By Our Reporter
Shillong, Sep 25: The Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Monday shot off a letter to Social Welfare Minister, Paul Lyngdoh seeking the latter’s intervention into the anomalies and deficiencies which has hampered the functioning of the office of the Child Protection Services
VPP general secretary, Ricky AJ Syngkon mentioned that the particular office which is a centrally sponsored scheme started in 2012 in order to protect the rights of children as per the provisions of various Acts such as Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1986 etc. where the fund sharing pattern is 90:10 for the eight northeastern states and two Himalayan states.
“However, it is quite surprising that the Child Care Institutions are facing a financial crisis with regards to medical care, school fees and transportation, thus affecting the children and the staff in rendering effective services to the children,” he said.
According to him, the contribution made by individual sponsors is a source of fund and a reason for sustaining government run Child Care Institutions or Homes and ensuring that the children get their ration on a regular basis.
Syngkon said that the officers and staff working under Child Protection Services have not received their salary for the past four months besides, there is no incentive provided to them in the form of social security benefits for the yeoman services rendered by them to ensure the well being of children.
“It is learnt that the major contributing factor to the above mentioned inadequacies has been the non receipt of funds from the Central government and one of the possible reasons may be the irresponsibility of the concerned department of the state to fulfill the requirements needed to ensure smooth operation of the scheme,” the VPP general secretary said.
He urged upon the social welfare minister to immediately intervene to the matter which is of grave concern for the children.