought that maybe our efforts to enroll those 8 students to school would make no difference at all. But then I saw a ray of hope. I noticed that I had already started calling them ‘students’. Even if 3 of them know the real value of good education, it would indeed bring forth a difference. I also realized that working here for only 6 months had made me all the more aware of child rights and the importance of human resource development. Today I know about the elements which make our ‘Right’ a ‘Wrong’. Having penned down my experience, I am sure I have been able to make many people like you more aware. As somebody once said ‘Being alive is a common road. It's our awareness that makes us different.’
Now I have to gear up for tomorrow, its going to be a big day. 


Abhinav Kapoor