Second National Child Rights Research Fellowships awarded

The 59th Republic Day eve coincided with the announcement of the National Child Rights Research Fellowship awards for the year 2008. While the day is to be celebrated for being the 59th year of the promises of basic child rights, written in the Constitution of India, made to and by the children of India, the day also needs to be remembered for all the broken promises by the successive governments. Child rights issues are yet not political issues, and very far from becoming election issues. In this context the announcement of the National Child Rights Research Fellowships for 2007-08 by CRY-Child Rights and You assumes significance. The rationale for the initiative is that there is little of research in the area of childhood and Child Rights that are not driven by government programming priorities or by international donors, their worldviews and perceptions. There is a real need for information on child rights that could strengthen advocacy and effectively take Governments to tasks on broken promises.

Instituted by CRY, and in its second year, the Research Fellowships explore the principle of the 'best interest of the child' within the broad framework of justice for children. The initiative follows CRY's overall approach that prioritises those communities and issues that are underserved by both the State and traditional philanthropy. The initiative acknowledges the need for enabling opportunities to investigate the complex structures and networks within which childhood is lived and child rights are infringed or restored. It attempts to reach and engage with researchers from smaller towns and villages.

This year, special efforts were taken to expand the outreach of the Fellowship Programme to the states of the South and of the North East region. Overall, more than 200 proposals were received. Of them, more than 45 were in non-English languages. Based on criteria such as originality, alignment with CRY values, clarity of concept and method and quality of published material, the selection committee comprising Ms Ingrid Srinath, CEO, CRY, Ilina Sen, Dean, School of Culture, Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University and member of PUCL, Chattisgarh; Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of the Manipur-based Imphal Free Press; Krishna Deva Rao, Professor and Director of School of law, IGNOU, Delhi, agreed unanimously to award the fellowship for 2007-2008 to the following applicants:

Digambar Narzary: Against the backdrop of the ongoing ethnic conflict in the north east, Narzary, currently with the Nedan Foundation in Kokhrajar, Assam, will examine how children's development is impacted and the coping strategies of children living in 25 relief camps in the Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of  Assam's Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

V Pavan: A school teacher from Manganoor village in Andhra Pradesh's Mahboobnagar district, Pavan will focus on the problems faced by the Lambada tribal children and the challenges faced when ensuring their rights. He will also point to solutions and the role of society in ensuring them.

Arpita Mitra: Children's story books form the focus of her study. Currently pursuing an M.Phil at the Department of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mitra will explore the present scenario of children's story books in English and Hindi in Delhi for the age group three to 10.

Jaideep Hardikar is a journalist. Years of working on the farmer-suicide issue in Vidarbha in Maharashtra has compelled his research on this issue. Currently the Bureau Head (Nagpur) of the English daily, DNA (Daily News & Analysis), his study is on 'The inheritors of debt, burden and distress: what's happening with the kids in suicide-ravaged households in rural Vidarbha?'

Debolina Dutta and Oishik Sircar are human rights lawyers. They have worked with young people on the issues of gender and sexuality and have conducted workshops for the children of sex workers in Kolkata. Their study is titled 'We are foot soldiers: The children of Sonagachi and their experience of resisting discrimination and stigma.'

Speaking of this process, Dr D L Sheth, Sr Fellow and former director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and part of last year's Selection Committee, feels "it is an innovative programme in the area of research which allows the passion of advocacy to be strengthened by a corpus of solid information." The wide spectrum was another aspect Dr Sheth commented on. The range of backgrounds and perspectives -- from academics to journalism to grassroots experience "were equally matched by the varied backdrops and geographical contexts in which these child rights issues were being studied." Pradip Phanjoubam, member of the selection committee, felt that this process was very relevant today, particularly when issues related to the tribals and conflict were part of studies that concentrated on children. "This is very important in the context of the nine per cent growth - which actually leaves so many out", he said.

Ingrid Srinath, CRY CEO and chair of the selection committee, observes, "The marginalisation of children across communities and contexts is starkly revealed in the range of proposals received. So too is the lack of authentic information, especially children's own voices. CRY hopes these research fellowships will illuminate the least understood aspects of child rights violations, encourage greater emphasis on children's issues within the research community and enable committed individuals who would otherwise be unable to get support for their work".

In the Sharing Meeting, held from 23 to 25 January, 2008, the Research Fellows of 2007 shared their findings from their work. Falendra Kumar Sudan, Reader in Economics at Jammu University shared his study on Economic Implications of Armed Conflicts on Displaced Migrant Children: A Case Study of Purkhoo Camp in Jammu City. Haroon Mirani, a journalist from Jammu and Kashmir, put forth his findings from the study on the Half Orphans of Kashmir waiting for the fuller life. Dripta Piplai's report touched on the sensitive issue of linguistic human rights. Currently pursuing an M.Phil at the Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Piplai explored the endangered Linguistic Identity of the Rajbanshi Children of North Bengal. Sachin Jain, a freelance journalist, shared some interesting findings from his study that focused on Exclusion and Violation of Children's Right to Nutrition, focusing especially on the situation of the Sahariya tribal children. All information and insights gathered will be made open access and will be available to the broad audience of activists, academics, programmers and the general public from February 28, 2008.  It is hoped this will influence the course of the debate on child rights and the best interest principle.

CRY - now Child Rights and You, is India's leading advocate for child rights. Over 29 years, CRY has connected with Grassroot organizations, NGOs, communities, government and the media to eliminate the root causes of deprivation, exclusion, exploitation and abuse.

For further information:
Sumita Mehta: sumita.mehta@crymail.org
Madhura Kapdi: Madhura.kapdi@crymail.org