India on Friday stressed on the need of overall protection of children by safeguarding them with conducive legislation and eco-system. Taking the lead at the 145th Asssembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Indian parliamentarian Kartikeya Sharma said it is crucial to focus on vulnerable children.
On day 4 of the session, he was participating a workshop on the Rights of the Child on the theme ‘Child-friendly Parliaments: The case for stronger parliamentary action in support of child rights’.
Kartikeya Sharma said, “Children constitute principle assets of any country. Children’s development is very important for the overall development of society, and the best way to develop national human resources is to take care of children under the age of 18 as it constitutes 30 per cent of India’s population. They represent not at India’s future, but are integral to securing India’s present. The Constitution of India obliges the government to make necessary provisions to advance rights and wellbeing of children.”
“Moreover the recognition of the need for promoting greater child responsiveness in India’s policies is also reflected in our National Policy for Children (2013), the National Plan of Action for Children (2016) and New Education Policy (2020),” he added.
Talking about protection of children, he stated that, “It is crucial for us to focus on vulnerable children such as street children orphans, child labor, migrant children, etc. in our policy and financial statements while reviewing our child development schemes the catastrophic impact of Covid-19 has further increased the risks and vulnerabilities of children and therefore, corresponding welfare measures would be crucial along with adequate allocation and increase in the expenditure on children.”
