BENGALURU: Even as the department of women and child development invites applications for the appointment of chairperson and members to the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) with a tenure of three years, child rights activists have expressed concern about political interference in the process.
The activists said these posts should be filled with persons who can work across the state independently to protect the rights of children, without any bias or affiliation towards a particular political party.
The former chairperson of commission, K Naganna Gowda, was appointed by the BJP despite his name not being in the list of applicants, sparking a controversy. The appointments of Kripa Alva by the Congress and Umesha Aradhya by BJP to the commission had also raised eyebrows.
These appointments by both leading national parties have not only set a bad precedent but also politicised the institution, leaving no place to address the issues of children and women.
Child Rights Trust Executive Director Vasudev Sharma said, “The KSCPCR is a statutory body constituted under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005. The Act prescribes the qualifications required to be appointed as the chairperson and members.
The applicants should have at least 10 years of experience working in the field of child rights and must be aware of all the laws governing this subject, psychology of children and much more. However, at the last moment, all these criteria were manipulated and the parties in power appointed candidates of their choice.”
Sharma said, “I was a member (of the commission) in its first term. Later, I applied for the post of chairperson and my name was shortlisted, but I was not appointed. Now, I have no interest in applying because we continue to do the required work for children independently on ground.”
V Sushila, another child rights activist from Belagavi, said, “Usually the chairperson and members don’t visit any other districts or departments except a few in Bengaluru. If they visit remote areas, they will also find many out-of-school children and rising teen pregnancies that we come across. Girls as young as 14 years are married off. The parents manipulate the girls’ age on the Aadhaar card to avoid getting caught. The commission is bound to address these issues, but we have never seen that happening in so many years.”
TEACHERS IN SOUP OVER FORCED CHILD LABOUR
Mandya: The students at the Government Higher Primary School at Nelkundi village of Nagamangala taluk were forced to take the place of labourers for the construction of a road within the institution’s premises recently. Reports said they were forced to carry stones, sand and cement and also to mix concrete using shovels and spades. Villagers confronted the teachers, asking whether they were trying to avoid hiring paid labourers. They also recorded videos of the act, which have since gone viral on social media, triggering public outrage.
They said the teachers, when questioned, responded casually. When the villagers threatened to upload the videos on social media, the teachers relented, expressing concern that it could affect their jobs, and asked the children to stop the work.