Manipur Alliance for Child Rights: June 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

DESAM demands probe into primary teachers’ DPC case

source- Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, June 29: The Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has called for constituting a fact finding committee of the Manipur State Assembly to bring out the fact and circumstances over the controversies surrounding the DPC result of primary teacher examination held in December 22, 2006.

While briefing media persons in this regard in a press conference held today at the students’ body office, DESAM general secretary, Angamba, said the reason behind putting on hold the results of primary teacher declared on April 22 by the directorate of education (S) was due to interference of MLAs, Ministers and bureaucrats.

He stated that the irregularities in the selection of the teachers and transfers of top officers in charge of the department was an attempt to fool the people adding he appealed the Governor to intervene into the matter to unearth corrupt system running in the department.

Transferring of top official of the department is an act of blinding the public in order to save the reputation of legislators adding the act was a stumbling block for the campaign of DESAM to bring quality education and education free zone.

While stating that corrupt practice in education system will only bring down the education systems, Angamba appeal the concerned authority not to approve any of the appointed candidates until the fact finding committee submit their reports. The DESAM also warned to launch certain form of agitations if government fails to initiate immediate measure to bring out the truth behind the controversies.

During the press conference, the DESAM also produced a person allegedly involved in misappropriating the kerosene quota of about 500 litres meant for the hosteller of Imphal college.

The students’ body also said that the misappropriation was done for the month of April and moreover another fake permit for the month of May was also seized from the person’s possession.

The accused is identified to be one Keisham Jackie, 25, son of Tomba of Mayang Langjing Tamang.

He was an ex-student of Imphal College and the DESAM took over the case following complaints from the students of the college for necessary investigation. He was later handed over to his family after being given proper counseling by the DESAM.

Education is about teaching children how best to face the future: Governor

source- Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, June 29: Annual prize distribution function of the Board of the Secondary Education Manipur to the outstanding students of the HSLC examination, 2010 conducted by the Board of Secondary education Manipur was held today at the J.N Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal.

Governor Gurbachand Jagat who attended the function as the chief guest said the idea of education is not merely to impart knowledge to the students in certain subjects but also essential in bringing them up and develop in them the habits and attitudes which may enable them to face the future as well.

The Board of Secondary Education, Manipur has been conducting the High School Leaving Certificate Examination since 1973 and this year’s pass percentage of 61% is 4% higher than that of last year. Though the overall pass percentage increased, the number of 1st division holders is lower and the 2nd Division holders is higher than usual which could be a result of the disturbances prevailing in the academic scenario before the examination, the Governor said and appealed to all concerned to stop the bandhs and blockades in Manipur once and for all so that Manipur can develop as the leader of the developing states in the country governor added.

In the meantime, state education minister while speaking at function today elaborated the efford of the state government to develop the education sector to an upto date level.

State education minister further mentioned that apart from considering for maintaining quality education in the state, the current SPF government is also considering for the inclusion of new syllabus to various subjects.

Mentioning the posibilities of having irregularities in the recent declaration of the result of the Viva Vorce for the appointment of Primary Teachers, an inquiry commission head by the chief secretary of the state have already been constituted to find out the realities, and the state government will take neccessary actions against the concerned officials involved in any malpractices.

The state government is also considering for the appointment of primary teachers at merit list after cancelling the recently declared results of the same posts.

12 trafficked children from Manipur resqued from Chennai home

source- Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL June 29: Altogether 12 children from the state hailing from Bishnupur district were rescued from a Children’s home based in Chennai.

The children aged between 10 to 15 years were brought to Guwahati on June 27 by an NGO from Chennai.

The children were brought back to Imphal by air yesterday by officials of the state socail welfare department and Bishnupur Child Welfare Committee members.

The children, three girls and nine boys all belonging to the Meitei community were being kept at a Children home at Takyel, Imphal West, since their arrival in Imphal and were handed back to their parents today.

However IFP reporter who went to cover the story was denied access by a staff of the Children Home and stated that the journalist will have to wait until the director social welfare G Satyabati arrives as per her instruction.

Mediapersons waited accordingly but Satyabati failed to arrive while the rescued children were handed back to their respective families.

Media request for detailed information about the rescued children like names and addresses as well as the events leading to the rescue from Chennai were also simply ignored.

However, unconfirmed sources said the children were rescued from Oasis Children Home based at Nungambakkam, Sitanagar Colony, Chennai and all the children have become conversant in Tamil.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Learn from SSA mistakes for RMSA : Education Minister

Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 24 2010: Education Minister L Jayantakumar has called for learning lesson from the mistakes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) so as to ensure successful implementation of Rashtriya Madhyami Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) in Manipur.

Speaking as chief guest of the inaugural function of the newly constructed office building of RMSA at Babupara here today, Jayantakumar said that the Government of India has introduced the scheme of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) to ensure the benefit of higher secondary education to all the students who have attained elementary education irrespective of whether they come from poor or rich family.

Explaining that the main objective of RMSA is to provide the benefit of higher secondary to all the students compulsorily by 2017, the Minister said that after children in the age group of 6 to 14 have been ensure elementary education under the SSA, it is the objective of RMSA to ensure quality education at the secondary level to students between the age group of 14 to 18 .

The Minister noted that although SSA had been launched in other parts of the country in 2001, its implementation in Manipur had been delayed around by 4 to 5 months and numerous problems have been faced initially.

So, learning from that experiences, every possible measures should be made to ensure the success of RMSA implementation, he exhorted all concerned.

Along with passing of Right to Education Act and recognition of education as the fundamental rights of every child, the significance of schemes like SSA and RMSA is becoming all the more glaring, the Minister added.

Stating that now we have the money and the material to provide quality education to the students, the Minister called upon every section of the society to contribute their mite toward the cause of educating every child and development of their potential.

The Minister further observed that the proposal for common examination of class XII at all India level is a big challenge that should be accepted.

Chief Secretary DS Poonia, Education Commissioner PK Singh and other officials of the Education Dept were also present at the occasion.

CCRP calls for child rights sensitisation

Source-Imphal Free Press dated- 29th June 2010

IMPHAL, June 28: The Coalition on Children's Right to Protection (CCRP), Manipur, organized a one day consultative meeting on "The role of stake holders and sharing on the status report on children of Manipur" on June 26 at the conference hall of Hotel Imphal, Imphal.

The meeting deliberated on the defining role of civil societies and media for ensuring child rights in the state.

During the meeting, A. Sarat Sharma, former director (social welfare) observed that the child welfare board is working for the welfare of children of the state who are facing lots of problems owing to the myriad social issues. The board has taken the initiative to implement various welfare schemes for the children of the state, he said.

Senior core group member of CCRP, Ak Sanaton stressed on the role of media for ensuring child rights in the state. He said that the journalists of the state should take keen interests in investigative reporting on child rights violation and trafficking which have become major social issues of the state.

Delivering the key note address, state coordinator of CCRP, K. Pradipkumar stated that the children's right to protection covers sageguarding the children against all forms of abuse, in the criminal justice system, children involved in armed conflict, child labour, drug abuse, sexual abuse. The protection rights of the children are governed by the UN Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC) and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and its amendments of 2006, he noted.

He further said that prolonged armed conflict and violence have seriously affected the rights of the children in the state. Both government and non-government organizations should join hands to safeguard the rights of the children who are the future pillars of the society, he enjoined.

THE CHILD RIGHTS MANIFESTO

Today, unseen, ignored, almost half of all Indian children under
the age of five are underweight, millions die each year of easily preventable
diseases and 8 million children do not go to school. In the 21st century, in
one of the world's fastest growing economies, this is unacceptable.

CRY - Child Rights and You works to ensure lasting change in the
lives of underprivileged children and you can help - by making your vote
count. Get our leaders to do more for children. Create a vote bank big enough
for them to hear that we, the people. demand child rights - the rights to
education, safety, healthcare, and participation.

Pledge your support and wear the yellow ChildMark proudly on
your finger.

THE CHILD RIGHTS
MANIFESTO
16th General
Elections 2014
CRY - Child Rights and You calls on all political parties to
become campaigner of rights of all children in India.

India, with about 430 million children, has the world’s largest
child population with every sixth child in the world today referring to India
as ‘home’. Although children constitute over a third of India’s population,
they are accorded a low priority in national policy and governance decisions.
CRY urges political parties and governments in power to take heed and ‘Put children first’ and include the following commitment
suggestions that can impact over a third of this nation’s population, when
designing their own election agenda.
• Harmonize the age
definition for all child-related legislations in line with National Policy for
Children 2013 where child is any person below the age of eighteen years.
• Ensure Right to
Education is fully exercised as fundamental right and Amend and expand the
scope of Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 such that: All Children between 6-14 years
get enrolled, regularly attend Elementary
school and avail quality education. Also, all children from 0-6 years and 14-18 years should come under the purview of the Act.
• Strengthen
implementation of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) such that all six services viz
Supplementary nutrition, Health Check-ups, Immunization, Nutrition & Health
Education, Pre-school non-formal education and referral services are
effectively functioning. Also ensure that there is an adequate investment
carried out in decentralized planning, universal coverage and trained
personnel.
• Reduce child mortality
and morbidity and ensure that no child remains malnourished through carrying out sustained efforts
towards complete immunization, regular health check-ups and growth monitoring,
proper nutritional support and health counselling of all children under 18
years.

• Declare access to
quality primary healthcare a Fundamental Right in the Constitution of India and strengthen Primary Health Care
systems and child health amongst the urban poor.
• Ensure Food security at
household level for all marginalized groups of people with proper implementation of the National
Food Security Act, 2013 and consider amendments (i) increasing the
protein/fat intake for pregnant mothers and children to 20-25 gms (according to
Supreme court order) instead of current provision of 18-20 gms (ii) including services such as immunization, health check-ups etc
which have been part of the ICDS as part of the Act (iii) making provision of supplementary
nutrition for children in the14-18 age group.
• Amend the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2012: to abolish all forms of child labour by removing the distinction
between hazardous and non-hazardous categories of work for all children up to
18 years of age.
• Invest adequately in
ensuring protection for children by: (i) implementing policies and programme that protect children from
abuse, violence and exploitation; (ii) investing in
appropriate referral services for the recovery, rehabilitation and
reintegration of victims of abuse, violence and exploitation; investing in
creating a cadre of trained professional (iii) creating robust
monitoring of implementation of child protection mechanisms, schemes and
policies (iv) creating a proper database for child
trafficking, street children, missing children and ensuring a fully functional
newly developed child tracking system – ‘Track child’.
• Ensure Gender Parity,
Social Equity, and the rights of Children with disabilities with providing equal opportunities for all
social groups – SC, ST, Minority group and urban deprived groups. Become more responsive
to needs of girl children and children with disabilities.
• Allocate sufficient
Budget for Children (BfC) allocations by
increasing the allocation from 4.64% to at least 10% of total Union Budget. Also introduce a child budget component in the budget of all
allied Ministries and ensure effective National, State and District-level
management and utilization of outlays/ budgets.

The best interest of the child needs to be put at the centre of
all policy, legislation and practice affecting their young lives. India’s one
third population deserves demonstration of commitment as a nation. It calls for
action to express zero tolerance towards violation of children’s rights so that
every child attains happy, healthy and creative childhood.

MACR- Manipur Alliance for Child Rights- Charter of demand in Assembly elcetion, 2012

1. A strong political commitment to find out a political solution in place of repressive militarisation policy, to end the
long dawn armed conflict, that has been bringing out xtraordinary denial of the right to survival, development, and
protection of all the children in Manipur, including the children living with HIV/AIDS, by repealing the AFSPA which gives impunity extra judicial powers to the army.

2. A holistic state policy for ensuring safe and secured environment, where each and every individual could enjoy the equal opportunity for economic, social and cultural development.

3. A mass employment policy for youths, providing employment opportunity within the state, not merely in state security forces but in welfare and other allied sectors.

4. Setting up of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights with the full strength of the members, free from any political interference, where independence of the commission members while providing justice to the aggrieved children is upheld.

5. A comprehensive State Children’s Policy, under which children are provided with all the entitled rights of survival,
development, protection and participation without any discrimination.

6. A commitment to announce the education institutions as completely free zone, free from any political interference, corruption, military occupation, economic hindrance, while
ensuring meaningful free and compulsory education to children.

7. A commitment for providing adequate budget for schools’ infrastructural development, with special provisions for accessing to barrier free for children with disability, creating an enabling environment, so- that teachers could attend the schools without any hindrance, adequate support and monitoring mechanism for complete implementation of Mid Day Meal scheme in Government Schools and Aided Private Schools in the state.

8. A commitment for adequate budget support for nfrastructural improvement of health institutions at Panchayat, Block and District level, accessible provisions
for institutional delivery in the PHCs with proper pre and ante natal care facilities.

9. A commitment to make all ICDS centres, accessible and functional, ensuring additional nutritional support to the Children Living with HIV/AIDS by linking with the existing
ICDS centres.

10. Commitment for timely disbursement of fund to the
Government sponsored children homes, proper implementation of Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). Opening of Girls Shelter homes and Girls Children Homes
in the state on priority basis.

11. To set up Integrated Trauma Counselling cum Life skill Centres in all districts, for victims of child trafficking, rape,
conflict inflicted children, and other Child in Need of Care and
Protection and Juvenile in Conflict with
Law.

12. A commitment to ensure regular supply of safe
drinking water and uninterrupted power supply to every village and household, by acknowledging that without regular water and electricity supply, realisation of basic rights including right to life, right to education, right to health and development are not possible.

CRY- CHILD RIGHTS and YOU appeals to the people of Manipur on the event of Assembly election

1. Political and social stability in the state where people can be engaged in peaceful social and cultural life. Each and every individual, especially children could feel secure and protected. There must be ample opportunity for children and the youth to enjoy a happy and healthy life.
2. Children should be completely immunised at the community level. Government health services must reach every community so that each and every child can access basic Government health services.
3. Children below 6 years must be enrolled in ICDS centres and must get a midday meal along with additional food nutrient support. ICDS centres must be opened everyday for the children.
4. HIV positive children must get additional nutritional support, regular health check ups and ART treatment. Families of HIV positive children must get additional economic support from the state.
5. All children must get free and compulsory education at the community level. Government schools must be easily accessible and should have properly trained and qualified teachers.
6. Children must not be trafficked; it is the responsibility of the state to be alert on the issue of child trafficking, and ensure the protection of children at the community level.
7. All efforts must be made to rescue and rehabilitate trafficked children into society and through Government sponsored homes/institutions.
8. Children who are engaged as child labourers or as domestic workers must be rescued by the state and rehabilitated through proper legal actions by the state authority.

CRY- Child Rights & You Charter of demand on the occassion of 10th ManipurAssemble election

1. All political parties should commit to ensuring a safe and secured social environment, where each and every individual, especially children can enjoy a peaceful and healthy life; all individuals must get equal opportunity for economic, social and cultural development.
2. All political parties should commit to setting up a State Commission for Child Rights to protect the rights of children in the state. The Commission should be kept free from any political interference.
3. All political parties should commit to drawing up a clear-cut policy for children at the state level, where children will be provided with the rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
4. All political parties should commit to announce all educational institutions as zones free from political unrest, and ensure free and compulsory education to all the children.
5. All political parties should commit to allocate adequate budgetary provisions for building basic infrastructure for schools, with special provisions for disabled children.
6. All political parties should commit to make provisions for adequate budget support to develop infrastructure of health institutions at Panchayat, Block and District level. They must ensure that all children in the state can avail of free Government health services.
7. Long-term conflict has resulted in the unprecedented denial of the right to health, survival and development for all children in Manipur, including HIV positive children. The government should push for a permanent end to the armed conflict as it is one of the major reasons behind the poor access to healthcare.