Law Commission of India Submit Report No.259 The Report is on early Childhood Development and Legal Entitlements

Law Commission of India Submit Report No.259 The Report is on early Childhood Development and Legal Entitlements The Law Commission of India, on 27th August 2015, i.e. today submitted its another Report No.259 titled Early Childhood Development and Legal Entitlements to the Union Minister of Law and Justice. The development of young children is increasingly being recognized as a development and human rights issue of critical national importance. Early Childhood Development (ECD), spanning from birth to the age of six years is the period that sees the most rapid growth and development of the entire life span. It is during this period that the foundations of cognitive, physical and socio-emotional development, language and personality are laid. It is also the phase of maximum vulnerability as deprivation can seriously impact a childs health and learning potential. As per the 2011 Census, India has 158.7 million children in the age group of 0-6 years, comprising about 16% of the total Indian population. In the period 2008-2013, 43% of Indias children under 5 were underweight and 48% had stunted growth. According to a World Bank Report published in 2013, the mortality rate of children under 5 years of age is 53 per 1000 live births and according to a 2013 UNICEF Report, more than 60 million children under 5 are stunted. Sadly, India has ranked at 112th position in 2012 in the Child Development Index. However, the States response to the problem has been slow so far. It was only as a response to rising voices demanding greater attention from the State on the issue of Early Childhood Development (ECD) that the Government came out with the Nation Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy, 2013. The Policy as articulated is no doubt quite comprehensive, but concerns remain about its true and faithful implementation. Even more significant than the concern of implementation is the fact that being a policy it only incorporates a promise and does not create a justiciable right relating to ECD or a set of norms that are legally binding on the State. Similarly, Article 45 of the Constitution that reads the State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years, being a Directive Principle of State Policy does not create any binding commitment on part of the State. Recognizing the importance and relevance of ECD from the perspective of national and human resource development, the Commission has suo-moto undertaken the present study, Early Childhood Development and Legal Entitlements. The Commission feels that during a time when the world is debating the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, which include the guarantee of early childhood development, the time is ripe to position the rights of young children within the development agenda and create appropriate legal entitlements with respect to ECD. In nut shell, the Commission is of the opinion that the constitutional framework of fundamental rights and directive principles should reflect the special status and needs of children in the under-6 age group. It believes that statutory backing should be given to the existing schemes and policies in order to create legal entitlements in favour of children. This should be coupled with an integrated and holistic approach to protecting the interests of the young child, keeping in mind the need for health, nutrition, care and education as the primary inputs for early childhood development. The following recommendations are intended to achieve these ends. i. It is suggested that, as per the recommendation of the NCRWC, a new Article 24A be inserted to Part III of the Constitution to ensure that the childs right to basic care and assistance becomes an enforceable right. The Article should read as follows: 24A. Every child shall have the right to care and assistance in basic needs and protection from all forms of neglect, harm and exploitation ii. In order to extend the right to education to children in the under-6 age group as well, Article 21A of the Constitution should be amended to read as follows: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children in such a manner as the State may by law determine. iii. Similarly, it is recommended that the fundamental duty of the parent or guardian to provide education should not be applicable only to children between the ages of six and fourteen. Article 51 A(k) of the Constitution should be amended so that the duty is placed on every citizen who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his/her child or, as the case may be, ward under his/her care. iv. Section 11 of the Right to Education Act should be made mandatory and should read as follows: with a view to prepare children above the age of three years for elementary education and to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years, the appropriate Government shall make necessary arrangement for providing free pre-school education for such children. v. It is suggested that the Maternity Benefit Act be amended in accordance with the forward looking provisions in the CCS Rules, whereby maternity benefits should be increased from twelve weeks to 180 days. Provision of maternity benefits should be made obligatory on the State and not left to the will of the employers and should cover all women, including women working in the unorganized sector. vi. It is suggested that government formulates policy or guidelines laying down minimum specifications of paid maternity leave to women employed in private sector. vii. In order to ensure proper emphasis on the promotion of early childhood development, especially keeping in view that the current approach towards ECD which is fragmented into different schemes and raises issues of lack universality in standards, monitoring and coordination (as pointed out in Chapter IV), it is suggested that a statutory authority or Council for Early Childhood Development (the Council) be created. The Council may be composed of officials from the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Commerce & Industry and representatives from civil society active in the field of early childhood development, and other such members as may be specified. The powers and responsibilities of the Council should be specified by law. Similar Councils to be established at State Level as well. The Philippines ECCD (Early Childhood Care and Development) Council may be looked at as an example and adapted to the Indian context. viii. The Council must be made responsible for laying down minimum universal standards for quality of services, facilities and infrastructure to be put in place across all schemes and provisions relating to early childhood. ix. With regard to Section 6 of NFSA, there is need for evolving guidelines or some methods for identification of children suffering from malnutrition and for referring such children to appropriate healthcare providers. It is suggested that some provision be brought so that the nutrition recommendations in Schedule II of the NFSA could be regularly revised in keeping with the latest scientific studies based on calorific value, age, sex and food items. The Council may be empowered to periodically commission such studies from the appropriate research institutes or organisations. x. Provision should be made for the training of teachers to provide pre-school education, and there should be a budgetary allocation to fund training programs for the same to ensure quality standards and a proper implementation of the best methods of promoting play and learning. Teachers imparting pre-school instruction should be considered at par with primary school teachers, and this should reflect in the terms and conditions of their employment. This institutional aspect is essential for ensuring that pre-school education be given sufficient importance. xi. It is suggested that every child under six should have an unconditional right to cr?che and day care provided, regulated and operated by the State, as found for example in the Act on Childrens Day Care of 1973, Finland. The provision of cr?ches should be made the responsibility of the State, not of the employer, especially in the unorganised sector.

Law Commission of India Submit Report No.259 The Report is on early Childhood Development and Legal Entitlements

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