Information sharing on Anti Child Marriage

People may aware now also child marriage is happening in our society. There is  need fro creating awareness on ill effects of child marriage, about law which is there to protect children from child marriage and protection mechanism and roles of officials in combating child marriage.

Some of the organizations formed network/forum to fight against child marriage through awareness, material distribution etc. CRT is also one of the partner organization along with other organisations.  

As part of network CRT conducted a session on anti child marriage situation, roles of CMPOs, law (The prohibition of child marriage Act, 2006) with taluka level officers at Bagepalli, Chikkaballapura district on 29 September 2016.

It was organized by Manush organization.  In the inaugural session Judge, Tahasildar, CWC X-Chair Person, College faculty, Manush NGO head were there and addressed the gathering about the issue. 

Around 60 people were there from various departments and from NGOs.  CDPO, Teachers, AWW and others were there in the session. 

Some of the cases were explained to the participants of the programme. In the programme CDPO said that they have filed FIRs regarding child marriage cases in their taluk. 

Later Ms.Nagamani, CRT mentioned about importance of convergence and shared information on ChildLine1098, CWC, etc.   

awareness

child rights information at bagepalli 

Motivation Session on POCSO for effective intervention with ChildLine team

CRT organized the capacity building workshop with ChildLine team of Bengaluru for effective intervention of the cases. Mr.B.T. Venkatesh conducted the session on 17th August 2016 at BOSCO Yuvodaya. Session was included the challenges, court procedure. 

Bengaluru ChildLine team were actively participated in the session.  Team raised the practical challenges before the resource person and Mr.B.T.Venkatesh addressed and motivated the team for effective intervention. Team felt that it was a good session.  

 Mr. Louis- Georges Arsenault, India representative, Unicef was here in Bengaluru, specially to congratulate and thank Karnataka legislatures, who showed interest in establishing a unique forum- Karnataka Legislative Forum For Child Rights (KLFCR) way back in 2010. He also expressed his gratitude to the present members of the forum who are keen towards issues relating to children and  lending a support in Upholding Every Right for Every Child.

He appreciated the initiatives of the forum and specially thanked the speaker Sri D H Shankaramurthy for providing time specially to discuss issues relating to Children during the sessions.
He also praised the efforts of KCRO in conducting Child Rights Parliament across the state and a interactive session between children of the state and Chief Minister of the state. 













During the meeting along with Sri D H Shankaramurthy, Capt. Ganesh Karnik, Co Convener, KLFCR, MS. Motamma, MLC, Ms. Tara, MLC, Ms. Shashikala Jolle, MLC Ms. Ruth Leano, Head Unicef office for AP, Telangana nd Kanatka , Mr. Prosun Sen, Advocacy and Communication Specialist, Unicef office for AP, Telangana and Karnataka, Mr. Soni Kutti George  Mr. Vasudeva Sharma, KCRO, state Convenor, Dr. Padmini, trustee CRT and others were present.

Memorandum submitted to Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka to expedite and forward the passing of the Karnataka Government’s Amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 for assent of President of India

Karnataka Task Force Against Child Marriages urges His Excellency Sri Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, the Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka to expedite and forward the passing of the Karnataka Government’s Amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 for assent of President of India.

 The proposed amendment provides stringent punishment to child marriage abettors with imprisonment from one to two years and also empowers police to take suo motu cognizance of the crime and book cases. The amendment also has proposed to declare child marriages null and void.  The Task Force points out that any further delay in passing this very progressive amendment will only mean that the children can continue to fall prey to CHILD MARRIAGES.

Several surveys and statistical analysis have shown that Karnataka is one of the states where marriages of girls below 18 and boys below 21 are happening in large scale. These reports actually question the state Govt’s claim that child marriages have reduced!  Child Marriages have become a common feature in parts of the state while religious, political and societal patronage is given both discreetly and in public.  The Prohibition of Child Marriages Act 2006 has clearly mentions that any individual or organizations abetting child marriages would be punished with imprisonment up to 2 years and fine up to Rs.1 lakh. But, in the last ten years very few cases have been filed against the abettors as there is very little or no knowledge about the provisions of the Act, that protects the interests of CHILDREN.

One big reason for abettors of child marriages to get away is the lack of actual birth date records that show up the real age of the girls. The Karnataka State TaskForce Against Child Marriages urges the Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives (ANM), Angan Wadi Workers (AWW) as well school teachers in all habitations to adhere to the strict norms of noting the real age of every pregnant or expectant mothers. We also request the ANMs, AWWs, ASHA and the School Teachers not to support any child marriages or keep quite when they get to know about possible incidents of child marriages 

Prevalence of child marriages has been established as a reason for not meeting several development indicators as shown in the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The cycle of higher Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and malnutrition among children, etc., are directly linked to child marriages. If we don’t arrest child marriages today meeting development goals would be just a slogan in India.

n the state there are thousand Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPO). We urge these CMPOs who are present from village level to state level to act today to protect the rights of the children. In the last six months, the TaskForce which is formed with six active NGOs working in the districts of Bengaluru, Chikkaballapura and Chamarajanagara have prevented 60 child marriages and have brought the cases to the notice of the Govt machinery and police. Also 6 FIRs have been filed against the abettors of child marriages.  But, more than 6 marriages are conducted later discreetly.

The Task Force expresses its anguish about the inaction by the police at village level, who do not come forth to protect the interests of the children facing marriage and file FIRs against the abettors. The Task Force urges the Governor to sign the proposed amendment, which gives suo motu powers to the police to take action against any abettors of child marriages. This would also empower the Special Juvenile Police Unit officers, who are designated under the JJ Act to take action, considering a victim of child marriage as a ‘child in need of care and protection’ as defined in Sec. 2[1]

The Task Force urges the Government to take seriously the recommendations made by the Justice Shivaraj Patil Committee in arresting child marriages.  The Task Force also urges the judiciary to take swift note of appeals for issuing INJUNCTION order to prevent child marriages.

In the villages and towns marriages are by and large conducted by families without any prior permission or withoiut getting 'no objection' certificate from a Govt. Authority. We urge the Government to consider bringing a general rule that when a marriage is planned, the family has to apply to the PDO in the Village Panchayat or Town Panchayat by giving age proof of the bride/ groom and get a no objection certificate. 

Chowltry/Kalyan mantapa owners or Temple Trustee or Priest should not allow the marriage to be conducted if 'no objection certificate' is not submitted. 

Once every month or once in every three months, temple (Devasthanam) Priest or Trustee, Owners of Kalyana Mantapas should submit to the Taluk Marriage Registrar or Thasildar / or to a Panchayat Executive, a report furnishing details of the marriages conducted. (Already there is a law that all marriages should be registered with the Government Marriage Registrars). 

Consortium: Karnataka TaskForce Against Child Marriage is part of a consortium of six NGOs coming together (MANUSH, Chikkaballaura; PMSR, Chamrajanagara; QWARIDS, VIDYANIKETHAN, CIVIC and CRT, Bengaluru) and is taking up a campaign against child marriages, coupled with sensitizing workshops with Govt officials, police, NGOs and general public.

Document on Child Rights Parliament-15 and Children's interaction with CM of Karnataka is released

Newsletter on Child Rights Parliament-15 and Children's interaction with CM of Karnataka was released recently by Honorable chairman, Legislative Council of Karnataka . 

Annual event Child Rights Parliament was held  on 15th and 16th of November, 2015 followed by interaction of Children with CM of Karnataka on 17th November, 2015.

We all saw/ witnessed increase in Violence especially on Children, in this parliament we focused our discussion to Protection. 68 Child representatives from various districts of Karnataka discussed about various problems pertaining to PROTECTION of Children during initial days of discussion in the parliament and raised 15 important issues in front of CM and Minister DWCD

Click here to read the full document
Read more

Articles on Child Rights in Media

Creating awareness on Child Rights and allied issues is one of the major areas CRT focuses on. In this regard we also make use mass media like Newspaper, TV, blogs, Magazines web portals and strive to uphold Every Right For Every Child.

Mr. Nagasimha is writing series of articles on Child Rights, Laws, and interlinking issues in a Web Portal called B First. Here are the links for your reading

 Click on below links to read the articles


RTE and School education


Adoption

Observance of RTE Day

RTE day, is not a day to cherish or celebrate rather a day to gather and discuss about the progress, drawbacks, ups and downs in implementation of the act and to share experience of Parents to other members of the taskforce.

 RTE taskforce observed the day on 1st of April, 2016 at Jain college auditorium, Bengaluru.

 

      Dignitaries on Dias- Ms. Anjali Rammanna, renowned Lawyer, Mr. Vasudeva Sharma, Executive Director, CRT,   Mr. Mariswamy, Member, KSCPCR, Lion Balakrishna, President, DSS

 During the observance Mr. Y Mariswamy, member KSCPCR opined that it is the need of the hour to amend the act which gives way to free education till 18 years of age which is currently caped to 14 years. At the same time budgetary allocation for education should be raised to 25% as against currently prevailing 10% to ensure quality education. He also opined that 25 % reservation is a boon to under privileged and backward  community children as it breaks the barriers of discrimination and gives access to education.

 Children especially Girls quit the schools owing to lack of Toilets, portable drinking water, lack of transportation facilities and other basic infrastructural facilities which is humiliating to note said Anjali Ramanna , renowned Lawyer and a Social worker

Individuals who worked for the cause like   Mr. Narayana Swamy, a Head Master from Bengaluru Rural, Mrs. Sabeena Parveen, a volunteer and Mr. Kempegowda, a volunteer who worked towards proper implementation of RTE act in their vicinity

RTE taskforce active member, parent  Mr. Suresh Kumar welcomed the gathering and briefly shared about the activities that are undertaken by of taskforce, hurdles faced while in action etc.  Later parents spoke about the problems they faced before and after the admissions, how they over came the problems, initiatives taken by them to popularise the act and reservation etc.

 

Input session to Karnataka State Legislatures' Forum for Child Rights

Statistics about children of Karnataka reveal that, both urban and rural kids are malnourished, cases of anemia and stunting are at high raise, contributing to increase in neonatal deaths, infant mortality, maternal mortality etc. 

 Understanding the seriousness to talk and draw the attention of GOK,  KCRO organised a input session/ meeting with Karnataka State Legislators' Forum for Child Rights members on 29th March, 2016. The meeting was focused particularity on Infant and Young Child Development/ nutrition(IYCD). 


Inputs on situation of young Children were shared by

• Dr. Tara, Nutrition expert and KCRO (Nodal CRT) Advisory Board presented facts and figures pertaining to Young Children nutrition and health in Karnataka
• CBPS representative will spoke about budgetary implication on child nutrition.
• Dr. Lakshmi Bhavani, Nutrition Expert,  Unicef briefed about the best food practices prevailing in southern states and Invited forum members to visit the fields along with concerned officers

 Members of the forum opined that the issues/ facts shared by the experts are alarming and need immediate attention to solve the health related issues pertaining to Children. And these issues should be addressed by the concerned department like DWCD and Ministry of Health.
 In this regard the forum members assured that they would assist KCRO to rope in the concerned departments for further discussions on Infant and Young Child Development
 
 

 

Karnataka Budget 2016-17

Few Comments and responses on Education 

By,

Vasudeva Sharma

It’s a welcome aspect that the Chief Minister has talked about raising the quality in Govt schools and has brought in five new programmes (99): Education Quality Improvement Programme; Quality Assurance Initiatives; Technology Assisted Learning; Incentives to Students for Universalization of Primary Education and Students Motivation programmes.

In the last three years lakhs of children have been enrolled in Non Govt and unaided schools through Sec. 12.1(c) of the RTE Act. We had a big cry about the same as to who is monitoring the safety, security and dignity of these children, let alone quality of their learning. I am happy to see that the Govt is planning to monitor the quality of learning of these children. But, I expect the Govt not just monitor the learning levels, but also the safety, pressure on parents where the Schools are demanding extra fee, discrimination on the basis of class/caste, etc.

The focus on improving the quality of education in Govt schools is also a welcome aspect (reorgnising Nali Kali’. Attention on maths learning in class 4 and 5. This requires employment of teachers or deployment of teaches who can teach maths in a friendly and non threatening manner. I am generally curious to know what would be the relationship between NGOs and the Govt in ‘quality improvement and students’ motivation’ that has been planned to be extended. The Govt should mention what is the costs (50%) in terms of rupee and pai.

Althogh it is a good idea to have supplementary teaching during vacations for students with poor learning achievements in Government schools. I am not sure about the motivation part of the Govt teachers in this. I also want to know whether the teacher community has been taken into confidence before making this kind of an announcement.

While welcoming the idea of providing digital literacy to all students in Government high schools, with a comprehensive e-content driven programme through high school teachers, ‘IT@Schools in Karnataka’. But, looking into the past experiences, questions on power supply, safety to equipments, software and most importantly providing TEACERS or instructors who has real knowledge of it teaching has to be addressed.

All institutions who are running education institutions should be very happy to see the proposal to streamline and bringing transparency in various registration and issuing permissions as the Govt is planning to bring in SAKALA to this. But, the question is why are you stressing on introducing CBSE and ICSE in non govt schools, why don’t you bring the same standards in Govt schools? Although it is a constitutional right, I question the Govt on why should you go on issuing NOCs to give minority status to institutions. Why don’t you insist on educational institutions to be universal? The Govt has said that procedures to reimbursement to NGO run schools will be streamlined. I hope in this the Govt will take note that most schools are enjoying Sec.12 A and 80 G status and so have an obligation towards the Society.

I whole heartedly welcome the proposal that the Govt is going to insist the schools have to disclose the details of teaching and infrastructure resources in all NGO run schools and colleges on a public website. But, this should include non teaching staff also and the same details should be published in the school too. (103)

Bringing 6 Teachers’ Training Colleges under the administration of Department of Higher Education (106) is a good development, but, we wish child protection and child rights issues are introduced in the syllabus.

During 2016-17, a total amount of Rs. 17,373 Crore is provided to Primary and Secondary Education Department. I am generally interested in knowing about what is the expense incurred during the last three financial years on primary education. We keep seeing several crores being allocated in the budget, but the actual expense is always a mystery.

My complaint is that whatever may the budgetary allocations, the actual expnses takes place at the fag end of the financial year. I am told that shoes are bought now, second set of the uniform is yet to reach the children, etc.

kalpaneyinda Sadhyateyedege- Divisional level tranining series

When a person is well informed/ trained on the subject which he/she is working, productivity always goes up. Same way a grassroots worker, working directly with the Child can perform his/her work with much efficiency, only when he/she is aware of Child Rights and allied issues. Though NGO personnel are doing their best to make our society child friendly, knowing the law, policy, acts and issues pertaining to children for sure will boost their ability and spirit.  

 But it so happens in the field that, most of the staff/ NGO personnel will not have much knowledge about Children and Child related issues. This could be because of lack of training or organisations  or inability to provide training  as it is an expensive job and lack of funding to make training accessible to freshers as experienced quite the job.

To over come this problem and to make training accessible at affordable price, CRT began training series under the banner Kalpaneyinda Sadhyateyedege. Initially we conducted training at Bengaluru, later on to reach more number of participants we started to conduct training at each division in the state.

After conducting 15 training on various topics allied to Child rights in Bngaluru, we moved on to various divisions and conducted 4 training in 3 division. This time through our training we intended to make schools child friendly. Module was developed with a focus on teachers, BRP, CRP, education department etc. Child Friendly school- A reality.

Through this training we could reach about 150 members, which included Teachers, BRP, CRP, NGO members, people from Education department, parents etc. In association with CIVIC, Bengaluru, Kids , Dharwad , Radio active Bengaluru we could successfully conduct  Friendly school- A reality training series in all the 3 divisions.

Training @ Dharwad

Training held @ Bengaluru

Training @ Dhavangere

                                                            Media coverage about our Training

For Children, By Children

 A special story by the New Indian Express about Chagalatti Children's Library

Six kids barely in their teens started a library here about five years ago. The library that began with 200 books now has 4,200 books, and children from 15 surrounding villages trek up to it to make use of it. In 2010, Meghana, Shalini P V, Vedashree C K, Vanishree C K, Karthik N and Manasa were just kids, who used to gather at a house nearby along with their parents. Their parents used to go to the house to learn English among other things. The house belonged to the brothers Nagasimha Rao and Narasimha Prasad, who hit upon an idea. Nagasimha Rao, a noted child rights activist, says they gathered the children and started creating awareness about the rights of children and then hit upon the idea of a library.



Click below link to read the story
For Children, By Children