Children’s Day: A reminder on rights of children

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov.13 (EMN): Children’s Day is celebrated every year across India on November 14 with the objective to raise awareness on the rights, education, and welfare of children. The day is celebrated in honour of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, whose birthday falls on November14 and who was known to have been fond of children.

Although not an official holiday, on this day educational institutions celebrate Children’s Day with the teachers and school managements organising events.

Schemes for children

As per the law, any person under the age of 18 years is a child. The Ministry of Women and Child Development provides Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) with the objective to improve the nutritional and health status of preschool children 0-6 years of age group with following services of supplementary nutrition; health check-up; immunisation; referral services; early childhood care and pre-school education; and nutrition and health education.

IYCF (Infant and Young Child Feeding) was to bring about improvement in optimal feeding practices for infants and young children and raise awareness for achieving optimal feeding practices. ICDS functionaries are trained to generate awareness on IYCF.

Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) brings together multiple existing child protection schemes of the Ministry under one comprehensive umbrella and integrates additional interventions for protecting children and preventing harm. The categories of children covered under this scheme are children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. Services provided through ICPS institutional services and non institutional services, which is adoption. 

Poshan Abhiyan is another scheme which lay emphasis on nutritional status of adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers and children from 0-6 years, while its objectives are to prevent and reduce stunting in children (0-6 years); prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years); reduce the prevalence of anemia among young children (6-59 months); reduce the prevalence of anemia among women and adolescent girls in the age group of 15-49 years; and reduce low birth weight (LBW).

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), jointly initiated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Education, addresses the issue of the declining child sex ratio image (CSR) and the objectives of this initiative were prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

As per the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the PM CARES for Children Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 29, 2021, for the children. It aims to support children who have lost both the parents or legal guardian or adoptive parents or surviving parent to COVID-19 pandemic during the period starting from March 11, 2020.

The objective of the scheme was to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children in a sustained manner and enable their well being through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support on reaching 23 years of age.

Out of the 9042 applications received from 33 states and 611 districts, 4345 applications have been approved from 31 states and 557 districts. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, out of the total 27 children from Nagaland, 14 children has been shortlisted for the scheme with eight from Dimapur district, one from Kohima and five from Peren.

Children benefits under the PM CARES scheme are financial support with an amount of INR 10 lakh for all children; support for boarding and lodging; assistance for school education; assistance for higher education; health insurance cover of INR 5 lakh; and Scholarship of INR 20,000 per child per annum for all school going children (Class 1 – 12).

Children Rights

Right to Education under Article 21– A, Right to Life under Article 21, and Right Against Exploitation under Article 23 and 24.