HYDERABAD: After almost a year of being defunct, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights(SCPCR) may finally see the light of day. The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday took cognizance of a Public Interest Litigation filed a former member of the body. The court asked the director of women and child welfare department(WD&DW) to report to the court personally on Tuesday and explain as to why the SCPCR was not reconstituted, after the term of the previous members lapsed.
SCPCR, a quasi-legal body, is one of the nodal agencies that look into the matters concerning the welfare of children. As per law, it brings together various departments in order to coordinate action on child welfare. One of its main responsibilities for each of its six members and one chairperson is to individually conduct court proceedings in case of child rights violation. In this regard, they have powers of a civil court and can summon people, take reports and even ask the government to take action.
The WD&DW department, meanwhile, maintains that they hadn’t received any official summons. When asked why the department had not made appointments for the body, joint director Lakshmi Devi said, “The files are with the CM’s office. As per protocol, unless we get approval from there, we can’t go ahead with the recruitment. Once we get the greens signal we will elect members.” “Since the commission was dissolved, all the cases are being forwarded to the State Child Protection Society which is headed by the director of WD&DW,” she added.
“Without a body like SCPCR which is headed by experts from the field, the rights of the children in the state will remain neglected,” said Achutya Rao, former member of SCPCR and petitioner of the PIL.
the trouble began with the SCPCR right from its inception in February 2014. When the state was carved out in 2014, most of the members were deputed to the Andhra Pradesh body, leaving just one member to manage all its affairs.
This continued until 2017 when the term of the last member expired. Though a call for fresh interviews was made, it was postponed and no notification was issued later on.SCPCR is also nodal agency for departments like the Child Welfare Committee, District Child Protection Officers and Childline which work in tandem.