By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 16: The state government is finally coming up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for children sent outside the state by individuals and groups for educational purposes.
The Chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Agatha Sangma met a couple of Cabinet ministers and briefed them about the SOP which is being prepared.
Insisting that an SOP must be in place, she said the government is often unaware when children are taken outside and it learns about them only when an incident occurs.
Agatha said the SOP will help the government know the conditions and the schools where children will be sent for studies.
The importance of the SOP was realised earlier this year when two children from Meghalaya died while over 20 others were taken ill due to food poisoning during their stay at the Gokula Educational Trust in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, the Commission has expressed concern over the increasing cases of crime against women and children in the state.
Agatha said the situation is alarming and the Commission has taken the issue quite seriously. The Commission is conducting sensitisation programmes in schools to teach them about domestic violence, good touch and bad touch etc, she said.
She further stated that more cases are being reported as there is extensive use of social media. Nowadays, things go viral very quickly, she added.
She stressed the need to examine the kind of content children are being exposed to on social media.
