No full-fledged child rights panel yet

SHILLONG: The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has remained non- functional despite the appointment of the Chairperson, Meena Kharkongor on January 27.
The Government is yet to constitute the full Commission resulting in undue delay in its proper functioning.
In the absence of a full Commission, Kharkongor still continues to be the member of State Commission  for Women. However, the post will be de-notified soon.
An official dealing with the matter said that the Commission with the Chairperson alone could not function since seven members will have to be appointed.
“At first, we are setting up the office for the Chairperson and subsequently, the members for the Commission will be selected”, the official added.
According to the official, the Government had in the past received many applications for the posts of members, but more names will be included before finally selecting seven members.     With a spurt in the cases of rights violations of children, the task of the Commission will be to analyze existing laws and policies to assess the compliance with the convention on child rights and undertake inquiries and produce reports on any aspect of policy or practice affecting children.