A plan to protect our children from another Nithari

The central government has quickened its efforts to launch the National Child Protection Scheme as soon as possible.

The efforts come soon after the serial killings of children and women in Nithari.

Child rights activists, though, feel that safety of children should become everyone's concern with civil society, including community groups and NGOs working alongside the government to ensure a secure environment for every child.

These views and information were shared at a daylong media interaction on Early Childhood Care and Development in post-Nithari scenario -- organised by two NGOs -- Plan and FORCES.

FORCES national coordinator Bullu Sareen said child security has become an important concern. "The issue involves the rights of young child in the framework of survival, protection, development and participation," she said.

"Only a concerted effort from all sides will ensure than even the most marginalised and poor children also benefit from a social security net preventing Nithari type incidents," she added.

India Alliance for Child Rights convenor Razia Ismail Abbasi observed that Nithari and other cases of child abuse were a grim reminder that there is a need to put preventive measures in place, preventive mechanisms are studied and developed, whenever possible including schools, panchayats and Integrated Child Development Scheme.

During the interaction, it was revealed that against the required 8 lakh crèches in the country, there are only 15,000 crèches at present, while the Supreme Court has directed the centre to open 14 lakh Anganbari centres by December 2008.

Giving some data on crime against children in India, the organisers revealed there is no consolidated data on the number of missing children in India.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 1,327 cases of child murder were reported in the country in 2004, while in Uttar Pradesh, it was the highest at 390 cases.

Similarly in 2004, a total of 108 infanticide and 3,542 child rapes were reported in the country. In 2005, the child rape cases increased to 4,026.

A total of 3,518 cases of kidnapping and abduction of children were reported during 2005 compared to 3,196 cases in 2004. UP accounted for 749 cases of child abduction in 2005, which is 21.3 per cent of the country's figures.