2,000 students hospitalised after drinking contaminated milk at school
The board of management of the milk producers’ union, which supplies milk to schools under the breakfast scheme, has been dissolved Nearly 2,000 children in six Pondicherry schools fell ill on September 5, 2002, after consuming bread and milk supplied under the breakfast scheme. The students complained of giddiness and vomiting and were rushed to the Pondicherry Government Hospital, where they were treated for food poisoning. They are out of danger. The Pondicherry government has ordered a probe into the incident. Samples of the milk and bread given to students were sent to a laboratory for analysis. Meanwhile, the union territory of Pondicherry has dissolved the board of management of the milk producers’ union, which supplies milk under the state government’s breakfast scheme. Describing the performance of the board as unsatisfactory, government officials said that the producers had failed to print and provide details about the expiry date and other related information regarding the milk. A special officer has been asked to arrange for elections to the board to ensure a more efficient and transparent body for the proper functioning of the welfare scheme. Following a public outcry, the Pondicherry government suspended the breakfast scheme for a couple of days. The Rajiv Gandhi Free Breakfast Scheme was launched on August 14 by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It covers almost a lakh students; an estimated cost of eight-and-a-half crore rupees every year has been sanctioned for the scheme. Source:
PTI, www.ndtv.com, September 6, September
7, 2002 However, activists and opposition parties say it is too little, too late. They demand that those involved in the bizarre ritual be prosecuted Tamil Nadu’s housing and urban development minister, C Dorairaj, has resigned citing bringing ‘disrepute’ to his party and chief minister J Jayalalitha as his reason. The minister was present at a bizarre medieval ritual that involved the burial of drugged children in Perayur village, Tamil Nadu. The event was given prominent coverage in the media. The ritual caused a furore both within political circles and among activists as it was carried out in gross violation of children’s rights. Following the event, which took place on August 21, 2002, no action was taken against the minister. Nor did the state openly express its intent to look into the matter. Opposition and human rights bodies are, however, not satisfied with the minister’s resignation. They say it is too little, too late. Activists are seeking the prosecution of the minister and other officials present at the event. Says Ossie Fernandes of the Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation: “The resignation of the minister is an ethical step forward but it is insufficient. He must be prosecuted for abetment to murder, including torture of children.” On August 26, 2002, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government seeking a report of the incident with four weeks. More than 100 children were buried alive for around a minute, and then pulled out to safety, at Perayur village near Madurai. The 400-year-old ritual, which is performed every five years, was carried out to propitiate the goddess Muthukuzhi Mariammai. The buried children were reportedly born to mothers who believed they had conceived only after the goddess was propitiated. The boys who were buried were between four and 20 years of age; the girls had not yet attained puberty. The children were first smeared with turmeric water, ash was applied to their foreheads and they were wrapped in a yellow cloth. They were then buried alive in two-feet-deep graves. Tamil Nadu minister C Dorairaj watched the entire ritual, even as the police were busy regulating the huge crowd instead of trying to intervene. According to doctors, the ritual can be fatal although the villagers claim that no child has died so far. “Even a child who is not well, when he comes here he gets cured. It’s all with the blessings of God,” said one resident of Perayur. The
state police have meanwhile said that since no child was injured
they did not interfere or file a complaint. However, I Deivashayam,
joint director of the voluntary agency People’s Watch observes:
“It is not chosen by the children. It is something thrust
on them. This is clear violation of a child’s rights.”
Source: NDTV, August 23, 26, 27, 28, 2002 The move may help the city's traffic problems but deprives its streetkids of their livelihood Delhi's motorists may no longer be able to assuage a troubled conscience by simply tossing a few coins to a beggar. They may not even buy their evening paper from a bedraggled urchin. Starting September, begging for alms or buying anything at the traffic junctions in the nation's capital is a traffic offence. The ban -- the first of its kind in India – will allow Delhi’s traffic police to fine first-time offenders offering alms Rs 100, and thereafter, Rs 300. Notices will also be mailed to erring motorists. According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Maxwell Pereira, the order will help clear roads and smooth traffic flow . "People who want to gain punya or attain moksha can give alms elsewhere. Not at traffic junctions," he says. Pereira, who has the support of the Delhi Administration, which has been running a publicity campaign against the issue, also hopes for approval from the city's middle class. "Begging flourishes much to the disgust, distaste and repugnant horror of the community. It also portrays an adverse picture of our country." Sadly, it also reflects Indian realities. What the Commmisioner of Police calls "a masterstroke of the traffic police to discourage and penalise those begging at intersections" is according to others a short-sighted approach to the problem of begging and deprivation. Many child beggars are victims of drought and migrants from states like Rajasthan or Bihar along with their parents, who work as daily labourers. Begging syndicates do exist, but NGOs working with children say most beggars are victims of poverty. The hardest hit by this ban will be the estimated 1.5 to 2 lakh children who earn a living off Delhi’s streets, without parental support. They are brought in groups from their villages and their wages supplement the income of their poverty-ridden families back home.They hustle at busy signals selling mainly newspapers and magazines. They live in rooms rented by a thekedaar . Some graduate to being thekedaars themselves and make between Rs 100 to Rs 200 daily. This existence is considered far better than the one they left behind. Though the ban may help solve some traffic problems, finding a permanent solution to the ills that plague the capital's less fortunate may not prove so easy. Says Sanjay Gupta of the Delhi NGO Chetna, which works with children at big traffic signals like the AIIMS and Moolchand crossings, "If you think these children will go away if they are not allowed to sell at traffic lights, you are wrong. They'll move into more hazardous jobs and become invisible. With the choices they have, selling papers at traffic junctions is a better option." There is also the danger of these children resorting to petty crimes in order to earn a livelihood, leading to an increase in crime. Ironically, the main victims of these crimes will be the city's middle-class, whom people like Pereira are striving to protect. Other NGOs and children's activists believe the issue also concerns the exploitation of child labour -- some have shied away from the issue since it often involves very small children. Gupta himself advocates that children under 14 be kept away from the streets. Gupta says no one section of citizens can claim exclusive rights to the city. "If the middle class has the right to unobstructed traffic, then these kids too have the right to earn a legitimate living." Source: Outlook, September 9, 2002 HIV/AIDS is now one of the greatest threats to child development, says Save the Children At the end of 2000, there were an estimated 36.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS, of which 1.4 million were children. Save the Children suggests that HIV/AIDS is now the greatest threat to child development in many parts of the world and that it is only by combating the root causes of poverty that the HIV/AIDS epidemic can be tackled
# The hospital where over 18 children died recently does not have a neo-natal intensive care unit, an ultrasound or scanning machine, or even a ventilator An investigation has begun in Kolkata, where 18 babies died at the Bidhan Chandra Roy Memorial referral hospital on September 1 and September 2. The children, all aged between one and four, died following various complications. Unofficial reports put the death toll at 20. Most of the children who died had respiratory problems, gastro-enteritis, meningitis or septicaemia. Angry, grieving parents surrounded the hospital, accusing the health authorities of negligence. One parent said there were no oxygen cylinders or saline facilities available for the dying children. According to relatives, the few oxygen cylinders that were there were not working. The Bidhan Chandra Roy hospital treats acutely ill children, and, according to the director of health services in Kolkata, the mortality rate at the hospital is often as high as five or six a day. Over 300 children have succumbed here over the past six months. In September 2001, 22 children died in two days. The hospital does not possess a neo-natal intensive care unit, an ultrasound machine, a scanning machine, or even a ventilator. There is one oxygen cylinder for every three babies or more; 24 medical officers are deputed at the hospital, when the requirement is for 50. The hospital employs only 92 nurses when it actually needs 150. At present, 302 children have been admitted against a capacity of 250. These so-called ‘normal’ deaths would have gone unnoticed had the family of two-year-old Shuvam Dutta, who died on September 2, not protested, accusing hospital authorities of ‘killing’ their son by not putting him on oxygen. Shuvam was admitted to hospital on August 18 with an infection in his lungs and upper respiratory tract. Families of the other unfortunate children joined in the protest. Shuma Saha, another distraught mother, says: “We tried to get a doctor this morning, but there wasn’t one. The sister said she was busy. The watchmen downstairs refused to help. By the time the sister arrived with oxygen, it was too late. The child’s mother and grandmother watched him die.” “My child is 13 days old, and the doctor says he will die,” says Mumtaz Bibi, clutching an oxygen tube running up to her baby’s nose. Hospital superintendent, Dr Anup Mandal, admits: “Two hundred babies have died in the past two months.” He adds: “We just do not have the infrastructure to cope with the number of patients, many of whom are refused admission at other hospitals. We lack medical staff, medicines, oxygen cylinders and even basic equipment like an incubator or scanning machines that a referral hospital for children must have.” “I have been here for 10 years. What has happened over these two days is not exceptional,” Mandal continues. “We have grown used to five or six babies dying every day. What can we do?” Minister of state for health, Pratyush Mukherjee, explained that the ‘periodic occurrence of multiple deaths in a day’ was expected, as most of the cases that came to the hospital were terminal cases. Dr Asha Mukherjee, paediatrician, has been associated with the hospital for 13 years. She says: “I remember treating extremely sick patients, most suffering from acute septicaemia, gastro-enteritis and other ailments, without any infrastructure in those days. Even today, the hospital does not have the minimum equipment or facilities required to treat children in a critical condition.” Doctors say that better infrastructure could have saved some of the babies. The hospital authorities claim they have put up a notice closing fresh admissions due to the short supply of oxygen and lack of beds. Source: BBC, The Indian Express, The Telegraph, September 3, Times
News Network, September 5, 2002 Customs asks voluntary agency to pay import duty of Rs 20 lakh A giant gift consignment from abroad for the destitute and orphaned children of Kolkata will never reach its beneficiaries. The reason: an import duty of around Rs 20 lakh, which the voluntary agency Sabera Foundation (SF) will have to cough up to claim the consignment. The Sabera Foundation runs a home that shelters 137 orphans and children of prostitutes. The consignment, costing $75,000, includes toys, plastic playing buckets, diaries, drawing boards and lunch boxes for the children. It was sent by an American, Stephen Berman, a fan of the Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin who is a patron of the SF. The gift consignment packed in eight 40-foot containers was sent back to Hong Kong from where it was shipped to Kolkata. Customs officials asked the voluntary agency to shell out an import duty of 56 per cent. “The Sabera Foundation was in no position to shell out this kind of money. Nor did we want to put pressure on the man who made such a huge donation,” said Patrick Ghosh, SF’s director of communications. Additional commissioner of Calcutta customs, Vijay Kumar, says that as per the rules the consignment would be subject to import duty unless there was a specific exemption by the finance ministry. The SF now plans to approach the finance ministry in New Delhi for an exemption. “We are trying to negotiate with customs. But the final decision lies with the finance ministry. Our only worry is that such a beautiful gift for the children of Kolkata should not go a-begging,” observes Ghosh. A senior customs official reportedly told the SF that only the Missionaries of Charity had special exemption on certain items, and that Sabera could explore the possibility of distributing the gifts jointly with the charity. Even after the toys are distributed among the 137 children housed in Sabera’s home, there will be enough toys left to share with other voluntary agencies like the Ramakrishna Mission, Missionaries of Charity and government-run homes in Liluah, says a representative from the SF. The SF was set up in Kolkata by Spanish musician Ignacio Cano. Its other well-known patrons are actors Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and elanie Griffith. Source: The Indian Express, August 23, 2002 Johannesburg summit could undermine efforts to combat child poverty Save the Children’s new report shows that increased involvement of the private sector in delivering basic services is likely to have a negative impact on the equity, quality and capacity of these services to combat poverty and fulfil children’s rights A new report, Globalisation and Children's Rights: What Role for the Private Sector?, brought out by the children’s charity Save the Children on the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg raises serious concerns over the summit’s plan to increase private-sectorinvolvement in development initiatives around the world. The key focus of the world summit will be on forming public-private partnerships as a means to deliver sustainable development, including the provision of basic services such as water, education and health. The report shows that the increased involvement of the private sector in delivering such basic services is likely to have a negative impact on the equity, quality and capacity of these services to combat poverty and fulfil children’srights. Water privatisation, for example, typically raises domestic rates far higher than poor families can afford, forcing many to collect water from untreated sources and exposing children to water-borne diseases which already kill more than two million children every year. Similarly, charges for healthcare and education, as levied by the private sector, threaten to exclude the poorest children from access to these basic services, or drive families into poverty through having to meet the extra costs. At the summit, Save the Children will also be arguing for greater regulation of the activities of the private sector in developing countries. While some multinational companies have provided genuine development opportunities to young people and their families, others have shown little regard for their social and environmental responsibilities towards the communities with whom they work. Recent scandals involving global companies such as Enron, WorldCom and Andersen have underlined the need for improved regulation of the private sector. Save the Children is concerned at the international trend towards deregulation of foreign investment, particularly through investment-related agreements at the World Trade Organisation such as GATS (the General Agreement on Trade in Services). John Hilary, trade policy adviser at Save the Children, says: “The Johannesburg summit is rushing to involve the private sector in more and more aspects of sustainable development. Where multinationals are involved, they must be carefully regulated to ensure social and environmental benefits are realised. There may well also be circumstances in which private-sector engagement is simply not the best option in the first place.”Save the Children is calling for a positive agenda for sustainable development to include: A
legally binding international framework for corporate accountability
and liability, which upholds children's rights. A reversal of
the current trend towards deregulation of foreign investment at
the national level, and a revision of international investment
agreements in order to restore national capacity to regulate foreign
investors effectively in pursuit of national development goals.
Source: www.savethechildren.org.uk, August 21, 2002 Chennai’s education project for child labourers winds up Inadequate funds has forced the Child Labour Elimination Programme to wind up its operations Lack of funds has forced Chennai’s Child Labour Elimination Programme (CLEP) to wind up operations in the city. The closure of the project, which has rehabilitated 6,050 children, will mean the end of transit schools and children being forced to return to the streets. The CLEP is a Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) project. In operation for the last five years, the CLEP was activated by a one-time grant of Rs one crore. The programme worked to persuade children who were once labourers, and their parents, to go to school. The children attend transit camps or non-formal education centres and are then absorbed into mainstream corporation schools. Some beneficiaries of this programme have gone on to excel in their Class X and XII examinations and have secured admission into polytechnics. Twenty-nine students that Arunodhaya -- one of the two organisations that have volunteered to run the schools for such children on a ‘self-funded’ basis -- had admitted under the CLEP have passed their X and XII standard examinations. “It is no mean achievement for children who come from that lower economic segment of society,” says Virgil D’Samy Arunodhaya’s director. The community too has been supportive of the project. Parents who were initially reluctant to send their children to school are now thrilled to see them doing well, says S Joseph, field officer with SWAP, Kodungaiyur. The SWAP ran a transit school in Rajaratinam Nagar -- an area notorious for its high concentration of child labourers in north Chennai. A number of voluntary organisations and child rights activists want the CLEP revived. Realising the importance of the project, the TNSCB is exploring other avenues of funding. The board has drawn up a proposal with a reduced budget of Rs 53,000 for each school. The proposal has been sent to the labour department and UNICEF. Source: The Hindu, August 19, 2002 Four-year-old working a 12-hour shift rescued from prawn processing unit The CCD has rescued more than 5,500 hapless children from different trades, including about 370 infant camel riders from West Asia The number of child labourers in India is steadily increasing. The estimated figure crossed 130 million in 2002. A survey conducted across the country by the Centre for Communication and Development (CCD), a Kolkata-based non-governmental organization, states that the number of child labourers is increasing at the rate of 10 to 12 per cent every year in almost every state. It is estimated that the majority of them are employed in the bidi and fireworks industry, fish and prawn cultivation and processing industries and as servants in homes and numerous roadside tea and food stalls. Swapan Mukherjee of CCD blames a section of businessmen for the present state of affairs. He alleged that innocent children were picked up from poor families throughout the country and employed in different hazardous units to work under inhuman condition. two million child labourers, engaged in the trade of prawn processing in the coastal districts of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Goa, according to CCD , are just four to eight years old, and their working hours varied between 10 and 12 hours every day with very little time-off. Four-year-old Bijoy was rescued from a prawn cultivation unit in South 24 Parganas in May 2002 by CCD volunteers. At present he is staying in CCD’s Destitute Children’s Home in Canning. He was sent to the prawn-processing unit when he was barely three. Bijoy worked a 12-hour night in a prawn-processing unit. Every night, his mother used to wake him and take him to the open neighbourhood prawn shed to start work from 9 pm. To prevent his eyes closing in sleep, a concoction of jaggery, tea and mustard oil was applied on his eyes. It was his job to pull frozen prawns out of huge ice cubes, peel their hard cover and detach heads even as the pointed antennae pierced his hands. He earned Rs 5 per 120-hour night shift. Swapan Mukherjee of CCD said, "It was sheer luck that we came across Bijoy and instantly decided to take him out of the hellish environment.' CCD has rescued more than 5,500 hapless children from different trades, including about 370 infant camel riders from West Asia. According to Article 24 of the Constitution and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1968, no child below 14 years of age should be employed in any hazardous job in any form. Source: United News of India, August 02, 2002 The Statesman, August 01, 2002 Riots leave scars on Gujarat’s children The riots have left their ugly mark on the children of Gujarat who indulge in such games as `Riot-Riot’ and `Grave-Grave’ For the children of the relief camps in Gujarat, life has begun to revolve around riots and death, which have been deeply imprinted on their psyches. Many of these children have witnessed gruesome crimes against their loved ones. This is reflected in their discussions and the games they play: mobs, fire, blood, death are common themes. Volunteers working at the Garib Nawaz relief camp at Modasa in Sabarkantha district were shocked when they saw children playing a game called `Kabar-Kabar’ (`Grave-Grave’), where eight-year-old Sabina and her friends dug a hole in the ground, filled it with mud, poured water into it and then embedded a piece of marble into it. When asked what the piece of marble was, Sabina promptly replied: “It is the epitaph for those buried inside.” Another common game is `Riot-Riot’. Ahmedabad-based psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech, who works with riot-affected children, cites a number of instances where he has caught children playing this game. The kids would divide themselves into members of two communities and then attack each other, says Bhachech. The psychiatrist adds that he was horrified to hear one child narrating the incident of Kausar Bano, the pregnant victim from Naroda-Patia. “They must have overheard it from their elders and their imagination ran wild,” says Bhachech. He has also recorded testimonies of unexplained aggression among these children which he feels should be channelled towards something positive. The sharp divide between the two communities has seen a high dropout rate in schools. This could result in most of the riot-affected children going without a decent education. Source: The Times of India, July 11, 2002 Non-formal education helps end child labour The Development Education Society (DEEDS) was formed to put an end to child labour and to rehabilitate working children. So far, 750 children have benefited from the organisation’s programmes, reports Milan Singhal Escalating global orphan crisis due to AIDS The report Children on the Brink released at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, states that more than 13.4 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have lost one or both parents to AIDS, a number that will increase to 25 million by 2010 Sandeep Pandey wins Magsaysay award Indian activist Sandeep Pandey and six others have won this year's Ramon Magsaysay awards, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize Sandeep Pandey has bagged this year's Ramon Magsaysay award in the 'Emergent Leadership Category' for his work 'towards the betterment of the poor and the underprivileged in India'. Pandey is the founder of the NGO Asha (Hope), which supports education and livelihood projects for poor children in India, particularly dalits. The 35-year-old activist is an IITian with a doctorate from the University of Berkeley in California. On his return to India, he not only got himself associated with social work but plunged head-on into the development of a non-profit organisation devoted to promoting educational centres for underprivileged children in India. At present Pandey and his team of volunteers are developing an alternative educational curriculum and textbooks for schools starting from the kindergarden level. This syllabus emphasises human values for a just social order (samajikta) and self-reliance for livelihood (svavalamban). Coursework includes basic hygiene and philosophy. In the end, these children will have both the skills to work in industry and the ethics to be good citizens. Students upto the first standard at Reoti in UP, school are being taught the syllabus developed by Asha on an experiment basis. Pandey is also in the process of developing an Asha Ashram at Hardoi, 60 kms north-west of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to serve as a co-ordination centre for the various activities of different Asha chapters in India. He is among five others who have won the coveted award this year. Other winners include a Philippine Supreme Court chief justice, a nun from Pakistan, a doctor from Myanmar, a Nepalese journalist and a South Korean Buddhist monk. The winners of the awards will each receive a medallion and a cash prize of $50,000 each in an awards ceremony at the Philippine capital in August. The Magsaysay awards foundation was set up in May 1957 in honor of popular Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay who died in a plane crash in March 1957. Source:
PTI, July 30, 2002 www.rediffnews.com, July 30, 2002 The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative of the WHO and UNICEF has certified over 90 per cent of Kerala’s maternity hospitals as baby friendly Kerala’s effort to “protect, promote and support exclusive breastfeeding of infants for six months and supplementary breastfeeding beyond” earns the state the accolade of the world’s first baby friendly state. The initiative has substantially brought down infant mortality and infant diseases in the state. The declaration ceremony, jointly organised by the UNICEF, the Kerala Health Department, Indian Academy of Paediatrics and other professional bodies will be held in the state at Kochi. The honour is constituted under the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) of the WHO (World Health Organisation) and UNICEF. The BFHI independently assessed 622 maternity hospitals in Kerala and certified these ‘baby-friendly’. The hospitals assessed constitute over 90 per cent of Kerala's maternity hospitals. Under the BFHI, a state or country can be declared baby-friendly if over 80 per cent of its maternity hospitals are ‘baby-friendly hospitals’. A hospital is labelled ‘baby-friendly’ only when it puts into practice all the ‘Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding’. These ten steps include a written breastfeeding policy, staff training and a breastfeeding-friendly attitude in the parents. The BFHI was launched globally in 1991. A state-level task force was constituted in March 1993 in Kerala and several doctors and trainees were trained. In 12 months, 39 hospitals were transformed into baby-friendly hospitals. In May 1995, all the 43 hospitals with maternity facility in Kochi city had become baby-friendly, paving the way for the city to be declared the first baby-friendly city in India by the then UNICEF representative. Ernakulam became the first district in the country to become baby-friendly in 1996. Factors that have contributed to this are Kerala’s high level of literacy (particularly female literacy), an increased health consciousness, concern for children’s rights and gender equality of children. The common practice of active breastfeeding of babies up to age one has also aided the effort. Kerala has the country's lowest infant mortality rate at 13 per 1000, which is lower than some prosperous western countries. Also Kerala has the highest rate of institutional delivery in India. Ninety-seven per cent childbirths, according to the Rapid Household Survey taken in 1998-99 for the Reproductive and Child Health Project, take place in a hospital or health facility. Breastfeeding drastically reduces infant infection, diarrhoea and other diseases. The BFHI initiative, by actively promoting breastfeeding, is claimed to have prevented one million infant deaths worldwide every year. The BFHI was the direct result of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981. The code, drafted by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, a large number of NGOs and representatives of infant formula manufacturers, set minimum standards to regulate marketing of infant formulas, feeding bottles and teats. The code stipulates that health facilities should never be involved in the promotion of breastmilk substitutes and that free samples should not be provided to new mothers. However, in developing countries the code has been violated greatly by multinational companies operating here. Source:
The Hindu, August 1, 2002 The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the centre and Delhi government, following a petition seeking the implementation of various laws to curb child labour and improve the plight of rag-pickers in the capital The voluntary organisation Social Jurist has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court alleging apathy on the part of the state to implement laws to protect the fundamental rights of children. This has led to an increase in the number of destitute children. Pursuant to the PIL, the court issued notices to the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) and the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) and directed the respondents to file a reply. The PIL claimed that despite the existence of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, the Delhi Primary Education Act, a UN convention on the rights of the child and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, more than 5 lakh minors are engaged full time in rag-picking in the capital. The PIL also alleged that children involved in rag-picking are made to work long hours in the most unhygienic conditions. It requested the court to ask the government to ensure that no child upto the age of 14 is engaged in rag-picking and that the children be given compulsory education. Social Jurist counsel Ashok Agarwal said a team of lawyers from the organisation extensively interacted with the city’s rag-pickers over the past six months. It was found that 75 to 80 per cent of children attending meetings were girls. Counsel claimed that the government, after issuing a notification in May last year prohibiting the employment of children in the process of rag-picking, had not done anything to implement the decision. To redress a similar problem, the Maharashtra government is paying special attention to the rehabilitation and education of over 8,000 child labourers working in hazardous industries across the state, say official sources. A survey conducted by the state government between September 1, 2001 and January 31, 2002, revealed that nearly 8,152 child labourers were employed in hazardous industries across Maharashtra. As part of the rehabilitation scheme for child labourers, run by the union government, two projects are currently being implemented at Solapur and Thane. Nearly 1,300 and 1,600 children respectively are being educated at centres in Solapur and Thane. Meanwhile,
the state has also submitted a list of various proposed centres
to the union government. Sources say, district collectors and
the labour commissioner have been asked to enrol a large number
of child labourers under the state government's Mahatma Phule
Education Guarantee Scheme being implemented for the universalisation
of primary education.Source: Hindustan Times, September 21, 2002
The Maharashtra government plays down the significance of the death of 22 children due to malnutrition, in the predominantly tribal Thane district Over the last five months, 22 children between the ages of six months and three years are reported to have died in the tribal belt of wada taluka in Maharashtra’s Thane district. While the stated causes of death are as varied as tuberculosis, pneumonia, meningitis and kidney failure, the harsh reality is that severe malnutrition had left the children vulnerable to diseases. The situation is far more serious than is being portrayed by the state government. Malnutrition is a chronic condition among the tribals, and investigations by voluntary organisations working in the district reveal that many more such deaths go unreported. Diagnostically, malnutrition cases are divided into four grades. Grade I refers to mild malnutrition and grade II to moderate malnutrition. Grades III and IV are severe stages of malnutrition. In Thane, all the cases belong to grades III and IV. Although the medical infrastructure seems to be well planned on paper, in reality, workers are often lax in fulfilling their duties and frequently misdiagnose cases. Malnutrition is especially difficult to diagnose by sight unless it is in an advanced stage. The problem is further exacerbated by frequent staff shortages. The poor state of healthcare is exemplified in the case of Vikramgadh taluk. Despite having been upgraded to a taluka three years ago, Vikramgadh has no rural hospital (although there is a plan to build one). Residents of the taluka still depend on the six-bed primary health centre. None of the children who died of malnutrition had been hospitalised. Likewise the harsh economic realities faced by the parents, such as their inability to afford bus fares or leave their fields untended, have not been taken into account by the government. In an attempt to downplay the issue, in the wake of a spate of media reports on the malnutrition-related deaths, the government blamed teenage motherhood, non-institutional delivery of babies, unhygienic living conditions, illiteracy and a preference to consult witchdoctors for the deaths. They also denied that food and medicine shortages existed in the affected areas. Arun Bhatia, commissioner, Tribal Research and Training Institute, demolishes the government’s arguments. He identifies what he calls the ‘three great distortions’ in understanding the problem. These are, confusing the causes of death, ignoring under-reporting of the number of deaths and offering unacceptable employment under the government-run Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). Bhatia casts doubts on the reliability of government statistics in this context, saying that rural staff is so ‘under-motivated that we do not know if they are maintaining the records’. The problem, he feels, is not a medical one but an economic one. An increase in purchasing power will lead to dramatic changes in the health status of these people. In a report submitted to the government, Bhatia and his team have made certain policy recommendations. Among the suggestions is a resettlement package for tribal people. This could be through the distribution of degraded forestland for livestock farming or by giving land on long lease to self-help groups consisting of poor tribal farmers. The provision of monetary and other incentives to staff members working in rural areas is another recommendation. The report also recommends the provision of mobile banks and mobile clinics. Source:
Frontline, October 11, 2002 Kerala, which boasts 100 per cent literacy for women, is now finding it difficult to cope with an increasing number of teenage girls being forced into marriage by economically distressed parents A survey conducted by the Joint Women Programme (JWP) has found that parents in Kerala are marrying off their daughters -– often not more than 11 or 12 years old -– to much older grooms. The study cites the example of 13-year-old Sajida who was married off to Rahim in Perinthalmanna in north Kerala. She became pregnant at 14 and the doctors were forced to do a hysterectomy on her because her uterus was not sufficiently developed to bear a child. Rahim divorced her the day she returned from hospital. Sheila, married off at 14 to Manoharan in Adavaned Mattumma village in Malappuram district, became a mother at 15. Manoharan left soon after, for the Gulf, and hasn’t maintained contact with her since. Usha Venkatakrishnan, who headed the study, said: “From the 202 cases that we studied, we found that 18.5 per cent of the deliveries were by 17-year-old adolescents. Some were as young as 13.” “From the 1,232 marriages held between January-June 2000, 19 per cent of the girls were in the age group 11-13, seven per cent were 14-year-olds and 13 per cent were 15-year-olds,” she added. JWP director Jyotsna Chatterjee pointed out: “In India, every five minutes one women dies during maternity. On an average, India has 1,25,000 maternal deaths a year. A large number of these deaths are of adolescent girl children.” Joint secretary of the Department of Women and Child Welfare, PGD Chakravarty, says these findings are restricted to girls in the lower socio-economic groups. “The latest census has shown that the average age of child marriage has risen to 19,” says Chakravarty. JWP field workers, however, counter these claims, says Chatterjee. A similar study was undertaken in Bangalore, in six slums. Another 12 villages in Bangalore were included, with hospital records, primary healthcare units and home deliveries being the primary source. P Roberts, who headed the Bangalore team, found that the majority of marriages were in the age group 16-17. “These girls have not completed puberty. Pregnancy for them can be life-threatening since a large number of deliveries are undertaken by untrained dais,” says Roberts. With the government preparing a policy for adolescents in the 10th Five Year Plan, this problem needs to be highlighted. Source:
The Times of India, October 6, 2002 A humane gesture helps children scarred by the Gujarat violence rebuild their lives, by resuming their education The Saurashtra Mail from Gujarat pulled into Bandra terminus in Mumbai at 5.40 on Saturday morning, carrying some very special passengers. Chocolates and smiles greeted the 60 children, victims of the Gujarat carnage. They are still haunted by images that would horrify even the most hardened adult. They witnessed death, destruction and madness and will carry some of those memories forever. Ugly burn scars on seven-year-old Shaffiq’s swollen left hand tell his story of horror. Twelve-year-old Javed’s destroyed eye haunts everyone who sees him. Surgery was unable to hide the injury inflicted by the mob. All six-year-old Hussein can say when asked about his parents is, `mar gaye’ (they are dead). Now, thanks to a humane initiative by a few groups and individuals, these children are rebuilding their lives. They have stopped by in Mumbai on their way to Raigad, 200 km away, to live and study in schools of the Royal Education Society run by Dr A R Undre. There they will receive free education, boarding and lodging, along with medical rehabilitation. Dr Undre, president of Secular Activists’ Watch, says: “I wanted to take in the affected children when the riots happened but it took a little time because we wanted to select them carefully and work with an NGO which could help identify them.” Action Aid, which runs a children’s group as part of the Aman Samudaya project initiated after the carnage, with the help of 35 other organisations, stepped in to help. Monica Wahi, a volunteer from Delhi who has been working with children in relief camps, is accompanying the children. “We took almost a month because we wanted to make the selection carefully and complete all the paperwork. Also, the school would need an organisation to work with in future, so we got Action Aid involved. A lot of these children have either dropped out of schools or are unable to pay for their education. There are basically three categories. Those who have lost parents in front of their eyes; those whose parents have no means of livelihood any longer; and those whose parents have been reduced to casual labourers,” said Wahi. Wahi explained the anxieties of both parents and children. “One girl asked Charu (another volunteer) ‘Will we be safe there? Where will we run if a tola (mob) comes?’” “There are many more children waiting but the school can take in only 50 students in a batch and we’ve stretched it to 60,” Wahi added. Source:
The Indian Express, October 7, 2002 A four-pronged strategy has been chalked out to eradicate child labour in Gulbarga The district administration in Gulbarga, Andhra Pradesh, in co-ordination with UNICEF-NORAD and voluntary organisations, conducted raids on 63 establishments reportedly employing child labourers in Gulbarga city. At least 40 child labourers were identified. Seven of these children have been sent to schools, while undertakings have been taken from the parents of the others that they will resume their schooling. The raids were carried out by four teams involving assistant commissioner H R Mahadev, labour deputy commissioner Nanjundappa, and personnel from UNICEF-NORAD and voluntary organisations. Dr Mahadev said that the team that raided establishments in the Ganj area of the city, mainly hotels and garages, met with stiff resistance from the employers. The team was forced to return. “These employers will be counselled and the children brought out. If they still resist, then the law will take its course,” he asserted and said that the drive to free child labourers would be intensified in the coming days. Two taluks in the state, namely Davangere and Gulbarga, were selected by UNESCO-NORAD with the backing of the state government. According to Dr Mahadev, the four voluntary organisations in the taluk, who participated in this programme, played a major role. Dr Mahadev claimed that the district administration was planning to set up residential schools for the child labourers, with the help of parents’ societies. Already, seven day-schools and two residential schools had been started in the district, he added. “The state government had pooled resources, both financial and human, from different government departments towards fighting child labour collectively,” Dr Mahadev pointed out. According to UNESCO coordinator Mahendra, a four-pronged strategy -- prevention, enforcement, rehabilitation and convergence -- had been chalked out towards the eradication of child labour. Source: Deccan Herald, October 9, 2002 Family comes first A woman sells ganja to look after her 14 foster children Police in the Assamese city of Guwahati turn a blind eye as 70-year-old Bobby Das openly sells ganja (cannabis) at a small paan shop near the railway station. Budhima, as she is lovingly called, raises money this way to look after the 14 children she has found abandoned as infants on trains, platforms, even drains. Though aware that selling cannabis is a crime, Budhima is determined to do what it takes to care for her children. A Shiva devotee, she sources the cannabis from the jungles bordering Bhutan, and though she smokes it regularly, none of the children has ever tried it. Her ramshackle house on the outskirts of Guwahati resembles a mini orphanage. This is where the children, who range from six months to 22 years, live. Along with her eight school-going children, Budhima takes the bus to the city at six every morning, leaving the three babies with her daughter-in-law. She eats only one meal a day but makes sure that her children eat and study well. Bringing up the children has not been easy on a limited income. An advocate of equal opportunities, Budhima has made sure that her six girls also go to school with the boys. When she suggested that some of the older children move out to a new place, they flatly refused to leave her, much to her secret gratification. The children help her as much as they can. Babul, the oldest (22), drives a cargo autorickshaw for Rs 50 a day and is very proud of his mother. “She brought me up with great difficulty and now I help her take care of the little ones she brings in.” His wife also helps look after the younger children. Bimal studies in higher secondary school and works in a bookstore to supplement the family income; another son, Mukul, is applying for the post of constable. Meanwhile, the police do their bit to help this amazing woman, even donating some of their salary every month to help her make ends meet. Source:
The Week, October 6, 2002 The family vocation is not as magical as it appears for these slum children
Belonging to a tribe where magic is a family vocation passed down from generation to generation, the children have no choice. Most cannot even write their own names and most fathers feel committed to teach magic rather than the alphabet to their children, with training starting as early as the age of six. Conforming to the stereotype, the magicians of Sakkardara dress in cheap shiny costumes and wear top hats with colourful flowers. They carry dazzling magic bags. Yet, while their art may be full of bright colour, their lives are spent in stark black-and-white. A family of eight barely earns Rs 1,500 per month. Hutments in the slum stand in between pools of stagnant water. Skin diseases are clearly visible on the bodies of most of the people who live here. There are no welfare schemes, little or no official recognition, nor any acknowledgement of their art. Social acceptance is low. Activist Vila Bhongade, who tried running a school here for a year, says: “The magic shows are few and far between. Drinking is becoming a huge issue here now, and more and more youngsters are also taking to it.” For the people of Sakkardara, some real wholesome magic is needed to change their unenviable lives. Source:
Hindustan Times, November 18, 2002 Couples
in Andhra Pradesh are fighting for their right to adopt a baby
without facing harrowing adoption laws
Sudha Thimmareddy and her husband have been trying to adopt a baby for four years. They have not been successful. After elaborate paperwork, the couple was finally shown a baby in August this year. They gave their immediate consent, only to learn that the baby, and 37 more like her, had earlier been pledged to foreign parents by an adoption agency accused of buying and selling babies. The courts will now decide who will get the baby. “The state government will go by the judgment delivered by the courts in individual cases,” said Mini Mathew, principal secretary, women and child welfare, Andhra Pradesh. It is ironic that even as Child Rights Week is being celebrated, Indian couples wishing to adopt a child still have to go through cumbersome and humiliating procedures. “In Andhra Pradesh, you have to be infertile, free of diabetes and hypertension in order to adopt. You also have to have a sizeable property or income,” says Gita Ramaswamy, who has authored a report on child trafficking. Source: NDTV, November 20, 2002 Child artistes: The reality behind the glamour Should child artistes come under the purview of the Child Labour Act? They work for money; many even give up their studies. They obey the commands of over-ambitious parents and over-zealous directors. In short, they sacrifice their childhood. Theirs is a sad reality obscured by the apparent glamour Diya brings hope to children with AIDS Diya, set up by the organisation Freedom Foundation, is a care centre for children with AIDS, in Hyderabad. The centre aims to cater to the emotional, physical and infrastructural needs of these children Andhra Pradesh has close to 4 lakh AIDS patients; two per cent of all pregnant women in the state test HIV positive. And the number of HIV-infected children is rapidly increasing. Freedom Foundation inaugurated Diya, on November 14, with the express purpose of providing specialised care for children with AIDS. The foundation already runs rehabilitation facilities for AIDS patients in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Karl Sequeira, executive trustee of Freedom Foundation said: “Our experience has shown that these children have physical, emotional and infrastructural needs that are very different from what adult patients require.” Diya, which is capable of housing 30 children, currently has about half that number. The children’s ages range from a few months to 11 years. Most are from poor families and are either orphaned or have been abandoned by their relatives. The facilities provided by Diya are free. Sequeira adds: “These kids have undergone tremendous trauma. They’ve lost parents and siblings and have been shunted around by relatives who don’t want them. Physically, most of them are in bad shape, susceptible to all kinds of infections. They are already all too familiar with oxygen masks and needle jabs.” Diya’s dedicated staff, which includes a full-time child psychologist, a nutritionist, doctors and nurses, attempts to cater to the various needs of the children. Though faced with a shortage of funds, the foundation has pooled in its resources and is determined to make a difference in the lives of the children. Source: Outlook, December 9, 2002 Hindu couple adopt Muslim child in Bihar
The child’s mother, 18-year-old Sakina from the Narkatia village in Siwan district gave birth to the boy following an affair with her sister’s husband. When an unmarried Sakina got pregnant her parents tried to ‘suppress the matter’ and, when the identity of the father was disclosed, they tried to get her married to him. By then, however, the child’s father had got himself a job in the Gulf. When the child was born, Sakina’s family decided to rid themselves of the unwanted child. “The only course left before us was to abandon the child,” said Farooq, the girl’s elder brother. But when residents from the adjoining Ramgarh village heard about this, at least three childless couples, all of them Hindus, rushed to Narkatia and petitioned the doctor to let them adopt the baby. This led to a problem of plenty, with all three couples vehement in their desire to adopt the child. In fact, in order to resolve the issue, the three couples had to go through a bidding process. Finally, Brij Kishore Singh and his wife Tara, who had placed the highest bid of Rs 20,000, won the right to adopt the child. “Me and my wife pleaded before the doctor to give us the child. We had tried all means and prayed before gods and goddesses for 10 years but could not see the face of a child,” said Brij Kishore. Did the couple have any qualms about adopting a Muslim child? Himanshu Kumar Singh, a relative of the couple, says: “Hindus and Muslims have remained here as brothers and therefore we have no problem in accepting this Muslim child in our Hindu society. He may be born to a Muslim lady, but now he is a Hindu.” Source:
Deccan Herald, , December 19, 2002 Instances of child sexual abuse have increased in India, not only because children are soft targets but also because cumbersome legal procedures works to the offender’s advantage A report released by the Delhi-based voluntary organisation Voluntary Health Association of India contains some startling statistics. `Every 155th minute a child below 16 years is raped in India. Every 13th hour a child below 10 years is raped. One out of every 10 children in India is being sexually abused at any given point of time.’ The report claims that there is a ‘silence about sex’ in India and this, coupled with cumbersome legal procedures to tackle child abuse cases, was making the problem more acute. According to the report, `a sexually abused child suffers four times -- at the time of the offence, while narrating the incident, during a medical examination and, finally, when the child has to face the courts’. This secondary victimisation of the victim, sometimes worse than the initial offence, forces many parents to abandon the pursuit of justice. The report says: `In India, knowledge about their bodies and sexuality is withheld from children. Since sex, as a subject, is taboo, and commonly held notions of izzat (morality) are very strongly ingrained, girls and boys who are being sexually victimised feel inhibited and find it hard to talk about the problems they are encountering.’ The chances of justice being meted out to the victim diminishes with the lengthy legal procedures, says the report. `The average time taken for a case to find its way from the lower courts to the Supreme Court can be between 10 and 15 years’. By the time the case comes up for initial hearing, most victims will probably not still be minors, the report says.
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