BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) has recommended the State government to issue instructions to media houses to respect the right to privacy and dignity of children.
In wake of the recent 'unauthorised' entry of mediapersons into some schools in Dhenkanal district and questioning children and their teachers, the OSCPCR Chairperson Sandhyabati Pradhan has written to the Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra urging him to issue instructions to media houses for making their correspondents aware of child rights and available legal provisions.
During the airing of the news reports on the learning progress of the children, the identity of the kids was not protected.
Quoting the Section 74 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 which states that no news report should disclose the names of students or schools and Article 17 of United Nations Convention on Rights of Child that mandates media not to promote materials that harm children, she said the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights handbook for media professionals should be widely circulated.
Editors/publishers should ensure compliance of the legal provisions and be held for any violation.
Pradhan further recommended that children in schools or anganwadi centres should not be disturbed unnecessarily for the sake of media coverage and stringent action should be taken against individuals/institutions violating the legal provisions protecting child rights.
State-level panel to identify street children
In another development, the OSCPCR has formed an 18-member State-level advisory committee to look into problems faced by children living in the street. The committee has members from State Police, Labour, School and Mass Education, Health, ST & SC Development departments, CWC, Juvenile Justice Board, Uniced, ActionAid and BMC, among others.
This move is in compliance with the direction of the Supreme Court of India to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights which had recently launched a drive for rehabilitation of ‘children in street situations' (CiSS). The State-level committee, which will function with immediate effect, will not just identify street children but also ensure their protection and monitor their rehabilitation.