About CCRP 24 Parganas North District

This Coalition is a platform of NGOs/CBOs/Academicians and Concerned citizens who work and think about the protection of children in society. As you would agree, issues pertaining to child protection concern the entire gamut of children’s rights; and there is an immediacy to address the protection rights of children and their violation in every day life. The Coalition is just such an initiative to mobilize the civil society and State to work concertedly on the issue of child protection so that every child lives a healthy, secured and playful childhood in order to grow up as productive citizens of the country.

The Coalition for the Child’s Right to Protection (CCRP) is a nation-wide initiative being supported by CRY (Child Rights and You) in 12 states of India, including that of West Bengal. Praajak acts as the resource organization in West Bengal to facilitate the process of Coalition building in the State.

Core-Group within the Coalition in the district acts as the steering committee that is responsible to guide and implement the agenda of the Coalition at the district level.

Such a Core-Group of the Coalition for the Child’s Right to Protection (CCRP) is active in the district of West Bengal.

Presently, the following NGOs/CBOs of the district is part of this Core-Group:

Sl. No.	Name of the Organisation	Contact Person/Designation	Contact details
1	Panihati Chhatrashakti	Kishore Kar/President	191 Elias Road, Kol-58
2	Kolkata Kendra Bharati	Bidyut Saha/Secretary	101 Merriam Mahal, Sadar Bazar, Barruckpur
3	D. J. Adda Ma Matri Kalyan Samity	Prabir Bhattacharyya/ Secretary	24/2, Haricharan Chatterjee St. Kol-57
4	Swayam Utsarg	Nishit Dutta/Treasurer	Shyam Kunj Appt., Flat – 4, keshtapur Main Rd, Christian Para, Kol-102
5	Sanat Bhattacharyya	Social Worker	A9, H. B. Town, Sodepur, Kol-110

Yuva Aarohan – The Beginning of the Journey

A State Youth Event on the National Youth Policy 2003 which has been participated by Panihati Chhatrashakti on 26th January 2008 at Indian Institute of Management – Kolkata, Joka

Preface:

The word ‘youth’ as defined by the oxford dictionary is being young or in the early part of one’s life, the National Youth Policy of India 2003 on the other hand defines it in terms of limitations in one’s age “in the age group 13 to 35 years”. Youth, therefore, is an early part of one’s life where one is physically young and belonging to a specific age group.

Youth in India may be denoted by a specific categorization in age but is also a subsequent need to understand the role of youth in the State. It is also important to know how youth are conducive in ushering pertinent and effective change in the prevalent political system of the State. In order to usher relevant changes in the political system one needs to be valued in the eye of that very political structure. This can only be ensured when an individual’s full participation is given due respect. According to definitions by the World Bank participation is the process through which citizens’ influence and share control over the decision and resources that affect them.

Participation of the citizens in the decision making process refers to good governance. Governance is the power exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social development (World Bank 1992). This so called ‘power’ in a democratic framework is exercised not only by the government and its various department, but also by various public institutions like-political parties, academic institutions, NGOs, media and lastly by the civil society. The civil society of any state invariably include the youth as an effective interest group also because those above 18 years enjoy adult franchise that empowers them to become part of governance through representational political structures.

But unfortunately, beyond electing their state representatives, youth in India are not vested with any other political powers except what is nominally mentioned in the National Youth Policy 2003 (revised since 1999), the only legal document for youth in our country. The key sectors of youth concern in the Policy include the following:

• Education;
• Training and Employment;
• Health and Family welfare;
• Preservation of Environment, Ecology and Wild life;
• Recreation and Sports;
• Arts and Culture;
• Science and Technology; and
• Civics and Good Citizenship

The policy in general speaks of what strategies and steps the government would adopt for the overall development of youth but it rarely emphatically mentions about how youth can themselves envisage and expedite the process of development in their own country. To be more specific the participation or involvement of youth in governance has been scarcely emphasized throughout the policy. It is only in one of the strategies under Civics and Good Citizenship that it finds some mention:

• To mobilize the youth to create local pressure groups within the community to fight corruption at all levels and to ensure that the benefits of development reach those for whom they are intended and are not siphoned of by middlemen and the powerful.

In spite of the existence of this policy, the approach towards youth has hardly undergone any change, the concerns of youth have been rarely been addressed. Also, the commendable voluntary and social efforts of youth have rarely been sincerely highlighted or encouraged by the government.

Unlike the National Youth Policy, the Right To Information Act 2005 provides a definite platform to make the system effective and promotes good governance. The RTI Act is thus a legitimate tool provided by the Government of India for the common masses in order to ensure the accountability and the efficiency of the State’s administration. The involvement of youth for the positive promotion of RTI Act is deemed necessary for youth to act as advocates of good governance.

The purpose of the Event:

1. To propose recommendations for modification in the youth policy.
2. To create an interface between the youth and the government.
3. To form a committee that will take the recommendations to a campaign mode in other colleges, institutions and universities across West Bengal.

An invitation from Praajak, Kolkata which is working to create a platform for the youth, the Panihati Chhatrashakti as an organization working for the youth issues in West Bengal we have participated in that interactive session in IIM, Kolkata, Joke on 26th of January 2008. Many prominent personalities like Shri A. K. Patnayak – Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of West Bengal, Ms. Sangamitra Ghosh – District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas, Shri Satya Gopal Dey – Manager, Development Support, CRY, Mr. Aveek Sen, Chief Editor, Telegraph, Prof. Raghabendra Chattopadhyay – IIM-Calcutta, Faculty, Prof. H R Tewari – IIT-Kharagpur, Faculty, Prof. Paromita Chakraborty, Faculty, Women’s study Department, Jadavpur University etc.

Coalition for the Child’s Right to Protection (CCRP)

The Coalition for the Child’s Right to Protection (CCRP) is a national initiative of organizations working for the rights of children an young persons spread across 12 states supported by Child Right and You, India (CRY).

Vulnerable Groups

• Children in conflict with the law
• Children engaging in substance abuse
• Children of families as risk-migrant labourers, refugees, chronically and terminally ill prisoners and single parents
• HIV/AIDS infected and affected children
• Children with disabilities
• Physically, mentally and sexually abused children
• Victims of natural calamities, emergencies or man-made disasters
• Orphan, abandoned and destitute children
• Working children
• Children living on streets and platforms
• Children living in stigmatized situation

Thrust areas of CCRP

• The child’s right to a family or a family like
• Looking at institutionalization only as the last resort
• Setting standards for Institutional Care and Protection of children
• Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration of children
• Promotion of community-based alternatives for child care and protection
• Take into account the Best Interest of the Child

Objectives

• To make institutions/homes/orphanages ‘Good Enough’ for children who are compelled to live in residential care
• To move from the concept of ‘Minimum Standards of Childcare’ to ‘Quality Standards of Childcare’
• To evolve/strengthen family based, community oriented non-institutional services like adoption, foster care, day care, night shelters, crèches, sponsorship, family counseling, mentoring and community centers
• To restore/repatriate and reintegrate children with their families communities with suitable support and follow up
• To develop and implement preventive approaches/services so that institutionalization is the last option
• To ensure Children’s participation at all levels and a participative approach among various partners

Plan of Action

• Create a climate among Civil Society Networks, Government Departments, Policymakers, Educational Institutions, Police, Judiciary, Media, Functionaries of Childcare Institutions of conviction and commitment to this initiative
• Prepare and maintain a database and conduct situational analysis on the magnitude of the problem and available existing services
• Work with local self-government including Panchayats, Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, Local District Administration other Government Departments and NGO’s towards rehabilitation and social reintegration of the children living on the platforms, streets and in institutional setups and promoting their access to different government schemes and services
• Evolve orientation and training modules for sensitization, awareness creation, capacity building of various target groups and care givers who impact the lives of children
• Evolve quality standards of childcare, modality for measurement and assessment and monitoring mechanism to ensure its implementation
• Conduct trainings and workshops at all levels-micro to macro and across all sectors and allied systems
• Facilitate and support all other interventions that will promote quality childcare and development of alternative services for children in need of care and protection

Recommendations

• Partnership between civil society and the state
• Mobilization of children and youth
• Sustainability through increased community participation especially the participation of the women

The Coalition, in West Bengal, is a grassroots network of approximately 150 child rights organisations, community based organisations, youth groups and rural self-help groups working to establish appropriate and responsive child protection mechanism through the partnership of the State and civil society.

Praajak, which has been working on child rights issues for the last 10 years, is the state resource organisation for the Coalition.

The Coalition have already organised it’s 4th State Conference to initiate statewide advocacy campaign to end all sorts of violence, abuse and exploitation of children on 6th-8th June 2008 at Barrackpur, 24 Parganas (North) and we, the Panihati Chhatrashakti was leading partner on that conference.