'Kids not getting due attention as they are not vote banks'

The NCPCR today said children are not getting due attention as they are not considered as vote bank for any political party and maximum number of complaints about violation of child rights are coming from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
"However, Delhi is the only state where children are writing directly to us, complaining corporal punishments and about their abuse," National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) member Vinod Kumar Tikoo said.
TIkoo, who was was here to review Himachal Pradesh's policies on child rights, said "certain pockets in West Bengal and entire Jharkhand are notorious for child trafficking."

Pulling up the Himachal Pradesh government for not taking appropriate measures to protect child rights in the state, he said, "There are many grey areas of concern that should be addressed on priority and the state is yet to set up child welfare committees, anti-child trafficking units in eight districts, besides setting up special courts for children."
"We have also sought compliance report on implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act from the state government within seven days. Thousands of schools in Himachal don't have facilities like toilets, proper drinking water, playgrounds and other basic amenities and children are facing problems and are being deprived of their rights because of these deficiencies," he added.

He informed that after intervention of the NCPCR, Himachal government has started the process to set up State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

A notification in this regard has been issued in April and the process to fill up the posts is in progress, Tikoo said.
Cases of child labour and corporal punishment in schools were on rise in the state and incidents of child labour have been reported in abundance, especially from Solan and Kullu district of Himachal, he said.
"The state has been asked to map all children's home within two months on pattern of Haryana so that they can be monitored effectively," he added.

"Even the disaster-hit areas are more prone to child trafficking as children in these areas are generally allured by traffickers and then a majority of them are pushed in flesh trade," Tikoo said.
NCPCR recently toured flash flood-hit areas of Uttarakhand to know the status and programmes initiated by the state government there to rehabilitate orphaned children, he said, adding that all states have been directed to start victim compensation scheme.
"Nineteen states have agreed to start the compensation scheme and rest have been told to launch it on priority," he added.