The Importance Of Child Rights In India

Children constitute the most vulnerable section of society and are considered a supremely important asset of our nation. Children, in the past, were not regarded as holders of rights; they were seen as possessions of adults who were the right holders. They were highly neglected, and providing basic things like home to abandoned children and education were seen as charity rather than being recognized as a state duty. Gradually as a result of years of research on the topic of child care and protection, and work of government as well as non-governmental organizations in raising awareness about child rights, there has been a great positive shift in the way children are seen and treated in a society. Now, children are not only seen as individuals with rights but the fact that special care and protection needs to be provided to them as a matter of their right is well recognized. India has also passed various municipal legislations in order to confirm with various UN guidelines and meet its obligations under various international treaties. Subsequent to the Beijing Rules , of which India was a member, Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 was passed which provided for a separate justice system for juveniles. In 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter, “CRC”) was adopted by the UN and India was one of the states to ratify the convention. CRC puts forth all the fundamental rights of the child, whether civil, political, economic, social or cultural. In order to comply with CRC India passed Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 (hereinafter, “JJA, 2000”) and repealed the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986.

The most important change that the new legislation brought was that it identified ‘Juveniles in conflict with law’ and ‘Juvenile in need of care...

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...such an officer should deal with juveniles in conflict with law. But very few police stations actually have such qualified personnel and rights of children are constantly violated to the extent that children are beaten up, sexually abused and made to stay in lock ups for days. In a country woven with caste based politics, poverty, illiteracy the issue of child rights has still not gained enough attention resulting in scarce resources, minimal infrastructure, and inadequate services to address the issue.

“We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer ‘Tomorrow,’ his name is today.”

- Gabriela Mistral