New Delhi, February 23
There appears to be hope in sight for millions of children below the age of 18 in India, fighting for their fundamental rights to health, education and safety.

The long-pending child rights commission today got rolling with the appointment of its first office-bearer, the chairperson. Besides this, the government will also review all existing child-related laws and launch a website for missing children of the country.

The government today recorded progress on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, a statutory body set up to ensure the proper enforcement of child rights in the country and appointed Magsaysay award winner Shanta Sinha as its chairperson.

As per Sinha, the commission, with its headquarters in Delhi, is expected to start functioning “very soon”.

The commission, set on the lines of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women, is designed to ensure proper enforcement of children’s rights and effective implementation of laws and programmes related to them.

The commission will have widespread powers to look into all matters relating to children in a holistic way and also examine and review existing safeguards provided under the Constitution or any law in force for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation.

It will also examine factors that inhibit the rights of most vulnerable children, affected by terrorism, communal violence, riots, natural disaster, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, maltreatment, torture and exploitation, pornography and prostitution and recommend appropriate measures.

The newly-appointed chairperson told The Tribune that the body’s priorities will be to ensure that children’s fundamental rights like education, health, social and personal security are well-protected.

“ In our country issues like the right to education, health, safety are not very satisfactory as far as children are concerned. Close to 42 per cent of the country’s population are youngsters below the age of 18 and of them at least 70 per cent require to be protected in terms of health, education and safety,” she said.