The special report on child protection was earlier tabled in both Houses of Parliament and was then sent to the President on March 19. As per the report, children comprise 35 per cent of Bengal’s population and it has a 3.2-crore strong population in the 0-18 years age group.
Citing the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2021, the report claims that crimes against children in the state were around 32 per cent of the total crime in Bengal and almost 7 per cent of the crimes against children in the country.
“While fulfilling its responsibilities, the commission comes across incidents involving violence against children that vary in nature and efforts are made to redress the matter with cooperation from the state and concerned district administrations. However, in the case of West Bengal, the state administration has been neglecting the best interest of children and not acting as per their responsibilities under different child related Acts,” NCPCR stated in its report.
The commission has also accused the state and district officials of being “non-cooperative and rampantly disregarding the Laws”.
“The commission has also noticed during the course of multiple inquiries that the state and district administration have been non-cooperative and rampantly disregarding the Laws. Therefore, to highlight the deliberate mismanagement of delicate issues related to children which should otherwise be addressed in a more responsible and considerate manner, the commission, as per section 16 sub-clause (1) of the CPCR Act, 2005 has prepared and submitted a Special Report on Child Protection in the State of West Bengal,” read the report.
The commission also took cognizance of The Indian Express’ special investigative reports of how bomb-making was a thriving cottage industry in the state and how several children across Bengal had to undergo amputation or were killed by crude bombs they mistook for playthings.
The commission has highlighted reports of children being “targeted and subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment across the state since the conclusion of election polls in 2021”.
“Twenty three cases of post-poll violence have been mentioned in the report. During the operations conducted by the commission to rescue trafficked children it was found that several girls who were rescued were brought from West Bengal either to different states or different cities within West Bengal.
The State is also violating the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. ”
The commission has alleged that the Bengal government has been “running a parallel system of dealing with destitute children”. “These institutions are called ‘Cottage Homes’ and are being run under the Cottage Scheme. f) g) h) Similarly, the State is not implementing Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act 2009 which focuses on giving underprivileged population access to education and including children from marginalised groups in private unaided schools. By not implementing the said provisions, the State is depriving these children of their fundamental right. Both are Central Acts meant to extend the rights of children. The State Government that has a role in implementing the Act is not following the Law. Non-cooperation by the authorities with various Central Agencies/Institutions and misconduct against the undersigned by West Bengal Officials,” the report added.
“(The) Bengal government has been insensitive when it comes to crimes related to children. There have been instances when the CM herself has questioned the victim’s sexual exploitation instead of acting against the perpetrators. It shows that the CM is incompetent and insensitive. We have seen how a minor’s body was dragged in Raiganj. I think the Bengal government should be more sensitive towards such incidents and prevent them. With CM making such comments, police get a free hand not to act as per the law,” said NPCR chairman Priyank Kanoongo.
Reacting to the allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said, “All institutions during the BJP regime have succumbed to political force. All things are politically motivated. These things are done with the intention to malign Bengal. The chairman of this commission doesn’t not know how to behave. The way he misbehaved during his tour of Bengal with the State Child Rights Protection Commission members was very unfortunate.”