Constitution of CPCs finalised at Shopian*_

SHOPIAN MARCH 02:–The Development Commissioner of Shopian Dr. Owais Ahmad today, in a meeting with District Child Protection Officer Mohammad Shafait and other officials of ICPS, finalised constitution of Child Protection Committees at block and village level for smooth implementation of child care services envisaged under Integrated Child Protection Scheme and subsequent Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2013 and rules there under.

The Block Level Child Protection Committees (BLCPCs) will work under the chairmanship of concerned Block Development Officers with Zonal Education Officers as member secretary and Block Medical Officer, Child Development Project Officer and Chairperson of Village Level Child Protection Committees i.e. elected representatives (sarpanches) as members. Besides the committees will have a civil society and a female representative as member to be nominated by Chairperson in addition to one representative from District Child Protection Unit.

Meanwhile a Village Level Child Protection Committee will have an elected representative i.e. sarpanch as chairperson with Anganwari worker, ASHA worker, Village Level Worker, Chowkidar, a School teacher, a boy and a girl from village high/higher secondary school, a civil society representative and a female representative from same village as member.

The committees, both at block and village level, will work in coordination with each other to identify children in need of care and protection specifically orphans, dislodged children, children involved in begging and child labour, children victims of natural calamities, militancy related incidents and cross firing, sexual abuse, drug abuse and those in conflict with law and communicate cases to DCPU for providing rehabilitative institutional based and non-institutional child care services. The awareness of children and common masses about child rights and their legal entitlements at grassroots level is also an important role attributed to the CPCs.

Dr. Owais, while emphasising the role CPCs can play in curbing the crimes related to children, rehabilitation of dislodged children besides propagating and safeguarding rights of children, directed the DCPO to conduct a series of workshops and orientation programmes for CPC members at block and village level.