Article Source : The Times of India

Author : Sakina Yusuf Khan

Date of Issue : Apr 1 2006

Title of Article : Q&A: 'Why isn't child rights a state priority?

Details : After working for 28 years with thousands of marginalised communities in 20 states across India, Child Relief and You or CRY, as it is better known, has changed its name to Child Rights and You. CRY CEO Ingrid Srinath speaks to Sakina Yusuf Khan about child rights in India:

Why did CRY choose to change its name?

The change in name is a consequence of the change in our approach. We changed our approach because we found that relief works only up to a point.

It delivers immediate benefits to children who are in dire need, but it does not provide long-term solutions. For that we have to look at the root cause of the deprivation.

If a child is not going to school it could be because of gender bias, problems of livelihood or migration. We have to address these issues with the community and local governance so that the solution is created by them, owned by them and therefore seen through by them. We found that this approach works.

What needs to be done to improve child rights in India?

We need to replace our piece-meal, scheme-based, relief-oriented approach with a holistic one. Today, government cannot make any policy without considering its impact on environment, women's rights, Dalit rights, tribal rights, labour rights.

Why doesn't child rights figure in this list? Look at the public outcry when a murderer goes scot-free. Why is there no outrage at 100 million Indian children remaining hungry, unschooled and vulnerable to the worst forms of abuse and exploitation?

As someone involved with resource mobilisation what do you think of society's response to children's cause?

There isn't enough data on this, the best that we have suggests that we give 0.38 per cent of our income per capita, low compared to over 1 per cent in UK and more than 2 per cent in the US, but we are a poorer country.

Besides, a lot of Indian contributions are in kind which is difficult to measure. But children's education is a cause with the most widespread appeal.

How is the reform agenda impacting child rights in India?

There's a decline in the quantum of public services  "government schools, healthcare centres" with a direct impact on children.

Children are worst affected with the casualisation of labour and lack of secure livelihood. Whenever there's a crunch on family income the first to get affected is the girlchild.

CRY plans to present a charter of demands to the president. What are these demands?

First and foremost a universal definition of a child (at present, it varies from law to law and from ministry to ministry), extending the mid-day meal scheme to out-of-school children and a ban on all forms of child labour including agriculture, non-hazardous industries and the unorganised sector