In a day-long seminar by SOS Children’s Villages of India participants discussed a child’s right to a family
What could be a more ideal time to discuss about a child’s rights to a family when abandoned baby Falak is still struggling for her life? Even if she survives there is no knowing what her fate would be. On the other end of the spectrum is the case of the Indian couple in Norway, whose children were taken away by the country’s childcare agency alleging “improper care”. In order to understand the current scenario of alternative care for children living without parental care in India, SOS Children’s Villages of India organised a day-long national seminar on A Child’s Right to a Family.
Both parents and foster homes or care givers have a responsibility towards the well-being of a child, said Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Shantha Sinha, inaugurating the seminar. With a child unable to raise its voice against any abuse, it is the responsibility taken by a family, group, school or institution that needs to be properly implemented, she added.
In a study titled India-National Child Vulnerability Situation Analysis Report (2008) done by SOS to assess the situation of orphan and vulnerable children in the country it was found that at present India has approximately 422 million children. Nationally, 83 per cent of them are below 18 years and live with both their parents, 11 per cent live with their mothers, 2 per cent live with their fathers and the remaining 4 per cent live with neither parent. The proportion of children who have experienced death of both parents increases with age and stands at 10 per cent for children aged 15-17 years. The child population below 18 years constitutes more than 41 per cent of the total population for the year 2001.
“As the country is developing, both socially as well as economically, the needs of parentless children are constantly changing,” said Rakesh Jinsi, secretary general, SOS Children’s Villages of India. “While at the time of independence, children largely needed care, due to loss of families, these needs have changed to additional situations such as abandonment, war, terrorism, urbanisation, new health challenges like cancer, HIV etc. Such children will need different types of care customised to suit their specific situations. Thus our entire focus should be on continuously improving the quality of care provided through these alternative methods.”
The seminar was attended by representatives of civil society organisations, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the ministry of women and child Development among others.
Rakesh Kumar
