*Poor enforcement makes mockery of laws for children* ------------------------------
Manu Sharma/Sidharth Pandey http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Poor+enforcement+makes+mockery+of+laws&id=97283 Saturday, December 2, 2006 (New Delhi): It's one horror story after another: innocent children losing their childhood at the hands of their so-called caretakers. While on paper, the laws to deal with child labour, trafficking and juvenile justice are in place, the last two days have only just reiterated how in actuality, the state machinery is very slow to run. Despite showing the welfare ministry evidence and asking it to intervene, it took a good 24 hours of passing on the buck before 47 children who were allegedly being sexually abused in a Gaziabad ashram were finally rescued. "We can't react like Hindi movies and just rush. Inquiries are going on. My officers are sitting by the phone and keeping an eye on the situation," said Renuka Chowdhary, Minister, Women and Child Development. *Govt apathy* That's was Chowdhury's reaction after little girls who were sexually and physically abused for years at an orphanage in Ghaziabad were rescued following an NDTV expose. But there's another story before this story. One month back, NDTV showed Chowdhury a video, asking her to intervene and rescue the girls. All she did was sit on it, making promises after promises. NDTV finally broke the story on Thursday. But even as a horrified nation looked on, it took a full day for Swami Balnath to be arrested. The National Commission for Women (NCW) and the UP Government are taking the girls to a shelter home in Meerut. But their future still looks very uncertain. Strict laws on protecting children exist, intricately cobwebbed together. But nothing proves effective enough in the end with any of the following laws: - Immoral Trafficking Act, with special provisions for minors - The Child Labour Prohibtion Act - The fact that India is a signatory to the "UN convention on the rights of a child" - The latest and strictest Juvenile Justice Act. Activists say, on paper, these laws are strict. But it's a wholly different picture when it comes to enforcement. *Criminal ignorance* Much of this is because authorities keep shifting the onus of action. And most of those implementing these laws simply don't know they exist. "There are too many inquiries and PowerPoint presentations in conference halls in Delhi and zero implementation on the ground. "The officers don't even know the details of these laws to be able to use it," said an NGO representative working in the field. Ask Santoshi, Sujata and Sita and they'll tell you these laws mean squat. Last week NDTV told their story. Victims of child labour and physical abuse, they spent five days in a police station after being rescued. There was no place for them in any shelter. They're homeless still while the couple who abused them is out on bail. "The law is there but I cant do anything in that case. Please ask the labour minister," said Renuka Chaudhary. And so the cycle continues. Stricter laws are announced only to end up looking great on paper. Meanwhile, in dark little corners across the country, children continue to lose their innocence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
