Agartala: Nilima Ghosh, Chairperson, Tripura Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TCPCR) on Tuesday said that the child rights commission in collaboration with the school education department of Tripura will open child rights clubs in all state schools. The purpose of the clubs would be to check instances of child marriage, abuse and child labour.
“We have spoken to Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath on the issue, and all necessary steps are being taken to open such clubs at the school level. We shall give some funds to these clubs so that they can work following the needs of children. If there is any incident of child abuse, marriage or any kind of exploitation that comes under the jurisdiction of the Child rights commission, the clubs will report us for timely action,” Ghosh told reporters during a press conference at her chamber.
According to Ghosh, the clubs would be set up shortly. “We are waiting for the school exams to end. The Education department has assured us once the exams are over they will start working on the projects. We have also informed the school education department that if they want counsellors to visit schools and address sessions for children, the TCPCR will facilitate this,” she added.
Apart from that, she said, the TCPCR has also taken several plans such as regular visits to schools, extensive awareness programmes on child marriage at the school level, and a regular visit to homes, schools and hostels have been also planned to get a sense of the situation.
Ghosh also said that the TCPCR had launched a programme for measuring the weight of school bags. “The Supreme Court of India has a specific ruling, but the state’s private schools are violating the Court order. We are reaching out to every private and government school and asking the authorities to ensure that such issues are addressed at the earliest”, said Ghosh.
Apart from that, she also spoke about the recent programmes organized by the TCPCR to raise awareness regarding child rights.