Right to Education and its major inadequacy: A perspective based out of social work practice.

The minimal technology of schooling consists of: buildings and spaces, furniture and textbooks, teachers and curricula, routines and rituals(Kumar 2007). Now any assessment of the educational quality of a school would rely on the examination of its student teacher ratio, methods of teaching, academic achievement of its students, the extent of land on which it is situated, the size of its classrooms, the possession of laboratories, a library, a games room, and books and materials that go into them, and it provisions of toilets and drinking water. Though each of this subject demands necessary attention and each would require a separate essay in itself, I will focus upon a completely different aspect of education that requires special attention. 

 

My own brush with child abuse at the age of 14 and my accident of professional choice afforded me the opportunity of working closely with a a group of children living in a slum area of Guwahati.  The Hafiznagar No2. slum area, located in the Bamunimaidam Area of East Guwahati, Assam, has been an informal settlement for more than 40 years now. My initial contact with the community in 2011 revealed that the area had more than 260 settlers, of which 121 were children, most of them migrants from nearby villages of Assam, who had come in search of better livelihood opportunities. However, since the inhabitants had settled along a 900 metres railway track, the railway authorities would evict the establishments each year by breaking and burning down the shanties, only to have the people re-settle back in that same area due to lack of viable alternatives. Year after year, the same eviction drives, coupled with the stress of dealing with abject poverty and social isolation resulted in the people losing faith in any kind of organized living and establishment which finally led into the conversion of this area into a deprived “ghetto” .

 

“Ghettoization” had given rise to acute alcoholism, gambling, substance abuse, rape and other kinds of anti-social activities like smuggling, robbery, murder etc. The entire area had been unceremoniously converted into a dumping ground of waste materials from the city, as most of the young men and women living in that area took to rag-picking as a source of livelihood. Since the area had no regularised human waste sanitation systems or water supply, the area turned into a breeding ground for diseases like diarrhoea, jaundice, hepatitis B, gastritis.

 

All the children were severely undernourished posing a huge threat to their growth and survival. Due to the complete absence of water and sanitation, all the children often become victims of some kind of illness mostly diarrhoea, ring worms, scabies and jaundice. Apart from all these issues, 68 children out of 74 from the age group of 6 to 14, were engaged in some kind of Labour- rag-picking, garage, domestic help and vegetable vending and were therefore out of school. This meant that 89% of children belonging to the school going age were out-of-school.

 

Academic probing, by my team of social workers through administration of a set of open-ended questionnaires, revealed some of the reasons as to why such a huge number of  these children were not going to school. The findings revealed that while some children never went to school due to the general lack of the culture of education in the community(all the parents of the children living in the community were either uneducated or illiterate) and of the lack of motivation in the family and the neighbourhood, others had dropped out because of the recurrence of corporal punishment inflicted upon children by teachers. Testimonies like "The teachers beat us up till their wooden rulers would crack" were common in the narratives of the community children. I shall touch upon each of these reason in detail, in the later part of this article. 

 

With financial assistance from Smile Foundation India and a group of Siksha Karmis from the Jyoti Kendra Programme, we managed to mainstream all the out-of-school children through a period of three years(from 2011-2014). However, enrolment into schools did not necessarily mean attainment of the purpose of right to education, as espoused in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009. A major challenge, post mainstreaming, has been the retention of these children in school. While it was found out that there were many reasons for dropping out, post enrolment, child marriage being one of them, the primary reason had always been underachievement in academics and the ensuing demotivation.

 

An internal study conducted by us, brought to fore some of the immediate reasons that have kept children belonging to the Hafiznagar No2 slum community from performing progressively in their academic pursuit and dropping out thereafter. 

 

First, most of the children mainstreamed were earlier school dropouts. These children were later enrolled into classes, incongruous to their actual age. For example, a 10 year old child who had been out of school for the last 4 years had to be mainstreamed in class two, where most of his peers belonged to the age group of 6 to 7 year. This disparity in the age group, coupled with the difference in physical appearance (obviously a 10 year old would look much older that a 7 year old) created a psychological complex in the mind of the later mainstreamed children. This perpetuated his inability to adapt to the social environment of his classroom leaving him isolated. This isolation lead to behavioural problems in children who, most often than not, turned out to be bullies perpetuating violence on their younger peers. This behavioural aberration leads to diversion from academic pursuit.

 

Second, for a child who has enjoyed unrestricted freedom (out of school children belonging to poorer sections of the society generally enjoy the independence of working, roaming around in the streets at will etc with no sanction for the same by their guardians), without being accustomed to any kind of discipline , find it extremely difficult to readjust themselves to the routine that a mainstream school demands. This resulted in low attendance and frequent absenteeism leading to eventual dropping out. 

 

Third, a strange kind of provincialism characterises the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan schooling system. While private schools employ a variety of up-to-date technological innovations, the teachers of government schools use extremely traditional forms of teaching without the application of innovative methods that could motivate children towards the pursuit of academic excellence. Use of computers and AV are things that are unheard of in Government schools. These schools are also devoid of libraries and play areas. Though the Smart School Programme of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has reached some districts, most schools are yet to be upgraded under this scheme. This incompleteness fails to retain the attention of students leading to low educational outcomes.

 

Fourth, the recurrent use of corporal punishment by teachers is a major reason why children drop out of school. Despite the ban on corporal punishment and cruelty towards children under IPC 83, Ministry of Women and Child guidelines 2010, Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, of the 100 school-going children from the Hafiznagar No2 slum community, 52 children(from the age of 6 to 18) have admitted to have faced corporal punishment in their schools. The trauma has had a negative impact on the child's mind. Moreover, the public humiliation associated with corporal punishment compelled them to drop out of school. 

 

Fifth, the environment at home is not suitable to support educational pursuit. The parents(both the father and the mother) of all the children living in Hafiznagar No2 community are illiterate. Therefore, there is a complete void in the culture of educational attainment in the community at large. The quest for survival becomes more important than the pursuit of education, which is considered to be a waste of time in so far as it takes many years for its accomplishment. Guardians of these children feel that if their children went to school they would be unable to share the economic burden of the family, which can only be fulfilled if children start to work early in life. 

 

Sixth, the infrastructure at home inhibits educational achievement. The children of Hafiznagar No 2, live in one-roomed shanties without any natural lighting or electricity. This stalls the child's ability to study or complete his homework after school. Recurrent inability of children to complete their homework attracts a variety of sanctions from their teachers, which eventually leads to disillusionment and finally to dropping out.

 

 

Also, gender plays a huge role in education. While male children are expected to earn money for the family, a noticeable reason for the girl child dropping out of school has been due to the pressure of marriage, exerted on them, by their parents. As soon a girl child attains puberty, the parents are in a rush to get her married off. The reasons for child marriage range from economic liability of maintaining a girl, to the fear of public shame in case the girl child were to get pregnant out of a wedlock. From 2011-2014, six girl children from the Hafiznagar No2 slum community have dropped out due to child marriage.

 

Again, the children of Hafiznagar No2 belong to migrant population. Most of their parents had moved into Guwahati in search of better livelihood opportunities. This movement was mostly propelled by displacement due to flooding and loss of traditional livelihoods in their villages. However, high rents and steep cost of property in Guwahati left no other options for the people but to settle in empty stretches of land near industrial areas. The inhabitants of Hafiznagar No2 slum community have settled upon a 900 metres stretch of land alongside a railway track, belonging to  the Indian Railways. This settlement is viewed as illegal by the Railways and, year after year, the Railway authorities have conducted eviction drives. During these eviction drives most of the properties of the inhabitants are destroyed, including the school books of children. The child is reduced to a state of homelessness, post these demolition drives. A homeless child losses all interest in schooling. The trauma of witnessing these violent eviction drives leaves a scar in the minds of the young. Moreover, with the loss of all his educational stationary the child is left with no other option than to drop out.

 

Additionally, childhood malnutrition in the Hafiznagar No2 slum area impedes educational attainment. A nutrition camp conducted in collaboration with the North East Nutrition and Dietetic Association (NENDA) in July 2015, at the Hafiznagar No2 slum community with a sample of 72 children, revealed that 80% of the  children were found to be malnourished (severe-moderate) and the rest 20%  being mild-moderate, and that most of them were found to be anaemic. Irregular dietary practices, long stretches of hunger and maternal malnutrition are some of the reasons for malnourishment in children of the community. Undernutrition in childhood are related to scholastic backwardness (Tizard 1974) as the cognitive and emotional development of children are delayed due to the same. Children in Hafiznagar No2 have dropped out due to slow learning and failure in examinations.

 

 

Lastly and most importantly, the behavioural issue of guardians have a major impact on the educational outcomes of children. 100 % children from the age of 6 to 18, living in the Hafiznagar No2 slum community, have witnessed violent fights between their parents. The children have expressed a sense of fear and anger whenever they witnessed such domestic violence at home. Moreover, the recurrent use of physical violence on children by their parents, as a means of sanction has affected the mental health of children who have expressed various levels of post trauma disorder. Out of the 121 children of the Hafiznagar No2 slum community, 60 children have reported physical and emotional abuse by parents. Severe slapping(14%), pulling of hair/ ears (14%), throwing of heavy utensils(14%), beating with sticks/rods(13%),  kicking(11%), punching (9%), forcefully dragged out of homes(9%), gagging(9%), punching(9%) and locking inside a room(8%) were some of the various kinds of abuses faced by children from their parents. Maltreated children perform lower on academic outcomes such as reading ability. Children in Hafiznagar No2 community have displayed problems in reading in writing, post mainstreaming.

 

 

From the above observations, it is amply clear that children from the Hafiznagar No2 slum community face various forms of adversities in their proximal environment like their immediate family and school environments. As a result of such adversities, children undergo tremendous stresses that in turn affect their mental health thereby affecting educational outcomes. The clear understanding of the correlation between mental health of a child and his ability to perform well in academics can lead to a sustainable solution to the problem of underachievement in children.

 

A major inadequacy in the Sarva Siksha Education Programme is the lack of effective interaction between the two microsystems that affect the child’s life, namely his family and his school. Continuous interactions between the child’s school and the home could create a mesosystem wherein the child’s parents and teachers could provide required support to address the varied issues faced by the child. Considering the fact that most of the children attending Sarba Siksha Abiyan(SSA) schools come from backgrounds characterized by economic poverty, illiterate or uneducated parentage, abusive home environment, it is doubly incumbent upon the schools to take the additional responsibility of reaching out to the families of such children so as to provide necessary support required for generating academic excellence. For example, a child who faces the pressure of marriage from parents could report it to the school counsellor, who in turn could take progressive measures for the protection of the child, either by discussion with parents or with the help of professional child protection agencies.

 

Most of the private Schools in Assam have appointed trained Counsellors to reach out to children who have social difficulties in their family and school environments. This helps children to cope up with any kind of mental trauma that could affect their academic performance. In fact, schools like the Assam Valley School have created specialized Child Welfare Officers that monitor every child’s Protection related issues like corporal punishment, mental harassment, sexual harassment among others. However, though lot of public spending has been done, none of the Sarba Siksha Abiyan Schools in Assam have Counsellors or Counselling Units for its children.

 

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 provides a justiciable legal framework that entitles all children between the ages of 6-14 years free and compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education. It provides for children’s right to an education of equitable quality, based on principles of equity and non- discrimination. Most importantly, it provides for children’s right to an education that is free from fear, stress and anxiety.

 

Therefore, there is an immediate need for the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan(SSA) Scheme to introduce a segment that specifically deals with the mental health aspect of child development, with adequate resources allocated towards the same. Exploited child labourers, children who have been subject to recurrent physical and mental harassment at home and in school, require a support mechanism that can build resilience and help the child deal with emotional pains that comes out of fear, stress and anxiety. This could go a long way in addressing the bigger problem of underachievement and dropping out rate of children in Government schools.  In fact, this component should be one of the indicators required to measure the quality of education provided in schools, an aspect I wished to elaborate upon in the first part of this article.

 

 

The need to address inadequacies in retention, residual access, particularly of un-reached children, and the questions of quality are the most compelling reasons for the insertion of Article 21-A in the Constitution of India and the passage of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 in the Parliament.

 

Further, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 places a compulsion on the State to ensure that no child from the weaker sections or disadvantaged groups is discriminated against in any manner or prevented from pursuing and completing elementary education. The unavailability of professional mental health experts in the Sarba Siksha Abiyan Schooling system pushes to oblivion a major concern amongst children coming from marginalized and unstructured backgrounds. Any further indifference towards this crucial component of education would enhance the incidence of low educational outcomes and dropping out rate amongst children going to Government schools in Assam. This would go against the very principles of the Rights of Children, as espoused in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.

 

The principle of “Right of children to free and compulsory education” entails unrestricted access to education for all children. This access to education can be made “unrestricted” if proactive measures are undertaken to identify and, thereby, address some of crucial inadequacies in the policies and their subsequent implementation.

 

Miguel Queah

27th March, 2016

(Published in Voice of Matree)

*The references are not displayed due to technical issues associated with posting from an IPad. 

Islands of urban deprivation : A story from the children of Guwahati City

The vision of representative legislators, the ingenuity of civil administrators and the modishness of development planners have transformed Guwahati into one of the “most promising” cities of India, if not its urbs prima. The strategic advantage of it geopolitics coupled with rapid economic growth holds propitious hopes of it being transformed into a multidimensional hub of international trade, politics, tourism, et al. The assuring narratives of its increasingly valuable real estate, an expanding millionaires club, a competitive consumerist middle class and the ascending tourist footfalls conjure up an exciting imagery of a soon-to-be world class city, tucked in the heartland of India’s northeast.

In vaudevilles of urban development lie certain facets that go unnoticed given the distracting pageantries that come along with it. The lustrous shopping centers, expensive private schools, high-rising apartment enclaves, abundant luxury cars, exquisite cuisine hubs, intellectual coffee table conversations, international culture festivals, and multilateral conferences gather enough material to be content with the idea of a good city living. However, a lifting of the veil would reveal a world that is completely diametric to the shining story of Guwahatian development. As clichéd as it may sound, the urban narrative of this city brings along with it tales of unsafe migration, homelessness, poverty and abuse.

Most slum areas of Guwahati city are unfit for human habitation. Located either in unorganized narrow alleys or along perilous railway tracks, these overcrowded human settlements completely lack the primary social goods required for survival. Unlike organized communities, slum areas are bereft of the conditions of living that are mandatory for the protection of children living within the same.

My accident of professional choice afforded me the opportunity of working closely with such a slum community in Guwahati.  The Hafiznagar Slum Area No2., located in the Bamunimaidam Area of East Guwahati, Assam, has been an informal settlement for more than 40 years now. My initial contact with the community in 2011 revealed that the area had more than 260 settlers, of which 117 were children, most of them migrants from nearby villages of Assam, who had come in search of better livelihood opportunities. However, since the inhabitants had settled along a 900 metres railway track, the railway authorities would evict the establishments each year by breaking and burning down the shanties, only to have the people re-settle back in that same area due to lack of viable alternatives. Year after year, the same eviction drives, coupled with the stress of dealing with abject poverty and social isolation resulted in the people losing faith in any kind of organized living and establishment which finally led into the conversion of this area into a deprived “ghetto”.

 

“Ghettoization” had given rise to acute alcoholism, gambling, substance abuse, rape and other kinds of anti-social activities like smuggling, robbery, murder etc. The entire area had been unceremoniously converted into a dumping ground of waste materials from the city, as most of the young men and women living in that area took to rag-picking as a source of livelihood. Since the area had no regularised human waste sanitation systems or water supply, the area turned into a breeding ground for diseases like diarrhoea, jaundice, hepatitis B, gastritis.

 

All the children were severely undernourished posing a huge threat to their growth and survival. Due to the complete absence of water and sanitation, all the children often become victims of some kind of illness mostly diarrhoea, ring worms, scabies and jaundice. 67 out of 117 were engaged in some kind of Labour- rag-picking, garage, domestic help and vegetable vending. All the children were subject to some forms of violence within the community, either inside the family or outside. Most adolescent girls were victims of some kind of abuse- sexual, mental, verbal or physical.

 

 

Out of the 117 children living in the area only 9.84 percent, between the age group of 6-14 years, were attending regular school at the Government School, in the nearby Chandmari area. Many others had dropped out because of un-friendly mechanisms and corporeal punishment at the local Government Schools. About 20 per cent of the children aged 8-19 were into alcohol, drug and substance abuse. The area being alongside a railway track led to the accidental death of many children. Every child, above the age of 4, had complained about one or other forms of physical assault by their parents and neighbours. The quest for survival, in this ever growing city, had forced the parents to give more importance to earning rather than protective child rearing. Children were left unattended to their own devices through the day while parents were away in search of livelihood. Inquisitive and uniformed children would venture out into the streets and the marketplaces, which more often than not, brought them in contact with deviant minded adults. All these factors impeded their social and cultural growth, most of them displaying adverse social and psychological behaviour.

 

None of the children below the age of 6 were receiving any kind of services from the local Anganwadi center, the common excuse being the low capacity of the only Anganwadi center located in the Bhaskar Nagar area nearby. None of the adolescent girls were receiving any assistance under the Sabla Scheme of Government  of India. The concept of having access to safe drinking water was unheard of in the community. Out of the 117 children, only 15 of them had birth certificates. All the children had to live in shanty housing with no access to land safe houses or land rights (due to unaffordable property costs), electricity and sanitation. Since private bathrooms and toilets are unavailable, young women and children have to bathe and defecate in the open. Many in the slum area have complained about sexual crimes like voyeurism etc by neighbours and strange passersby. 

 

The Hafiznagar No2 represents a microcosm of issues that render children vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, maltreatment and neglect in slum areas of the city. According to a Guwahati Municipal Corporation Survey conducted in 2014, Guwahati has 217 slum areas, in the notified and non-notified categories combined. The population of these slum areas have been estimated to be approximately 1, 39, 296. The numbers of households have been estimated to be around 26,090. The staggering number of people living in these unorganized pockets clearly reveals the huge number of children, from the age group of 0-18, living within the same. Any kind of academic or common observation would tell that protection of children in Guwahati city is a distant reality. From child labour to child sexual abuse, substance abuse to malnutrition; children living in the slum areas of the city are far from being protected by the State.

According to Article 27 of the UNCRC, every child has the right to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development and the state has the obligation to assist parents “and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing”. This ideal clearly points out to the basic fact that children, in order to develop progressively, need an atmosphere conducive to their growth and development.

Though varied successful initiatives are being undertaken by organizations like us, Snehalaya, Child Friendly Guwahati, Sstep, MoC and ICCW in areas of child health, education, protection, etc, it becomes imperative to address some of the fundamental issues that could sustain the care and protection of children. Safe housing is one such fundamental aspect, without the fulfilment of which all other initiatives remain unsustainably incremental in character. Long term solutions are closely related to the land and housing rights of the people. 

Another aspect, that could usher a phenomenal change in the protection status of marginalized children, lies in the progressive response of stakeholders towards the needs of such children. India is one the countries that has an elaborate deployment of institutional arrangements for children. From Commissions, Child Welfare Committees, District Child Protection Offices to Special Juvenile Police Units, Children’s Homes and Open Shelters, we have intricately designed institutions for children in need. However, it may not be incorrect to say that as much as institutional arrangements have an impact of the individuals; it is individual behaviours that also have an effect on institutions. After all an institution is resource intensive in character and are manned by human beings, like you and me. If an institution fails in fulfilling its objective of securing protection for children, it is more do with individual behavioural transgressions than with institutional drawbacks. A good legislator, a good administrator, a good policeman, a good protection officer, a good Anganwadi worker, responsive to the concerns of children can alter the course of juvenile justice not only in Assam but all over the country. Former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam told me, back in 2010, at his 10 Rajaji residence in New Delhi, “ that a nation becomes great and good not because the parliament enacts this or that, but because its people are great and good. “

The protection concerns of children living in the slum areas of Guwahati should be treated with priority. If these islands of deprivation are left unattended, the children living within these would either be unceasing victims of abuse or fall under the vicious circle of crime.   I believe, that this can be achieved not through board room meetings, examining cold imprints of misery or  filibustering by legislative debaters but by empathetic individuals who take collective responsibility to enhance the protection of children who, under the law, are indeed “children in need of care and protection” .

'Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin”- Mother Teresa

MIGUEL QUEAH

@Published in the April 2015 Issue of the Assam State Child Protection Society Bulletin called The Child Protection Bulletin

The change maker in me

Sometime, in mid 2007,a worried Dr. Rohit Wanchoo, my Professor of Russian History, worriedly questioned me about my indifference towards the pursuit of academic excellence. I promptly replied "Dr. Wanchoo,I shall do the right things at the right time." Honestly, I myself couldn't make any sense of that sentence that I had, rather impulsively, let out. 

With such kind of a callous attitude I managed to complete my 3 years at the St.Stephens College in New Delhi. Unlike most of my peers, I had neither been able to achieve academic eminence nor did I manage to gather a defined roadmap for my future. Interestingly, I have never felt the need for a structured plan for my own life. 

However, everytime I am asked about my present work with children, I inevitably attribute it to my learning in college. It would be a tough task for anyone to comprehend the ancestry of such learning amidst the imprints of mediocrity on my University mark sheets. But somehow, it was inside the womb of that old cambridge institution,  that I came to realize the very essence of being the person I am now. As Tharoor, an old Stephenian himself, in one of his articles, points out the lasting effects of the Stephanian  atmosphere and rich history, its student body and teaching staff, its sense of itself and how that sense was communicated to each individual character in the Stephanian story. 

When I look back, I remember the values the college had instilled in me, in the classroom and outside of it. For me, probably more important than attending classes, were the late night conversations on the middle eastern conflict, unending arguments over North India's step brotherly treatment towards the Northeast, discussing the plight of children in the impoverished African continent, listening to the intriguing stories of the Tibetian freedom movement and understanding the cultural significance of Onam. These are some of those valuable moments that helped me make sense of my own self in relation to this big world. In the midst of sleeplessness, I had learnt the meanings of inclusivity, freedom, justice and cultural expression. 

My tenure as Vice President of Stephens in 2007-2008, afforded me the opportunity to travel to the US in 2008, as a part of a student leaders' programme called the Study of the United States Institutes for Student Leaders,  funded by the US Department of State. Apart from covering a range of subjects, this particular programme had community service as a crucial component. I had the chance to volunteer with the Kent Senior Citizens Center and the St.Leo's Food Connection for people in need projects in Seattle, while gaining perspective on other aspects of community service in America. 

Upon my return to India, after this over a month programme, there were several moments of retrospection that made me mull over the poor quality of services that my country had for all its people who are in need an comparing them with the outstanding social services in the US. I felt a deep sense of melancholy every time I saw little children begging on the Lodi Road traffic light junction, homeless children cleaning the platforms of railway stations and impoverished infants living, with their families, on the insecure pavements of Darya Ganj. On numerous occasions my call for intervention, to Government and Non Government agencies, fell on deaf ears. Without discounting the efforts made by the civil society, I felt my country still lacked enough service provisions to ensure justice to a huge section of its citizens who were in need of care and protection. Often dejected by systemic maladies, I got lost into a world of cavernous thoughts and endless introspection. Out of college for over four months then, I started missing the secure warmth of my friends, classmates and teachers. However, I did manage to keep myself engaged with an American community research project and a Senior citizens welfare programme for the next two years. 

Around October 2010, I had the rare opportunity of meeting the Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, at his 10 Rajaji residence in New Delhi. Through the first half of this, over-an-hour, meeting I set myself upon an unremitting monologue expressing regret over the poor system of services in my country, the ineffectiveness of our government, apathy of the average Indian and how the idea of goodness had lost its value amidst the concreteness of Indian cities. After patiently hearing me out for over twenty minutes, Dr. Kalam, in his disturbingly composed demeanour, looked straight into my eyes and questioned me : "Miguel, what are you doing to address these issues of your own country?" I had no answer to his very simple question. Infact, it had been most unsettling for me to realize that I didn't  have an instant answer, right and on time. 

Before I could gather adequate words to construct a suitable response, Dr. Kalam instructed me to speculate and find a solution to the many problems that my country had been afflicted with. He made me understand that even though many things had gone wrong in this country, there were still other things that could go right. Those many things could go right only if young people like me understood the the right values and collectively got down to the task of Nation building. " It was easier to sit in a drawing room, arguing about the illiteracy amongst Indian children, than to actually start teaching a group of children in the neighbouring slum area", he remarked. 

This valued conversation made me realize that without my contribution the idea of a developed India remains incomplete. A country's destiny is shaped only by the effective contribution of each and every member of its society. With a sense of determination, I returned to Assam, my home state, and founded UTSAH, an Organization dedicated to the welfare of children who are in need of care and protection, in early 2011. Children being the torch bearers of the country's future, I believed, needed to be nurtured in an environment of love, protection and care. 

In a country, where thousands of children are having to live in extreme conditions of deprivation, where women are raped in every 20 minutes, where every 8th urban child (0-6) lives in a slum area, where a woman dies a dowry death every hour, where 40% of the total number of world child brides reside and where 50% of its people do not have sanitation facilities,  I am morally obligated towards fulfilling my responsibility of helping my own kinds come out of such grievous predicaments. I cannot afford the luxury of sitting back complaining endlessly about the inadequacies of the system. Rather, I should be competent enough to take that extra step, walk that extra mile, to change the system progressively. Yesterday, I merely complained about the ills of child labour in Guwahati city and how the Government had failed to do anything about it. Today, I savour a sense of fulfilment after personally rescuing over 50 child labourers and providing education for over 120 children living in the slum areas of the same city. 

I believe, the civil society is one of the strongest drivers of change in any societal system. For a society to thrive, all its citizens must act as live agents of change, well versed with their responsibility of nation building. Being the power house of talent and innovation, the youth of our Nation can be an unimaginable vehicle of transformation. Each one of us should have the conscience to come out from the confines of our mercenary, individualized lives and contribute collectively to address the many issues faced by our society. Without disregarding the varied individual sense of achievement of every human being, I believe in country like India, it is more important to realize the essence of collective achievement. 

Civil society action or social work is not about having stylized degrees from reputed Universities. It is not a form of charity, delivered by the majestic haves for the base have-nots. Nor is it about establishing NGO's with extensive MOA's. Social work is about physically reaching out to the many that have, by accident of fate or destiny, been pushed into the dark margins of the society that we all live in. Such noble actions can only be guided by the values and education we've acquired in our respective academes and in the journey of our lives. My education has taught me to empathize with the poor, to cry at every incident of abuse towards children, to extend my hand to the needy, to be angry with oppression and to raise my voice against injustice. An education system that fails to ignite compassion is no education at all. A qualification that fails to beget a sense of service has no quality at all. A human being that fails to understand humanity is no human at all. 

In the development sector of Assam, we are in need of energetic young people with pan-Indian outlooks, well-rounded education, eclectic social interests and a questioning spirit to challenge the status quo of the existing and deficient system. There are several moments of despair, specially in terms of funding opportunities, where we accept finite disappointment. However, with determined consistency, perseverance and hard work, there are infinite opportunities that pave the way out towards success and achievement. The need of the hour demands that we have more conscious young citizens committed to a life of service. In a society where social order is at the brink of a collapse, it is the right time for us to wake up from the slumber of apathy and start working collectively towards preserving the social health of our Nation, that we call our own. 

Imagine had the young Gandhi never returned from London!  Imagine had the young Kanaklata never lead that march at Gohpur!  Imagine the young Teresa mulling over the sad plight of Indian children sitting in the comforts of the Macedonian summer! 

All of them believed in doing the right things at the right time.

I believe, so should you.

"You will never win if you never begin.”- Rowland 

The argument over the Juvenile Justice Act India

On the 22nd May of 2012, the Government of India passed a new law to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and provide for establishment of Special Courts for trial of such offences and for matters connected therewith, that came to be known as "The Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act of 2012".

On the 16 December 2012 a female physiotherapy student was gang raped in a moving bus, by four men, in New Delhi. She succumbed to her injuries thirteen days later, despite receiving treatment in India and Singapore.

The incident generated international outrage and was severely condemned by many organizations including the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, who urgently called upon the Government of India to undertake every progressive measure in their capability to take up radical reforms for ensuring justice and to reach out with healthy public services for making women’s lives more safe and secure".Massive public street protests took place in Delhi and in major the cities throughout the country.

On the 22 December 2012, a judicial committee headed by Late Justice J. S. Verma was appointed by the Government of India to submit a report, within 30 days, to recommend amendments to the existing criminal law to sternly deal with cases of sexual assault. 

On the 23 of January 2013, the Committee, thereafter, submitted a report after considering about 80,000 suggestions received by them from public  and particularly prominent jurists, legal professionals, NGOs, women rights groups and the civil society.

The report clearly indicated that shortcomings on the part of the Government and the Police were the primary cause behind the growing crimes against women in India. The suggestions of the report included the need to review the maximum punishment for rape as life imprisonment and not death penalty and some other stringent sanctions against rape. 

On the 1st of February 2013, the sitting Group of Cabinet Ministers approved about bringing in an ordinance, for giving life to the changes in law as suggested by the Verma Committee Report. According to former Minister of Law and Justice, Ashwani Kumar, 90 percent of the suggestions given by the Verma Committee Report have been incorporated into the Ordinance.

The ordinance was subsequently replaced by a Bill with numerous changes. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 19 March 2013, and by the Rajya Sabha on 21 March 2013, making some changes from the provisions in the Ordinance. The Bill received Presidential assent on 2 April 2013 and came into force from 3 April 2013 as "The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013"

In April 2013, a five-year-old girl was raped in Delhi by her adult neighbour.For three days, the child was kept locked up and assaulted by the neighbour in a basement just below her home.

In May 2013, a four-year-old girl was araped and sodomised by her neighbour in South Delhi. The police said that the girl alone at her home when the incident took place. Her parents had gone out for work.

In June 2013, it came to notice that a twelve year old girl was repeatedly raped by her father for over a year in Madhya Pradesh.The girl's mother had died two years ago and she was living with her father since.

In July 2013, a group of men brought a sex worker into the Shakti Mills compound in Mumbai and raped her. Following the assault the offenders recorded a video clip and took photographs of the victim to intimidate her.

In August 2013, a 22-year-old photojournalist, who was interning with an English-language magazine in Mumbai, was gang-raped by the same group of men when she had gone to the deserted Shakti Mills compound,in South Mumbai on a work assignment.

In September 2013, a 32 year old physically challenged woman was gang-raped on in the Ahmednagar area near Shirdi in Maharashtra.

The woman, who can't speak or hear, was kidnapped by four men who took her to the fields near her home and raped her. 

In October 2013, a 13 years old in Uttar Pradesh was gang-raped and set on fire by three men. The eighth-grader had been returning from a farm with her older sister when the assailants appeared. After they raped the girl, she and her sister threatened to turn the men in. In response, the three men apparently set the younger girl on fire.

In November 2013, a 17-year-old girl from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh was raped and killed by her father Ramesh Rajvar in Bhayander on the outskirts of Mumbai. The father along with his friend took the girl to Borivali National park in western suburban Mumbai and the two took turns to rape her and then strangled her to death.

In December 2013, a 21-year-old woman was gang-raped twice in one night by two unrelated groups of men in Karaikal, Pondicherry.

In January 2014, a Danish woman was gang raped by a group of men after losing her way near her hotel in Delhi.

In February 2014, a 15 years old rag-picker girl of Sua road in Gyaspura, Ludhiana Punjab was found dead in a vacant plot half a kilometer away from her home in a slum area; post mortem report suggested that she was raped , sodomised and strangulated to death.

In March 2014, a 17-year-old girl committed suicide after she was kidnapped and gang-raped for three days in a village near Jhunjhunu's Sujangarh town in Jaipur. The girl jumped into a well when the kidnappers dropped her near her house after exploiting her.

In April 2014, a 13-year-old girl had been raped by two youths at the Murshi forest in the Itmadudaulah area in Agra after she was picked up when she had gone to buy vegetables.

In May 2014, two minor girls went out to the fields to relieve themselves on and did not return. Their bodies were found hanging from a tree in Badaun a village in Uttar Pradesh. Both of them had been raped and murdered.

In June 2014, a 14-year-old girl died after a Shashtra Seema Bal (SSB) constable raped and poisoned her at Gaighat village in Uttar Pradesh's Motipur area. 

In July 2014, Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi announced that juveniles who commit rape should be tried as adults. She also said that she was working to amend the Juvenile Justice Act so as to reduce the age of the Juvenile from 18 to 16. 

"We are changing the law and I am personally working on it to bring 16-year-olds into the purview. According to the police, 50 per cent of the crimes are committed by 16-year-olds who know the Juvenile Justice Act," the Minister said.

"But now for premeditated murder, rape, if we bring them into the purview of the adult world, then it will SCARE them," she added.

A common evaluation of the never ending documentation on the incidents of rape in the country, few of which I have somehow managed to assemble in the first part of my article, should generate adequate interest to know, if at all , those mostly adult offenders knew about the existence of the two strong Indian legislations , namely "The Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act of 2012" and the "The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013", before they unleashed their brutality on innocent girl children and women? Both the protective and the preventive legislations did not seem to effectively  "SCARE" all those many perpetrators of crime at all. 

Should I then presume that all those adult offenders had no idea about the enacted laws? Had they known the laws and the fact that the provisions therein could get them into trouble, they would've been "SCARED" to commit those crimes and, therefore, would've refrained from committing them. 

Studying the present scenario, through opinions expressed by the Ministry of Women and Child and many other august institutions,  the only ones that are actually assumed to be aware about the intricate legal provisions are the children, especially the ones that belong to the age group of sixteen to eighteen. It has been surmised that these children are well aware that they might have to bide at a nice holiday home for just three years, if they ever get caught by the men in uniform upon the commission of a serious offence. So, they very conveniently rape and kill and loot, again and again. 

However, popular sentiment echoed that such mischief making children cannot not be allowed to continue on their tirade against humanity. Such criminals should be shown that they cannot get away that easily. They need to be struck by their knees, nipped at the bud before they unleash the venom of rape, loot and murder in our otherwise law abiding Indian society. In the most formative years of their life, that is between the age of sixteen to eighteen, their fertile minds could become the most dangerous entities of destruction to our nation, if not culled at the right time. Therefore, it becomes essential to unanimously pull down the age of offence to sixteen in our Juvenile Justice( Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, the nodal charter that protects children from severe sanctions in the event of a conflict with law . Such a decisive step, I am made to understand, should be enough to "SCARE" those teenagers and, thereupon, they shall not rape, not kill and not loot. 

Undeniably, in the interest of public good and in the wave of the public mood, the concerned Ministry has beckoned the will of the Parliament to inscribe the mark of criminal offence in India as sixteen. Once you're sixteen, and you commit an offence, you shall be treated as an adult offender and shall, thereby, be subject to sanction like any other adult in the country. You can be picked up the police, you can be beaten up for a confession and you can be imprisoned for life. 

However, it should also become essential to examine the state of affairs beyond that usual sixteen to eighteen age bucket. 

In June 2013, a 10-year-old girl who was raped by four minors in Turbhe in Navi Mumbai. The four minors were aged between 14 and 16 years. 

In September 2013, a 12-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped by five minor boys in the Hatigaon area of Guwahati. The five boys aged between 12 to 15 years, who are her neighbours and play together, called her outside her house and then gang-raped her, according to the FIR filed by the mother at Basistha police station.

In February 2014, a 14 year old boy, raped a 13-year-old girl, whom he knew very well as neighbours, in Ramgarh in Ranchi. The boy had an adult accomplice. 

In May 2014, a 10-year-old girl was gang-raped by three minor boys in Jabalpur district in Bhopal. Three boys aged between 12 to 15 years, who are her neighbours, entered her house and gang-raped her taking turns in front of her six-year-old sister. 

In July 2014, a 15-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by five persons, including at least two juveniles of 14 and 16 respectively, in Uttam Nagar area of west Delhi on July 19.

Now, evaluating the aforementioned scenario, should I not, reasonably  , recommend that the age of criminal responsibility actually be pulled down to fourteen or, maybe, even twelve?  Didn't the Hon'ble Chairperson of the National Commission for Women very confidently announce that children already become matured by the age of twelve? It would, then, be preposterous to overlook the crimes committed by the children from the age group of twelve to fifteen. Following the huge public debate on the current issue these twelve to fifteen year olds would be well very well informed that they might have to bide at a nice holiday home for just three years, if they ever get caught by the men in uniform upon the commission of a serious offence. So, they would very conveniently rape and kill and loot, again and again.

I do understand that there is a strong, uncompromising conviction and adamance, on the part of the leadership,  to immediately deal with problems related to Juveniles in conflict with the law. There seems to be an urgency in bringing down the children from the age group of sixteen to eighteen under the purview of law, as a deterrent to crimes committed by children of that age. 

However,  it becomes extremely crucial for each one of us to analyse why children, in the first place, should commit such heinous acts of crime. It also becomes crucial to examine the genesis of crime amongst children at the age eighteen, sixteen or even fourteen. There is enough evidence to suggest that there is a complete collapse in the social order and , therefore, it become all the more important to identify the reasons for the same. In our legal systems, we often, take recourse to fixing individual blame rather than understanding the more complex background that breeds such awful acts of crime and violence. 

I believe, law should be a mechanism that should be reformative in its character rather than being strictly retributive. The use of punishment cannot be the only premise to restore clarity to the social order. It is necessary to delve into a welfare analysis, to realize why and how criminal situations and behaviours occur- without justifying the crime of course. A welfare analysis should involve the identification of a social chain, a chain to trace social injustices that give birth to criminal behaviour amongst children. If the social welfare chain of the incidents of child crimes were to be studied thoroughly there would be ample evidence of the failure, on the part of the state, to secure social justice for those many children who have accidentally brushed themselves against the law.

Former Chief Justice of India, K Subba Rao, affirmatively remarked that "Social Justice must begin with the child.Unless a tender plant is properly nourished, it has little chance of growing into a strong and useful tree.So, the first priority in the scale of social justice should be given to the welfare of children." Childhood is the time at which moral standards begin to develop in a process that often extends well into adulthood. Former President of India, in his book The Indomitable Spirit said "Give me a child for seven years, afterwards, let the God or the devil take the child, they cannot change the child." That clearly implied that if a child is brought up in an environment of freedom, dignity, prosperity, good learning and morality, there can be nothing that can stop a child from being a good human being. Inversely, if a child is brought up in an environment of oppression, indignity, poverty, illiteracy and immorality we can never expect a child to be conscience keepers of the society. 

On the 29th of November, 1985, The UN General Assembly adopted "The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules) "

The United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency were first elaborated at a meeting held by the Arab Security Studies and Training Center in Riyadh and thus designated as the Riyadh Guidelines. They set forth standards for the prevention of juvenile delinquency, including measures for the protection of young persons who are abandoned, neglected, abused or in marginal circumstances - in other words, at "social risk". the Guidelines cover the pre-conflict stage, i.e. before juveniles come into conflict with the law.

The Member States had committed themselves to endeavour to develop conditions that will ensure for the juvenile a meaningful life in the community, which, during that period in life when she or he is most susceptible to deviant behaviour, will foster a process of personal development and education that is as free from crime and delinquency as possible.

They also guaranteed that sufficient attention would be given to positive measures that involve the full mobilization of all possible resources, including the family, volunteers and other community groups, as well as schools and other community institutions, for the purpose of promoting the well-being of the juvenile, with a view to reducing the need for intervention under the law. However, common observation would suggest that India has miserably failed to upkeep the promises made under the aforementioned International treaty.Our country has been unable to provide the necessary protection to many of our children who are growing up amidst deprivation, violence and crime.

8 million children in India are having to live in sullied slum areas of the big cities. Most of these 8 million children are having to live in one-roomed rickety shanties where they are forced to witness sexual activity between their parents every single night. Should we assume that their innocence to be preserved amidst the carnal groans of their adult guardians?

In Delhi itself, more that 50000 street children are having to sleep on the predatory streets of the capital city, most of them being victims of some form of abuse or the other. Many of these unattended children, who come in contact with criminal adults, grow up to fall prey to mental health problems like the stockholm syndromes, child sexual abuse accommodation syndromes or post trauma stress disorder syndromes. Should we then assume  their behaviours to reflect simplicity and 

honour?

About 344 million poor children living in the depths of rural India. About have to make do with the abysmally low and substandard learning facilities and infrastructure , provided under the Sarba Siksha Abiyan Mission of e Government of India, not remotely comparable to the private school education hosted in the big cities. Should we now assume them to be models of propriety, in the midst of such appalling mediocrity? 

About 269 million Indians are living in abject conditions of poverty and deprivation, not having enough even to afford a single meal a day.Most of their children are being pushed into the workforce, having to deal with physical and emotional stress, at an age when they were supposed to be running behind butterflies, listening to fairy tales and playing with their friends in decorated school gardens. Should we then assume these children to grow up with feelings compassion and nation-building?

Any legal system cannot realize the idea of justice and welfare by isolating itself to the point of punishment alone. Social welfare should not solely be aimed at revenge but should promote efforts at reconciliation and social reconstruction. A condemning criminal justice system would only silence the human suffering, not cure it. By tracing the reasons for juveniles in conflict with law , a rehabilitation process of the reasons and results of the problem of child crimes can be put in the already existing institutions and systems. This would ensure social development, for which any human rights sensitive person, certainly is the core aim of law. 

Rather than focussing on the stigmatisation of children from the age group of sixteen to eighteen, there should be more adamance in creating preventive systems of care and protection that would deter criminal behaviour amongst children at the source. Large scale public delivery and social work interventions should be put in place to ensure that children grow up in an environment of care and support. Infact, another component of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act clearly describes the progressive measures that are to be undertaken for "Children who are in need of car and protection". If Juveniles committing crimes, from the age group of sixteen, are aware of the protection from sanction under the provisions of the age of criminal responsibility, the actualisation of the other part of the same Act, by the State and the civil society, could be used as an effective deterrent mechanism to prevent criminal behaviour amongst those very children, in the first place. 

In November 1989, among many other things, the Member Nations that created the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognized that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding,

The Member Nations also bore in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”. 

Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child clearly states that every human being below the age of 18 years shall be called a child.

In Article 27 , State Parties recognized the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.

In Article 37, States Parties committed to ensure that: No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age;

In Article 40, the States Parties vowed to recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child’s respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s assuming a constructive role in society.

Therefore, it is time, we reflect on the ideals enshrined in the Convention and take collective responsibility for the welfare and development of the children of our country. Our approach towards children should always be protective rather than being punitive. I believe, it is more important to trace the crime, and not the criminal.

" It is the worst form of poverty that children should suffer, so that I may live my life."- Mother Teresa. 

Miguel Queah

(miguelqueah@gmail.com)

Ref: United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, Bare, 1989

       Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000

       Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012

       The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013

        Social Justice and Law, K.Subba Rao(1974) Pg 110

        The Indomitable Spirit, APJ Abdul Kalam

        Right to Life: The Pluralism of Human Existence, Parul Sharma

        The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The   

        Beijing Rules) 

        Times of India archives

        The Hindu archives

        The Telegraph archives