Professional Documents
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Rights of Children
Rights of Children
Article 24 of the Indian constitution provides that no child below the age of 14yrs can be
employed in factories, mines or hazardous place of work. However, new laws have been
made against child labor, which provide that along with the above mentioned, a child
cannot be employed as help domestically, in shops, and restaurants etc, and puts a
complete ban on child labor.
Besides the above mentioned rights/articles, there are various provisions of law, which
though do not talk about special rights of children in India, but along with adults, children
also get security for their general rights.
The UN has been talking about the rights of children and has held conventions on
children’s rights. India has become a co-signatory of UN Charter of Children’s Rights.
Some of the important provisions of this charter are as follows:
Besides this, Article 17 – provides that every child has the right to access to information
and materials and it is also the right of a child to be protected from information and
materials which is harmful to him/her.
The UN Charter on Child’s Rights was created, recognizing the exceptional vulnerability
of child and it was accepted that the essential needs of children should be given topmost
priority in the allocation of resources at all times. It also emphasized on the importance of
the family and the need to create an environment that is conducive to the healthy growth
of a child. It advocated concrete public action and sensitivity on the part of all members
of society and government agencies, at the local, regional and national level, to ensure
protection of children’s rights.
In India, about 1/3 of the population is children. Although we acknowledge the fact that it
is the child which is the future of our country, we have not been able to do anything
significant to protect their rights. The areas of concern related to children and their rights
are:
1) Child Labor
2) Child trafficking and sexual abuse – This is one of the greatest concerns of Indian
society at present. Child trafficking is increasing in our country at an alarming
rate. According to statistics, in the brothels of Mumbai, of the two lakh
prostitutes, around 40, 000 girls are below the age of 18years. Besides this, we
also have practices like Devdasi, quite popular in the states of Maharashtra and
Karnataka, whereby minor girls are married off to God and forced into
prostitution.
Another area of concern is the increasing tourism in India and sexual abuse, both of boys
and girls, by the tourists. It has been found that at times, due to acute poverty, the parents
send their children to middle men, who create a chain with (mostly) foreign tourists and
compel the child to indulge in sexual activities.
According to Article 45 of the Indian Constitution, every child is entitled to free and
compulsory education till the age of 14yrs.
The Constitution of India, the fundamental law of the country, came into effect on
26th January 1950. It provides a protective umbrella for the rights of children. These
rights include :-
In addition of these basic rights, there are certain fundamental rights especially for
children. These rights are necessary because of their physical and mental immaturity; the
children are especially vulnerable and need special protection.
Article 24 states that ‘ no child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to
work in any factory, or any mine, or engage in any hazardous employment’.
Article 39 (9)(e) states that ‘ it is the duty of the state to secure that children of tender age
are not abused and forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to their age
and strength’.
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Article 39(f) states that the ' state should ensure that children are given opportunities and
facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity.'
Section 24 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, makes the guardian duty-bound to
look in to the support, health and education of the ward.
Rule 133 of the Islamic Law states that every man is bound to maintain his children and
grandchildren till the time of weaning. After the time of weaning, in the absence of
property, through which they can be maintained, the children and the grandchildren shall
be maintained :
(a) In the case of sons and grandsons who have not attained puberty and unmarried girls,
by the father; and if the father is poor; by the mother; if she is rich, and if both father and
mother are poor, then by the nearest grandparent- paternal or maternal if they are rich.
Such maintenance is subject to reimbursement against the person liable to maintain.
(b) In the case of major children, excluding married daughter disabled on account of
some disease or physical or mental infirmity, by the father only, but if both the father and
mother are rich then by both of them in proportion of 2/3: 1/3.
(c) In the case of illegitimate sons who have not attained puberty and legitimate
unmarried daughters, by the mother only.
Under the Juvenile Justice ( Care and Protection of Children ) Act, 2000, the
competent authority which makes an order for sending a neglected juvenile or a
delinquent juvenile to a juvenile home or a special home or a fit institution may make an
order requiring the parent or other person liable to maintain the juvenile to contribute to
his maintenance, if be able to do so, in the prescribed manner.
(i) Only the parents or guardians can give a child in adoption and the person adopting
must have the right to take and be lawfully capable of taking a son or daughter in
adoption.
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This Act provides that a person may be appointed Guardian in relation to a minor
for its welfare. In doing so the court has to consider matters like age, religion, sex of the
child, capacity and character of the proposed guardian, nearness in relation, relationship
between the two, deceased parents' wishes if any, and child's own preferences, if capable
of forming any. Some of its clauses are that a guardian cannot be appointed for a minor
married girl whose husband is fit and capable of being her guardian and a minor whose
property is under the superintendence of the Court of Wards is competent to appoint a
guardian and a minor whose father is alive and fit to be the guardian in the opinion of the
court. Mother gets preference over the father in case of illegitimate children.
(iii) National Plan For SAARC Decade of the Girl Child 1991-2000
This plan identified three major goals :
(i) survival and protection of the girl child and safe motherhood
(ii) overall development of the girl child
(iii) special protection for vulnerable girl children in need of care and protection.
A large number of children in India still live much below the standard set by the
Constitution, national and international law. They suffer from poverty, diseases, famine,
and war, and they also suffer from acts and omissions by their own caretakers, guardians,
and parents. India continues to have the highest number of child labourers globally. There
are more than 500,000 street children nationwide exposed to violation and exploitation.
Education is far from universal.
The continuous decline of sex ratio has been a major cause of concern among the
socially conscious demographers and policy makers. Girls are consistently denied equal
opportunities to attend and complete primary schooling. Hundreds and thousands of girls
are trafficked and used for prostitution in brothels in cities. The phenomenon of the sale
of children is universal. An obstacle in realizing the rights of the child is the debt burden
facing third-world countries like India.
A major obstacle in the realizing of child rights is the low awareness of rights and
laws. Making child rights a reality is possible only when laws relating to children are
known to everyone, right from the implementation authorities to the parents and the
victims. In most cases, the deprived children are not even aware that their rights are being
violated. Also, children need to be made aware of the increasing menace of HIV/AIDS.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has become an increasing threat to the life of children in India.
It is a huge obstacle in the way of the child's right to survival and development.
Courts also play an important role in promoting the rights of the children and have
ensured the implementation of progressive laws on behalf of the children. There is an
urgent need to introduce health education. The 93rd Constitutional Amendment has been
passed to make education a fundamental right.. Every state will now have to enact a
comprehensive law to implement the provision in the amendment.
The best guarantee that the government will take its responsibilities seriously is
when all sectors of society become involved in the genuine national movement. As the
implications of child rights and the principle of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
start to permeate society, attitudes, assumptions, and values will correspondingly change.
And with greater community awareness comes greater involvement, leading to a
powerful, if informal, labour inspectorate - of families and neighbours, strangers and
friends.