Report by Badal Tah, Rayagada , February 2: To ensure safety of children in the district, a quarterly review was organized through a special campaign named “Prachesta” implemented by district administration. On this occasion, the members of the committees working for the protection and development of children in the district such as district level child protection committee, task force for adolescent children, committees for prevention of child marriage and child labour prevention committee participated. This joint meeting was presided over by Additional District Magistrate(ADM) Bhaskar Raita, who said that various departments of the administration were working to protect every child and prevent child marriage in the district. There is a need to protect all the children in the district through a cohesive coordination & concerted effort among the departments. This would complement the efforts of one department with other departments & pave way for a child friendly district. The work we are doing today will bring benefits to the district in the coming days.
It was discussed that more children in the the district would benefit if more emphasis was placed on identifying and rehabilitating vulnerable children and adopting them. Sarpanch, ward members and other panchayat representatives have a major role to play in its successful implementation, especially at the village level. District Child Protection Officer(DCPO) Bichitra Shethi and District Social Welfare Officer(DSWO) Puspanjali Parida informed at the beginning of the meeting that during the current three months awareness meetings of Child Protection Committees, Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment and Prevention of Child Marriage Task Force, Child Labor Committees were conducted at Block and Panchayat levels.
Sethi highlighted on various programs undertaken by the district administration in recent days. Parida elaborated the purpose of the meeting and said that till date 1345 revenue villages have been declared as child marriage free. A district level work-schedule has been prepared with the joint efforts of District Child Protection Unit(DCPU), District Social Welfare Oddice, UNICEF and Action Aid. Ratnaeshwar Sahu, Consultant of Action Aid at district level, presented various steps taken in the district for the protection of children and complete uprooting of child marriage in the coming days.
To accelerate the process of alternative care for children, 5% of the Untied Grants to the Municipalities and Municipal Councils, jointly prepared by the DCPU and Aruna-CRS was presented by the District Counsel Pramod Kumar Naik and Sushmita Bhoi. The same was discussed and approved. Among others, Bidulata Huika, Chairperson of Child Welfare Committee, District Labor Officer Jasmin Sahu, District Social Security Officer Simanchal Mohapatra, all the CDPOs & staff of DCPU were present and participated. Pratap Kumar Das from DCPU moderated the program and DCPO Bichitra Sethi extended vote of thanks.
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