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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | NCPCR justifies agitation by children against Posco project

NCPCR justifies agitation by children against Posco project

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published Published on Jul 24, 2011   modified Modified on Jul 24, 2011
-The Indian Express
 
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has justified the agitation by children against Posco's 12 million tonne steel project calling it "voluntary".

"The children think that they are protecting the interest of their families which is contrary to the allegations that children are being coerced to participating the agitation. The anxiety / apprehension on account of the prospect of displacement and loss of the source of lively-hood for their families, has been apparently affecting the minds of the children. It appears to be a factor behind such conduct by the children,” said a committee of NCPCR which this month investigated the into the alleged use of children by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, an anti-Posco front.

Taking suo-motu cognizance of reports in media about small children not going to schools and instead getting involved in anti-Posco agitation, a three-member of team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights led by its member Dr Yogeswar Dubey on July 4 had visited the proposed Posco steel plant site near Paradip and made an on-the-spot investigation into the alleged use of children by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti. The team also visited the Posco transit camp at Badagabpur village where 52 pro-Posco families have been living since last few years after being forced to leave their villages allegedly by the PPSS activists.

All the interviewed children expressed their unanimous apprehension that if their lands would be taken away, they would loose their betel vines, continuously providing them the source of comfortable lively-hood for years, and would be reduced to home-less labourers either under the Company or elsewhere. The common apprehension of the children was that whether totally displaced or only affected by dispossession from their lands, their parents would not be able to support their study in future and that in the later period, on growing into adult-hood, they would not get any permanent resource from which they could earn their lively-hood. Their common version was that therefore they had been joining with their parents voluntarily and decidedly in this agitation to prevent taking over of their lands by the Government machinery for the POSCO project. They told that they would not go to school till the POSCO project went away from their village," the 26-page confidential report said.

On the otherhand, it slammed the Orissa government over its failure to provide mid-day meals to school children and poor administration of ICDS programmes in Posco project areas while justifying the dharna by children of project-affected against the 12 million tonne steel project in Jagatsinghpur district of the State.

The NCPCR report comes at a time when work on the Posco project has been stalled since last 6 days with villagers of Nuagaon panchayat opposing tree-felling demanding fulfillment of their six demands, including an increase in the compensation to land losers.

The report said the right to free and compulsory education has been violated in the transit camp housing 35 children including adolescent girl children as they never got the benefits of ICDS programme. "The confined and segregated life in the transit camp has been apparently heavily affecting the minds of the children. The district social welfare officer has never visited this transit camp. They are deprived of the right to survival in as much as their needs for sanitation, health-care & nutrition are neglected. Programmes of ICDS are not at all provided, particularly to girl children and there is also no Anganwadi centre," the report said.

The Commission noted that the district level officers of the women and child development department and school & mass education department appear to be oblivious of their responsibilities in respect of these children.

The report also criticised the forcible occupation of a part of the Balitutha primary school building by the police, saying the school gave an appearance of being a fortress. "The primary school and the anganwadi-centre located inside its premises have not been properly functioning due to continued presence of the police force due to the limited space within the school compound. We found some policemen in the school in underwears. The district level officers of the W&CD and School & Mass Education Departments never took any remedial steps to ensure proper functioning of the school and the anganwadi centre," the Commission said, adding that provisions in the Right to Free & Compulsory Education Rules have been violated in allowing using the school building as accommodation for police force.

The report noted how the teachers shirked their responsibility by not organising any meeting with the parents of the children about the attendance and progress made in learning by their wards. The teachers appear to be oblivious of this responsibility and the concerned district inspector of schools stationed at Tirtol also seems to be unaware of his responsibility of supervision on this aspect, the report said.

Incidentally, the Jagatsinghpur district administration has now started vacating the school building after occupying it for about 19 months.

The NCPCR report also slammed the ground level functionaries of the school and mass education department and the women and child development department over their failure to provide attraction to the children for coming to schools. “Apparently mid-day meals are poorly supplied, the ICDS programmes are not properly extended, there is no effective contact between Anganwadi workers / school teachers with the mothers of children and there is no mobilisation through the District Child Protection Committee under the ICPS and the Child Welfare Committee,” the report said.

The Indian Express, 24 July, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ncpcr-justifies-agitation-by-children-against-posco-project/821588/


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