Mangalore: Complaints Galore at Meeting with Child Rights Commission Head
Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, Apr 17: Nina Nayak, chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights listened to the complaints from NGOs dealing child rights protection at a meeting held at the DC’s office on Tuesday April 17.
Though the public was invited for the meeting, no one turned up.
P V Mohan, Mangalore University Syndicate member complained that though many orphanages in city take care of destitute children, morale policing was harming the reputation of such institutions with allegations of religious conversion. He sought strict police action on such cases.
He also said some private educational institutions have been violating the Supreme Court order wherein the court directed all schools (except minority institutions) to provide 25 percent reservation for poor children. He pointed out that some schools have already begun admission process with last date fixed for April 30, and urged that such admission process be nullified. "This step by schools is nothing but a ploy to avoid poor children from getting admitted," he alleged.
Another complaint was that in Beltangady taluk in a school there were 35 children in all, with only one teacher. Though this school stands first among the other 14 schools in the district in terms of exam results, no teacher has been recruited yet. KSCPCR chairperson assured that action will be taken by the authority concerned.
There were demands raised in the meeting for a statewide policy to ensure that every gram panchayat has an open playground for children.
Durgaprasad sought separate counseling centre for SSLC students in the backdrop of increasing number of suicide cases.
After the meeting KSCPCR chairperson discussed the issues with the DC. ZP CEO Dr K N Vijayprakash participated.
Dr K N Vijayprakash taking up the demand for electricity supply to all the anganawadis said that it will be done in all the 2,150 anganwadis in the district under the Rajiv Gandhi Electricity Project. Fans will also be provided, he added.
DC Dr Channappa Gowda ruled out any prior admission in schools and said notices of admission dates were put up in all the schools.
To a complaint made by Hilda Rayappan that in some schools teachers tend to mark 'present' in attendance registrar even for students who are absent just for better records, the DC brushed aside such a possibility and said that he had visited many schools and did not find any such discrepancy.
He also instructed the officers to create awareness about the practice of selling babies in some hospitals in the district.
KSCPCR chairperson Nina Nayak suggested the mapping of construction sites in the district in the wake of complaints about children staying home without attending schools. The DC instructed the authority concerned to make sure that such children are admitted in tent schools without failure.
Child welfare committee president Asha Nayak was also present.