United Nations CRC/C/IND/3-4 Convention on the Distr.: General 22 July 2013 Rights of the Child Original: English Committee on the Rights of the Child Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention Third and fourth periodic reports of States parties due in 2008 * India [26 August 2011] * In accordance with the information transmitted to States parties regarding the processing of their reports, the present document was not formally edited before being sent to the United Nations translation services. GE.13- CRC/C/IND/3-4 Foreword India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child presents the major initiatives that have been taken to ensure the rights of children. It also highlights the current status of children, efforts made to address their concerns and the challenges which are yet to be overcome. India’s approach to protection and promotion of child rights derives from the Constitution of India. We have also in place legislation, policies and programmes for safeguarding the rights of children and especially, of the girl child. Our commitment to the children is reiterated continuously through the efforts to strengthen the framework for protection of their rights, which include establishment of a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in 2007, one of the few of its kind in Asia, to safeguard and enforce the rights of all children in the country, and the launch of a universal Integrated Child Protection Scheme in 2009-2010 based on the principles of ‘protection of child rights’ and ‘best interest of the child’. These endeavours reflect our commitment to safeguard and enforce the rights of children in our country. While dealing with the complex dimensions of child rights, both in terms of numbers and in quality, there is a measure of satisfaction in addressing the overall challenges of poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and access to primary health services. The expansion of the Mid- Day Meal Scheme; progress of the Integrated Child Development Services into the third phase of expansion; revamping of the rural public health infrastructure and rapidly- expanding social protection net through insurance schemes and pensions are some of the initiatives taken to ensure the survival, development, care and protection of our children. Finally, with the adoption of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, we expect to move closer to fulfilling the commitment of providing free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years within the next three years. The Report, no doubt, continues to remind us of the challenges for the fulfilment of child rights in our country. We reiterate our solemn commitment to this goal and reaffirm our determination to translate the rights of all children into reality. Signed (Smt. Krishna Tirath) 2 CRC/C/IND/3-4 Acknowledgement The preparation of ‘India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report’ on the Convention on the Rights of the Child would not have been possible without the valuable contribution of Ministry of Human Resource Development; Ministry of External Affairs; Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Defence; Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Ministry of Labour and Employment; Minis try of Law and Justice; Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; Ministry of Tribal Affairs; Ministry of Rural Development; Ministry of Urban Development; Ministry of Environment and Forests; Ministry of Tourism; Ministry of Panchayati Raj; Ministry of Minority Affairs; Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Ministry of Finance; all State Governments and Union Territories; Registrar General of India; Central Social Welfare Board; National Commission for Protection of Child Rights; National AIDS Control Organisation; National Council for Educational Research and Training; National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child Development; National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration; Central Adoption Resource Agency; National Commission for Minorities; National Commission for Women; National Commission for Scheduled Castes; National Commission for Scheduled Tribes; the UNICEF Country and State Offices, and many committed NGOs and members of the public. I would like to thank UNICEF and, particularly, Ms. Karin Hulshof, Country Representative and Ms. Karuna Bishnoi, Child Rights Specialist. I would like to place on record the hard work and contribution made by Ms. Anju Bhalla, Director and Mr. C.K. Reejonia, Under Secretary of the Ministry for completion of this exercise. The Ministry of Women and Child Development would also like to thank New Concept Information Systems Private Limited, for assisting the Ministry in the gigantic task of compiling and collating information from all over India that is presented in this Report. Signed Vivek Joshi Joint Secretary Ministry of Women and Child Development New Delhi-110001 3 CRC/C/IND/3-4 Introduction India has the largest child population in the world. The number of children under age 18, which was 428 million in 2001 and rose to 430 million in 2006, is projected to remain above 400 million in the coming decade. India’s approach to protection and promotion of human rights and child rights derives from the Constitution of India, which provides for affirmative action in favour of children. It also directs the State to ensure that children are not abused and are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner in conditions of freedom and dignity. In 2002, Article 21 A was added through a Constitutional amendment to make elementary education a Fundamental Right for every child in the age group of 6 to 14 years. To provide focus on issues related to women & children, the erstwhile Department of Women & Child Development under the Human Resource Development Ministry was upgraded as an independent Ministry in 2006. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights was constituted in 2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, which also provides for setting up sub-national level Commissions and Children’s Courts to be set up in each state of the country. Eleven State Commissions have already been set up and are at different stages of being operational. These statutory bodies are meant to work for protection and promotion of child rights in the country. It underscores the commitment to the principles of universality, inviolability, indivisibility, interdependence and mutually reinforcing character of child rights and ensures that the work is directly informed by the views of children in order to reflect their priorities and perspectives. Besides the institutional, legislative and administrative framework which is in place to extend and protect human rights, India has a strong presence of non-governmental and voluntary action, through a network of community-based people’s organisations. They, along with the independent media, act as a watchdog for the protection of human and child rights. The Government is increasingly earmarking large resources for programmes of health, education, employment, sanitation, drinking water, child development and urban renewal with focus on system strengthening, increased inter-sectoral convergence and collaboration for improved outcomes for children. But, in the context of India which is both large and diverse, it is important to understand that while children have equal rights, their needs and entitlements are area-specific, group-specific, culture-specific, setting-specific, and age- specific and demand a variety of interventions. This, coupled with the problems of displaced and migrant children, children in areas of civil unrest, children belonging to marginalized groups, children who have suffered violence, abuse and exploitation, makes the task really challenging to see that interventions for children do not exclude anyone. India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child’ is a product of extensive consultations with all stakeholders. The Report has been prepared after consultations with and based on inputs received from other key ministries and agencies, following the general guidelines issued by the Committee on CRC. A High Powered Committee, comprising representatives of different government ministries, 18 state governments and representatives of non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and international agencies was constituted in December, 2006, to guide the preparation of the CRC Report and Reports on the two Optional Protocols (OPs). Guidelines were shared with the state governments and Central ministries/departments for their inputs. Five regional consultations were held across the country between July and 4 CRC/C/IND/3-4 October, 2007 to engage with stakeholders to make the Report as broad based and representative, as possible. In this background, this Report combines an analysis of the overall implementation of the CRC in our country, a review of its progress, and identification of continuing challenges that impede the realization of all rights of all children. Significantly, the period under Report has seen introduction of several laws, policies and programmes to implement India’s CRC commitments for the survival, development, protection and participation of children. These include adoption of free and compulsory education for the age group of 6-14 years; universalisation of services for nutrition and development