[ Karyir Riba ]
ROING, 31 Mar: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Member Rosy Taba visited Lower Dibang Valley to take stock of the various committees and departments that work for the benefit of children in the district.
While inaugurating the new building of the Child Care Institute (CCI), Taba said that
it was one of the best kempt CCIs in the country. She lauded CCI Chairman Desai Linggi for providing “a very clean and homely environment to the children”.
She interacted with the children at the CCI and also made them aware of their rights. She advised them to study well and learn good things from their caretakers at the CCI.
She also visited the Special Adoption Agency (SAA). The CCI and SAA are run by the Nani Maria Society (NMS) and are located at Cheta here.
Taba also interacted with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) members at the CCI office. She made them aware of their powers and responsibilities.
Later, in a meeting at the DC’s conference hall with the ICDS, health, police and education departments, DCPU, CWC, CCI, Childline, and all other stakeholders, Taba said that all these areas should work in unison and should be well coordinated with each other.
“The CWC should comprise of members that are not engaged in any other full-time jobs so that they can devote their time to the CWC. At least 20 meetings should be held by the CWC members in a month,” she said.
Taba advised that all these committees should jointly make regular checks on schools.
“Dilapidated conditions of schools and infrastructure should be monitored. Attendance of teachers should be regularly checked”, she said, adding: “Lack of documents should not put a hindrance on a child’s education. Right to Education provides free and compulsory education to each and every child.”
She pressed for creating awareness about POCSO Act among children and stressed on posting the child helpline, police and CWC phone numbers in each and every school of the district.
“School-going children should be timely taken to the offices of the DCPU and CWC to get them acquainted with these establishments and their duties towards them. The police department should be invited for creating awareness and for self defense trainings at schools. The health department should create awareness at the village level about the various entitlements for pregnant women and their children under the Janani Shuraksha Yojana and Janani Shishu Shuraksha Karyakram, and how to avail them, for better implementation of these schemes”, Taba advised.
“A POCSO committee should also be constituted. Inclusion of GBs and Panchayat members is also very important to reach every corner,” she further said.
Taba said that the children with disability should be provided aid and expressed concern over the stipend of just Rs 50 per month provided to girl students for sanitary napkins.
The DCPU, DDSE Roing, Health Department, ICDS department and Childline presented details of their work and various activities conducted by them during the meeting.
The Lower Dibang Valley DC said that the lack of coordination amongst all the committees and departments should be sorted at the earliest and timely meetings be conducted.
