After the barbarous murder of a student in Gurgaon and rape of a girl by a school peon in the national capital made headlines, the Centre has decided to form an inter-ministerial committee to monitor implementation of safety measures in its schools across the country.
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Utilizing Nirbhaya funds
It was also suggested that the Nirbhaya funds, set up in the aftermath of brutal gangrape of a physiotherapy student here, can be utilised for various school safety measures. The decision was taken during a meeting between Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and WCD minister Maneka Gandhi.
“The existing measures for school safety were reviewed and new suggestions were discussed during the meeting. A committee of six secretaries will be constituted to monitor the implementation and progress of the guidelines,” Maneka told reporters after the meeting.
The high-level meeting was held after reports surfaced of increased number of crimes against children in school.
(Read: Child abuse: NCERT textbooks to teach about ‘good and bad touch’)
The committee will have secretaries of Human Resource Development, Women and Child Development Ministry, Tribal Affairs, Minority Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment and Drinking water and sanitation. It will conduct a series of meetings to develop a roadmap as well as a timeline for implementation of the measures recommended, she said.
Recommendations
- Employing women drivers for the school buses
- Screening a short film about child abuse in schools
- Setting up of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) awareness booths
“Setting up POCSO booths, where students can be made aware about the mechanism to file complaints, screening of Komal– a short film on concept of good touch, bad touch– were among the measures discussed. We also suggested that Nirbhaya fund can be utilised for the purpose,” Maneka said.
Representatives of the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), CBSE, NCERT and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan also attended the meeting.
[“Source-timesofindia”]