Children are the cornerstone of a nation’s future, and their well-being directly reflects the country’s development. Ensuring their rights, protection, and holistic growth is essential for building a just, equitable, and progressive society.

• Children are the future of a country. Their healthy development is crucial for national progress. 
• Poverty often forces children to work instead of attending school, hindering their physical, mental, and emotional growth. 
• Children who experience poverty and prejudice are more likely to experience hunger, poor health, limited financial resources, inadequate educational opportunities, and bad health, which restricts their freedoms and chances.
• Further, due to social norms that favour boys over girls and place a greater emphasis on male sexuality, newborn females are at a greater disadvantage than male babies.
• An infanticide, disrespect for nutritional requirements, lack of access to school and healthcare, among other forms of abuse, are all experienced by girl children.

Constitutional Provisions Related to Child Rights in India

• Article 21A: Education up to the age of 14 was declared a fundamental right. 
• Article 24: Children have a fundamental right against exploitation and the employment of children under the age of 14 in factories and hazardous processes is prohibited.
• Article 45: Requires states to provide early childhood care and education for children up to age six.

Major Issues Affecting Child Rights in India

• Child trafficking: As per National Crime Record Bureau Report (NCRB), eight children were exploited and trafficked into the nation daily for various sorts of exploitation, including employment, sexual exploitation, and begging.
• Child abuse: A survey by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) found that over 55% of Indian children have been the victim of abuse of some type.
• Child Marriages: India has come a long way in the fight against child marriage, but it still has the highest rate of child brides in the world. 
• Despite progress on many fronts, the Sustainable Development Goals' aim of ending the practice by 2030 will not be met at the current rate of reduction.
• Child labor: As per Census 2011, the total child population in India in the age group (5-14) years is 259.6 million. Of these, 10.1 million (3.9% of total child population) are working, either as 'main worker' or as 'marginal worker'.
• Health issues: For many Indians, poverty, hunger, and inadequate sanitation are serious issues that contribute significantly to the high infant death rate. More than 40% of kids are stunted or malnourished.

Government Schemes Promoting Child Rights and Welfare in India

• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): To promote holistic development and provide essential services for the overall well-being of children under six years of age, as well as pregnant and lactating women.
• Integrated Child Protection Scheme: To create a protective environment for vulnerable children by preventing their abuse, exploitation, and neglect, and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration.
• SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN: To provide inclusive and equitable quality education to all children from pre-primary to higher secondary levels.
• Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme: To enhance enrollment, retention, and attendance of children in schools by providing them with a nutritious cooked meal during school hours.
• SAKSHAM ANGANWADI AND POSHAN 2.0: Addressing the challenges of malnutrition by implementing a strategic transformation in the content and delivery of nutrition.
• Mission Vatsalya: The Mission Vatsalya program is a roadmap for achieving development and child protection priorities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
• Under the motto “Leave no child behind”, the focus is on strengthening children's rights, advocacy and awareness, as well as juvenile justice and protection systems. 
• The provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Child Care and Protection) Act 2015 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act 2012 provide the basic framework for the implementation of the Mission. 
• Funds under the Mission Vatsalya program will be released in accordance with State/UT requirements and demands. 
• National Health Mission - comprehensively interventions to improve child health and nutrition status.
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan - for universalisation of primary education .
• Udaan - to enable girl students to soar to higher education
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna - A small deposit scheme, launched as a part of the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' to encourage parents of a girl-child to stock a fund for their education and marriage. 
• Ladli Laxmi Yojana (MP) - To improve the health and educational status of the girls. 
• The National Child Labour Project for rehabilitating the children withdrawn from employment 
• Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL)

Legislative Measures to Safeguard Child Rights

• The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1987: Its objective is to end the trafficking of children, including boys and girls.
• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986: This law forbids the employment of minors in some occupations and controls the working conditions of children in other occupations.
• Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006: This Act follows the basic premise (a) to make a child go through marriage is an offence, and (b) child or minor is a person up to 18 years of age in the case of girls and 21 years in the case of boys.
• Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: With the inclusion of the Right to Education in the list of fundamental rights, it is now a legally protected right under Article 21a. 
• The Right to Education Act, 2009, usually referred to as the RTE Act, outlines the significance of free and mandatory education for children in India ages 6 to 14 years old.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012: It was passed in an effort to protect minors from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornographic offences while upholding the best interests of the child throughout the whole legal process.

Institutional Measures for Child Welfare

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)

• The Government of India established the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in accordance with the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005, to exercise and carry out the powers and duties entrusted to it by the CPCR Act, 2005.
  • It emphasizes the idea of the universality and inviolability of children's rights and acknowledges the urgency with which all national policies pertaining to children are being implemented. 
  • The Commission places equal focus on the protection of all children in the 0 to 18 age range.
• Functions 
• It examines and assess the protections established by or pursuant to any law presently in effect for the protection of child rights and make recommendations for implementation strategies;
• It reports on the operation of those safeguards to the central government yearly and at such other periods as the commission may deem appropriate;
• It investigates child rights violations and that legal action be taken where necessary;
• It looks into issues involving children who require extra attention and protection, such as children in need, children who are marginalized and underprivileged, children who are in confrontation with the law etc.

Central Adoption Resources Authority (CARA) 

• It is a statutory body of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. 
• It serves as a hub for child adoptions in India and is tasked with supervising and regulating domestic and international adoptions. 
• It has been designated as the central authority to administer international adoption under the provisions of the 1993 Hague Convention on International Adoption ratified by the Government of India in 2003.
• CARA primarily deals with adoptions of orphaned, abandoned and abandoned children through affiliated and approved adoption agencies.

National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD)

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development oversees the NIPCCD, an autonomous independent organization with its headquarters in Delhi.
• Over the past 50 years, NIPCCD has strategically advanced the development of women and children. 
• The institution provides programmatic research, capacity building, and advising services to the Ministry for the following programs:
• Mission Poshan 2.0/Saksham Anganwadi
• Child welfare and protection services are provided by Mission Vatsalya.
• The mission of Mission Shakti is to protect and empower women.