Thursday, August 23, 2012

Provisions in Laws for the Protection of Children
Provisions exist in laws for the protection of children both within and outside schools. These include:

(i) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: Section 17 of the Act provides that no child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment and whoever contravenes the provision shall be liable to disciplinary action. The States have notified Government orders prohibiting corporal punishment in schools. The National Commission for Protection of Children (NCPCR) has also issued guidelines on corporal punishment in August 2007 and again in May 2009 and March 2012. NCPCR also takes up complaints of violations of children’s right to protection in schools and outside the schools with the concerned authorities of the State Governments and UT Administrations from time to time for remedial measures.

(ii) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000: Section 23 of the Act provides that whoever, having the actual charge of or control over, a child, assaults, abandons, exposes or willfully neglects the child or causes or procures him to be assaulted, abandoned, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such child unnecessary mental or physical suffering shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may be extended to six months, or fine or with both.

(iii) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences, 2012: The Act penalizes management or staff of an educational institution with higher punishment for committing sexual offences against children. The law helps in prevention of an offence, thereby protecting a child from sexual abuse.

(iv) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, prescribes norms and standards for a school. As per the latest figures available under the District Information System for Education (DISE) 2010-11, 80.87% schools have separate toilets for girls.

This was stated by Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today. 

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