Constitutional provisions relating to children and women

Constitutional Provisions, rights and Legislations

Concerning Children and Women

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• GoI has been striving for holistic empowerment of women and children through law and policies, programmes, capacity building and training and awareness creation.

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INDICATORS

• MMR 254 per lakh

• Literacy Rate 53.67%

• No. of women married before 18 years 45%

• Pregnant women who are anemic 57.9%

• Sex Ratio 927 per 1000 boys

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Sex and Gender

Sex

• It is biological difference between men and

women

• It is nature made

• Sex never changes, it is constant

• It is non-hierarchical

• It is specific to individuals

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Gender

• It is a social cultural construct that is

constructed by assigning roles and

responsibilities to women and men in a given

culture and location

• It is society made

• Gender is variable

• It is systematic

• It is hierarchical

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COMMITMENTS

• Constitutional provisions• Policies•Commitments at International level• Legislative Support• Action plan

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Constitutional Provisions (For CHILDREN)

•Article 15: not discriminate against any citizen

•Article 21: no person shall be deprived of his

life or personal liberty

• Article 23: Traffic in humnan beings, forced

labour prohibited

• Article 24: No child below 14 years to work

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• Article 39: the tender age of children are not

abused

• Article 42: For securing just and humane

conditions of work and for maternity relief.

• Article 45: Free and compulsory education to

all children till fourteen years of age.

• Article 47: Raising of the level of nutrition and

the standard of living of its people.

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles. It spells out the basic human rights that every child

has and broadly categorised under: • Right to Survival• Right to Development• Right to Protection• Right to Participation

Other Conventions• Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish. Trafficking in

persons, especially women and Children.• SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating

Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution. • SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the

Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia.

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National Policy for Children- 1974

•Children to be covered by health and nutrition

services.

•Free and compulsory education to all children

below 14 years in a time bound manner

• Non-formal education

•Physical education, games, sports to be promoted

in schools, community centres etc.

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• Equality of opportunity to children of weaker sections

•Children to be protected against neglect cruelty and

exploitation

•No child under 14 to work, special facilities for

handicapped children, priority to children during

distress, calamities, special programme for gifted

children

•Existing laws to be amended to ensure safeguard of

children’s interest

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National Health Policy – 1983

•Emphasis on launching of nation wide

immunisation programme aimed at cent percent

coverage of targeted population

•Priority on launching of special programme for

maternal and child health with focus on under

privilaged sections of the society

• School health programme

•Emphasis on provision of safe drinking water-

sanitaiton facilities

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National Policy on Education – 1986 (revised in 1992)

• High priority to ECCE

•Day Care Centres as support service for

Universalisation of Primary Education

• Integration of child care and pre-primary education

•Universal enrolment and retention of children up to 14

years of age in the school system

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• Child centred activity based process of learning

adopted at primary stage

• Supplementary remedial instruction for first

generation learners

• Provision for essential facilities in primary school

• Highest priority to solving of school drop-out children

• Non-formal education facilities for working children,

school drop-out, girl children

• Provision of at least two teachers (one women) in

every school

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National Policy on Child Labour – 1987

•Setting up of Child Labour Technical Advisory

Committee

•Emphasis on strict enforcement of provisions of child

labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and other

child related legislations.

•Focusing on general development programmes for

benefiting children

• Setting up of area specific projects

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National Nutritional Policy – 1993

Realised the importance of tackling the problem of mal-

nutrition through direct nutrition intervention for

specially vulnerable groups as well as through various

development policy instruments, which will create

condition for improved nutrition.

LAW AND POLICIES (FOR WOMEN)

• Constitution of India Provides equal status to women (Art 14) Empowers the States to take affirmative action

towards women (Art 15 (3))

• National Policy for Empowerment of Women Adopted in 2001 Main Objective—To bring about advancement,

development and empowerment of women and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and to ensure their active participation in all spheres of public life and activities.

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LAW AND POLICIES• Legislations related to women’s issue:-

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987

The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956

The Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Work Place Bill, 2007

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LAW AND POLICIES

• National Plan of Action (POA) To ensure that the policy prescription get

implemented, the Ministry is in the process of drafting a National Plan of Action.

The Plan will also identify commitment of resources and responsibilities for implementation and strengthen institutional mechanisms and structures for monitoring.

Operational strategy mentions the need to develop Gender Development Index as a method of gender auditing and importance of collecting gender-disaggregated data.

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INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

• UN Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly.

Provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life, including the right to vote and to stand for election, as well as education, health and employment. 

The Government of India as signatory to the Conventions, periodically reports to the concerned Committee on the status of implementation of the Convention.

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• Article 1, 4 and 15: Equality before law

• Article 6: Trafficking of women and children

• Article 7: Political Participation

• Article 10: Education

• Article 11: Employment

• Article 12: Health

• Article 16: Marriage and family relations

COMMISSIONS

• National Commission for Women

Set-up in 1992 to safe guard the interests of women.

Has a wide mandate covering all aspects of women’s development and includes:--

• Investigating and examining the legal safeguards provided for women under the constitution and other laws.

• Reviewing existing provisions in various laws and recommend amendments to fulfill any gap.

• Looking into complaints and take suo-moto notice.

• Taking up research/studies on issues related to women.

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COMMISSIONS

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

Set-up in 2007 to safe guard the interests of children.

Has a wide mandate and includes:--

• Examine and review the safeguards provided by various laws for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation.

• Inquire into violation of child rights and recommend initiation of proceedings in such cases.

• Undertake and promote research in the field of child rights.

• Spread child rights literacy among various sections of society and promote awareness of the safeguards available for protection of these rights through publications, media, seminars and other available means.

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OTHER COMMISSIONS

• Other Commissions which also look into the violation of rights of women include:-

National Human Rights Commission

National Commission for Minorities

National Commission for Backward Classes

National Commission Scheduled Castes

National Commission Scheduled Tribes

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Direct Intervention – Short term

• Expanding the safety net

• Reaching the adolescent girls

• Better coverage of expectant women

• Fortification of essential foods

• Control of micro-nutrient Deficiencies amongst

vulnerable groups

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Indirect Policy Instruments – Long term

• Food Security

•Improvement of dietary patterns through production

and demonstration

•Improving Public Distribution systems and Purchasing

power

• Nutrition Surveillance

• Basic Health and Nutrition Knowledge

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ACTION PLAN

In order to achieve the millennium development goals

relating to women and children many new schemes

have been started, these include:

•SABLA: Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of

Adolescent girls (RGSEAG).

•IGMSY: Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana, for

improvement of maternal and child status

•Right to Education Act: to fulfill the aim of

achieving education for all.

Thank You

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