Child rights panel vacancies remain unfilled

There are four other vacancies, including those of Deputy Superintendent of Police and inspector

Six important vacancies in the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have been unfilled since the past ten months.

The panel currently needs to fill posts for Member (Education), Member (Child Health, Care, Welfare or Child Development) Member (Juvenile Justice or Care of neglected or marginalised children or children with disabilities), Member (elimination of child labour or children in distress), Member (child psychology or sociology) and Member (laws relating to children). There are four other vacancies, including those of Deputy Superintendent of Police and inspector.

In February this year, the Supreme Court ordered a stay on the appointment of members for NCPCR stating that there were no norms and guidelines for appointment of members. The Court directed the government to issue proper advertisements and guidelines for the same.

However, Kushal Singh, NCPCR chairperson told

The Hindu the government had not done the needful since. “Because of this the existing members are unable to make key policy decision pertaining to child rights related matters,” she said.

Following a review of the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, undertaken by the Commission in March this year, it was found that the law enforcement under the Act was poor. “Disbursal rates of compensation for child victims of sexual abuse have been worryingly low across the country,” Ms. Singh said.

Perusal of the review documents reveals that though over 5,171 cases of sexual offences against children have been chargesheeted across the country, only 123 victims have been provided either interim compensation or final compensation as per the provisions of the Act as on March 2014.