Maha to implement Bal Raksha Abhiyan for protection of child rights

Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS) Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights will implement 'Bal Raksha Abhiyan' (child protection campaign) for the protection of children's rights and a secure future while 'Bal Snehi Puraskar' will also be given, announced State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Sushiben Shah here on Wednesday. 

The campaign will be launched on February 17 in Mumbai in the presence of School Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse and Maharashtra Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe.

On this occasion, informational posters prepared under the ' Child Protection Campaign ' will be unveiled, and the ' Child-Friendly Chirag App ' developed and improved for the redressal of child grievances will be launched.

“In order to prevent incidents of child sexual abuse in Mumbai and Maharashtra, it is necessary to increase communication, coordination and awareness of responsibility among parents, teachers, police, social organisations and administration. Therefore, this initiative will be implemented by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights,” Shah said.

She further stated that the Commission is trying to prevent the increase in incidents of child sexual abuse.

“In most cases, the accused is known to the victim child. It is observed that many cases are being suppressed due to fear of reporting and social pressure. It is very important to increase the rate of reporting, preventive measures and effective response systems to prevent child abuse in schools. For this, it is necessary to increase communication and coordination between parents, teachers, police, social organisations and administration and increase awareness of responsibility. The Commission is vigorously implementing a child protection campaign,” she added.

Shah added that the child protection campaign will be implemented throughout Maharashtra during February and March. At the same time, the workshops will be organised in various districts including Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs, Thane, Nagpur, Akola, Nashik, Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“In this initiative, 150 people will be trained in each district. This will include teachers, parents, representatives of parent-teacher associations and selected students. In the first phase, a total of 7,000 people will be trained in the state through expert institutions in the field of child protection. The purpose of this training is to create awareness among teachers and parents about child safety, suggest effective measures to make the school environment safer, protect the rights of children and empower the grievance redressal mechanism,” she added.

Meanwhile, Shah said that the Commission will give away Bal Snehi Puraskar (Child-Friendly Awards) on March 3 in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“Many administrative agencies, institutions and officers are doing valuable work in the state for the overall development of children and protection of their rights even in adverse circumstances. To encourage their significant contribution, the Commission has organised a program to present the state-level Bal Snehi Puraskar,” she added.

--IANS

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