Tougher penalty proposed for child rights violators
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KATHMANDU, JAN 13 - The government plan to introduce a rights-based bill modifying the welfare-based Children Act-1992 has gone in an indeterminate state with a delayed process.
The Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) in coordination with various stakeholders had recommended amendment to several legal provisions in March.
“The proposed amendment intends to address 19 kinds of violence against children,” said Dharma Raj Shrestha, Executive Director of the CCWB. “A manifold hike (in monetary terms) in the penalty for the guilty has been proposed.”
Shrestha added the bill was forwarded to the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) in April. The CCWB says it is unknown about the cause of the delay in finalising the bill.
The present Act recognises the under-16 population as juvenile while the threshold is 18 years in international practice.
The amendment proposes its extension to 18 years. The CCWB has also proposed penalty for those indifferent to crime against children even after being informed about it.
Laxmi Prasad Tripathi, chief of the Children's Section at the MoWCSW, said provisions contradicting the International Child Rights Convention-1990 (ICRC) would be modified. The ICRC states that each party state has to protect children's rights to help guarantee their basic needs and create opportunities for their empowerment.
There are basic emphases on the ICRC regarding the government practice of rights-based policies for children. Equal treatment on grounds of gender, caste and economic well-being has been emphasised. People violating these rights will be brought to book, said Tripathi. Certain penalty has been provisioned for each kind of child rights violation.
“Given the increasing cases of rights abuse, the amendment is the current need,” he said. “It's an attempt to make the judiciary more child-friendly.”
The MoWCSW is said to have drafted the amended Act and but the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ) has delayed it finalisation. “We have been waiting for the MoLJ response for the last six months,” Tripathi said. “We have not received any message on its status.”
Every right spelt out in the ICRC is inherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child. The bill intends to protect children's rights by setting standards in healthcare and education as well as legal, civil and social services.
Posted on: 2011-01-13 10:50
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