Children's Rights Can not Be Compromised: NCPCR

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) delegation recently made a spot visit to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. It was pointed out that there was an urgency to visit the area because a school with 363 children, largely tribal, was closed in Kamangad village.

Since the school opened after the summer break this June, the Commission had been receiving petitions for the reopening of the school from the community in Kamangad village at Dhanora block. These petitions had also been made to the District Collector, Gadchiroli, as well as the Tribal Development Department. Before the Commission’s visit to Gadchiroli, it had written to the Maharashtra government for restoration of the school ion the village.

The Commission pointed that due to the urgency of the matter, with right to education a fundamental right and children being deprived of education joining the labour force, the Commission visited the are to find out the facts for itself. A team comprising Prof. Shantha Sinha, Chairperson NCPCR, Ms. Dipa Dixit, Member NCPCR, Mr. Venkat Reddy, Nation Convenor MV Foundation. Mr. S.K. Ravi, Project Coordinator NCPCR and Ms. Gunjan Wadhwa, Consultant NCPCR, accompanied by the Commissioner, the District Collector and CEO, Gadchiroli district and other officials visited Kamangad and found that children who had dropped out of school were working as agricultural labourers and going astray. It also found that the parents in Kamangad and the surrounding villages were anxious about their children’s education. Each one of them voiced the importance of education for tribal children. Not one of them raised any other issues and were focused and united on the school being reopened.

Even children pleaded that the school be reopened as they all wanted to study. It was found that in Gadchiroli District there are about 51 government aided ashram schools and 50 government ashram schools. Currently 4568 children are enrolled and many of them are irregular or dropping out of school in Dhanora Block. Other ashram schools such as the one in Sawargaon were in dilapidated condition without any water or toilet facilities. The children were living in huts and classes were being held under trees.

The status of Ashram schools and other child rights issues were reviewed in a meeting with the Commissioner, Tribal Development, the District Collector and the CEO, Government of Maharashtra in which the Commission instructed that all Ashram schools be repaired with immediate effect and run to full capacity. The Commission also instructed that the situation of Ashram Shalas in Dhanora Block be particularly reviewed and necessary action be initiated to improve the status of Ashram Shalas.

The Commission recognized that children’s rights are compromised totally in an area of civil unrest and there has to be emergency relief as well as a special policy for securing children and their rights in all such areas. It feels that all institutions, particularly for children in this area are to be sensitized to child rights