GUWAHATI, March 6: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in coordination with the State Child Protection Society (SCPC), Assam (Department of Women and Child Development), organised a state-level conference on child rights to deliberate on key issues relating to child safety, protection and welfare.
Presiding over the conference organised at Administrative Staff College of Assam here on Friday, Partha Pratim Mazumdar, secretary, SCPC, emphasised that child protection requires a comprehensive, preventive and coordinated approach involving schools, families, communities, law enforcement and welfare institutions.
He stressed the need for creating a safe and secured ecosystem for children of Assam as a collective obligation of all the stakeholders including various concerned government functionaries and the civil society.
Highlighting rising concerns such as issues of drugs and substance use amongst children and illicit trafficking, child trafficking and POCSO cases, Mazumdar called for robust cyber safety protocols on digital platforms governing the content children consume.
He emphasised the need for stronger parental controls, monitoring of children’s digital footprints and responsible use of online platforms. Referring to the ease of user-generated content and unrestricted internet access, he underlined the importance of consent, informed decision-making and awareness on what to share, what not to share and with whom.
He also called for active community-level engagement by parents and school managements at the colony and school level to address child abuse and preventing under reporting of such incidents.
Paresh Shah, senior technical expert, Division Head for Special Cells and Programmes, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in his opening remarks, stated that the NCPCR is fully dedicated and committed to the protection and promotion of child rights.
He highlighted some of the achievements of NCPCR in the last eight months, during which over 31,000 pending cases were resolved, nearly 2,800 children were rescued and more than 1,800 children were repatriated through the GHAR initiative of NCPCR.
Shyamal Prasad Saikia, chairperson of Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, highlighted the emerging challenges affecting children, particularly substance abuse and trafficking of children, bullying in schools and the heightened vulnerability of children with special needs.
He stressed the importance of forming school-level committees, assigning dedicated teachers for child-related issues, strengthening monitoring in sensitive school spaces, and ensuring strict compliance with inclusive education norms, including the mandatory appointment of special educators and counsellors in all schools to ensure equal protection and support to every child.
