The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Deficit in childhood will have major impact on democracy”

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Deficit in childhood will have major impact on democracy”

Staff Reporter

Tamil Nadu State Consultation on child rights held

Photo: K. V. Srinivasan

FOR CHILDREN: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Shantha Sinha (second from left) discusses a point with convener of KALVI V. Vasanthi Devi (right) at a meeting in Chennai on Friday. State Representative, UNICEF Office for Tamil Nadu and Kerala Satish Kumar and Member of the Commission Sandhya Bajaj are also in the picture. —

CHENNAI: It is time to take a clear stance on behalf of children and their rights to see that children do not work but enjoy their right to education, said Shantha Sinha, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. “There can be no delay or discussions. This is a moment of taking sides,” she said.

Speaking at the Tamil Nadu State Consultation on the Right to Education and Abolition of Child Labour, here on Friday, Ms. Sinha unequivocally stressed the need for children to be assured of their childhood till they reach 18 years of age.

“If a child drops out of VIII Standard or IX Standard, what options does she have but to join the unskilled and uninformed labour pool,” said Ms. Sinha. She added that children ended up taking the blame for their condition. “Children feel that they discontinued school because of their personal inadequacy and personal failures, not because they were pushed out,” she said, stating that the term should be ‘push-outs’ instead of ‘drop-outs’.

“We are creating an entire generation of individuals with low self-worth”, said Ms. Sinha. “If 70 per cent of the population has a low self-worth, there is a deficit,” she said. A deficit in childhood that translates to a deficit in citizenship would have a profound impact on our democracy, she cautioned.

There has to be an inclusive definition of what constitutes child labour, said Ms. Sinha. Anyone who is out of school has to be considered as a child labourer. There can be no distinguishing between children in hazardous industries and those working at home. Any child below 18 should be provided full-time education in a proper school, she said.

Similar consultations with the government and civil society have been held in Lucknow, Bangalore and Jaipur to reach a consensus to abolish child labour, said Ms. Sinha.

On December 11 and 12, a national conference would be held on the basis of the consultations at the State-level.

“This event is historic in terms of a policy that would call for a total abolishment of child labour,” she said.

The event was organised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in collaboration with UNICEF and ILO, supported by Campaign Against Child Labour, Tamil Nadu and Campaign against Child Trafficking, Tamil Nadu, and KALVI, a non-governmental organisation.

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