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By Jyotshna Yashasvi (CNLU) & Sourav Kumar (NLSIU), Law students at CNLU, PATNA & NLSIU, BANGALORE (respectively) In 2019, when we are in the 30th year of adoption of CRC, securing and enforcement of child right has still not been possible. Hence, it is an urgent need to discuss and devise ways to achieve the goals that were intended to be achieved through CRC 1989. The problem is so universal that around 60% of the children falling in the age range of 2 and 14 are subject to regular physical punishment by their caregivers.[1] This number is so large that the affected children are spread across communities, regions, ethnicity, socio-economic background, etc. Impact of such violence is that the victim themselves can become perpetrators when become adult.[2] Perpetration of violence against children has the worst impact if it is done at schools because it affects learning and cognitive abilities. The efforts of the government in India have resulted in enrollment of a large percentage of the children in schools, however, the government and the society have failed to develop the schools into a place conducive for learning. The major reason behind such failure use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure. Corporal punishment is an act of punishment which involves the use of physical force against someone. A school is a place that is supposed to be the place where a child can acquire knowledge in a free and stress-free environment. However, the reality is that mostly the environment in elementary schools is intimidating because children are often meted out with corporal punishment for various reasons. Article 19 of the UN CRC is the core provision which states that the signatory states should ensure the protection of children from all kinds of violence through legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures.[3] Article 28(2) and 37(a) of the UN CRC[4] mandates that the signatory states need to prevent torture and corporal punishment directed towards children at the learning place. These provisions put the dignity of a child at the highest pedestal. Beating or punishing a child in schools in front of other students hurts the dignity of the child and takes away his/her confidence and instills a fear of school. Corporal punishment hampers the learning process by severely affecting the mental health of the child in an indirect but obvious way. The Constitution of India also provides the right to protection against such corporal punishments. Article 21 of the Constitution provides a fundamental right to life and dignity[5] and clearly, subjecting children to corporal punishment is a violation of dignity. It also hampers the right to education because many children under fear start to avoid schools. Various directions in this regard have also been given to the state under the DPSP.[6] Several provisions in the penal law of the country also make corporal punishment an offense. Section 323 and 325 of the IPC, which make causing hurt[7] and grievous hurt[8] a crime, is clearly violated when a teacher subjects a child to corporal punishment. Lately, the judicial position has also been clarified on this issue. In the case of Hasmukhbhai Gokaldas Shah v. State of Gujarat[9], Gujarat HC has clarified that corporal punishment to a child is not recognized in law and is totally unwanted. Further, various provisions of the RTE Act 2009 and JJ Act 2000, establishes children’s rights against such corporal punishments. Clearly, the Indian state has made an ample number of laws to protect the right of children but has still failed in achieving the goals enshrined in the UN CRC. The reason behind this failure is that these rights provide only formal protection, and there is a need to move towards the substantive protection of children. The biggest problem in our opinion is the normalization of corporal punishment in society. In our society children are considered to be secondary citizens, and exercise their rights through their caregivers. Thus, there is a meta-narrative in the society that the use of corporal punishment by a teacher is in benefit of the child. Legislations have failed in this regard and thus, there is a need to shift our focus on sensitization of parents and the teachers. We also need to change the attitude that normalizes violence and hides it. The teachers should be trained to ‘ask the children question’[10] in order to determine, how their particular conduct will affect a child. Empirical evidence suggests that awareness, education and sensitization program has resulted in significant decrease in such violence against children. Such sensitization programs have successfully been implemented in Turkey, Liberia, the USA, Croatia and Sweden.[11] This problem is so widespread but still hidden because of lack of awareness and normalization of such infringement of child rights. In our opinion, the Indian state must see corporal punishment as a problem as big as child marriage and focus on awareness programs in order to fulfill its obligation under the UN CRC 1989. References [1] UNICEF, Hidden in Plain Sight A statistical analysis of violence against children, 8 (2014). [2] UNICEF, Ending Violence Against Children: Six Strategies For Action, 4 (2014). [3] Convention on the Rights of the Child. art. 19 (1989). [4] Convention on the Rights of the Child. art. 28(2) & 37(a) (1989). [5] Indian Const. art. 21. [6] Indian Const. art. 39(e) & 39(f). [7] Indian Penal Code § 323 (1862). [8] Indian Penal Code § 325 (1862). [9] 2009CriLJ2919; (2009)2GLR984. [10] The idea is inspired from radical feminist method of discourse of ‘asking the women ‘question’ which involves analyzing the impact of a certain action on the marginalized section, which is ‘child’ in this discourse. [11] UNICEF, Ending Violence Against Children: Six Strategies For Action, 14 (2014). (Disclaimer- The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Child Rights Centre.)

By- Swarnav Bhuyan(4th Year) & Simran Kaur Bhatia(3rd Year) Law Students at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad INTRODUCTION Childhood is considered as the most important period for the development of an individual as socialization and shaping of the child takes place during the course of childhood. However, as the years are advancing, people have become greedy and have started indulging in crimes. In due course, many children’s lives have been spoilt. Here, we intend on focusing on the amputation or maiming of children for the purposes of begging. The act of imputing or maiming is also in contravention to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Employment of a child for begging is a punishable offense under Section-76 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. The punishment for begging is prescribed as imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years or a fine which may extend to 5 Lakhs or both. Section-76 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 brings to light the offence of amputation or maiming of a child for begging. The prescribed punishment for the same is rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 7 years which may extend to 10 years or a fine which may extend up to 7 Lakhs. The offenders under Section-76 can also be punished for not paying the child wages, not paying the child wages in current currency, or making an unauthorized deduction from the wages paid to the child. Despite this stringent legislation that prescribes punishment, the offence of amputation or maiming of a child for begging is still very prevalent in India and is also present at a global level. Amputation or maiming of a child is a cruel act that violates the right to life guaranteed under Article-21 of our Indian Constitution. Before delving into the article, it is essential to understand the difference between Amputation and Maiming. a) Maiming: It is to wound or injure in such a way that a part of the body is permanently damaged. b) Amputation: It is the act of surgically cutting off a limb. Innocent children are often subject to these blood-curdling acts causing great violence to them and in turn drastically affecting their lives. CURRENT SCENARIO IN INDIA India has a vast population that contains a large number of children. Several news reports have been circulated about the whole circle of amputation or maiming of children for the purpose of begging. In 2006 three doctors were caught on camera wherein they agreed to amputate the limbs of a beggar for 10,000 rupees in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The doctors were caught explaining the process of amputation. Amputation or maiming is done mainly to gain sympathy and empathy for people so that they dole out money to the beggars. Usually, people on seeing a disabled child, tend to give alms to the child out of sympathy and empathy. The money collected by the child is handed over to his/her gang leader. The leader of the gang will, in turn, pay a certain commission to the child and will siphon of the rest of the amount collected, ensuring that he earns money along with profit. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire, a clear picture of the ‘Beggar Mafia’ is given where the Mafia controls the children and extracts money for its illegal purposes. Every year around 44,000 children fall under the clutches of the mafia and hundreds of them are amputated or maimed for this very purpose. The most shocking discovery of the beggar mafia was in the ‘arms for alms’ scandal which revealed how doctors had contracts with the beggar mafia according to which they amputated or maimed healthy limbs and parts of people and children. Most of the victims are within the age group of 2 to 8 years. In Delhi, a story that was in the news in 2009 was of Priya, a girl who was lost. She was turned into a beggar by the mafia. Her mother recognized her one day begging in front of a temple and managed to take her back home. Children are taught specific ways of begging and dropped in places where there is scope for receiving alms. Dharavi, Mumbai is the largest slum in the world, and children from there are used for begging by the mafia, and several children are subjected to amputation or maiming. The children eat food in temples and masjids and usually sleep in public places such as a bus stand or a footpath. The legislation called the “The Bombay Beggary Prevention Act of 1959” was enacted in Bombay which made begging illegal. A study shows that the law has not been effective in curbing the practice. CONCLUSION As quoted by Mahatma Gandhi “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”, is to be enforced. The act of amputating or maiming a child cannot seek justice by committing the same on the offender. The punishment for the commission of this offence is to be increased and must stand as a deterrent to the other offenders. The cruel act of amputating or maiming a child is to be punished very severely. amputating or maiming might be a means of livelihood for these gang leaders but it devastates a child’s life. First, the child undergoes severe physical trauma as most of the doctors who amputate the limbs of children aren’t professional doctors which in turn exposes the child to great health risks which may even cause death. Second, the child undergoes severe psychological and emotional trauma which makes the child mentally unsound or leaves the child with severe depression. Many children have committed suicide due to the after-effects of amputating or maiming. The act in itself is the purest form of violence. A temporary business for the mafia actually damages the entire life of a child. A child who was once healthy is left permanently disabled. It is sad that most of these cases do not even reach court and hence go unnoticed. It is now in the hands of the public to spread awareness about this inhuman crime committed against children and to put an end to it. SUGGESTIONS The following suggestions have been put forward by us in respect to the current scenario of amputation or maiming of children for the purpose of begging- Increasing the punishment for amputation or maiming of a child for the purpose of begging. The police should indulge in activities that expose such mafia and a special police force should be established and deployed in every city to do the same. The Government should open rehabilitation and shelter homes for the children and even adults who are presently indulged in begging. Surprise checks should be made in slum areas where the chances of the existence of beggar mafias are higher. The media should publish more articles on such issues frequently so as to bring this issue to the notice of the common people and the Government. Free education should be provided for such children and adequate employment opportunities must be made for these children. (Disclaimer- The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Child Rights Centre.)

About the Event “URJAA”- “Unlock Your Creativity, Utilize Your Potential” is the national level dedicated competition of Child Rights Centre to overcome boredom, to brush up all the hidden talents, and to deviate the innate energy in the best positive direction, fulfilling its forever commitment towards the welfare and growth of children. Themes Article Writing Covid-19 and its effect on Women and Children. Sub-Themes COVID and Women and Child Protection (safeguard measures against an increase in violence and exploitation). COVID and Education System (Online Medium and Management Practice during virtual closure). COVID and Healthcare System ( Psychological, Physiological and mental health of women and child). COVID and Cyber Security (Online Classes as new normal, child abuse over the internet). Essay Writing Impacts of Lockdown and COVID-19. Story Writing Life during lockdown Effects of COVID-19 Any other themes having a strong nexus with COVID-19. Poetry Writing Life during lockdown, Effects of COVID-19, Any other theme having a strong nexus with COVID-19. Drawing and Painting Any piece of art related to the present pandemic ‘COVID-19 and its Effect’ will be accepted. However, artworks regarding ‘COVID’s effect on Women and Children will be given preference for rewards. Eligibility Article Writing: Academicians (Bachelor and Master)/researcher/experts of any Stream. Essay Writing: Students up to standard 12th (intermediate) can take part. Story Writing: Open to all. Poetry Writing: Open to all. Drawing and Painting: Age Group A- 6-10 Years Age Group B- 11-16 Years Age Group C- 17-24 Years Registration Fees Article Competition: Rs. 200/- for single author and Rs. 300/- for co-author (maximum of two co-authors are allowed). Essay Writing: Rs. 100/- per participant. Story Writing: Rs. 200/- per participant. Poetry: Rs. 200/- per participant. Drawing: Rs.100 /- for any participant. Payment Details G-pay/Paytm: 9692468290 Bank Account Details Account Number: 50100149700976 Account Holder Name: SNEHA IFSC Code: HDFC0000235 BRANCH: HDFC, BORING ROAD, PATNA. Note: Participants are requested to attach the screenshot of the payment details in the registration form. Registration Interested candidates can register for an event here. Guidelines Font: Times New Roman, Font Size: 12, Line Spacing: 1.5, Alignment: Justified, Margin: 1 inch, Citation: Bluebook 20th edition. Kindly mention the category followed by YourName separated by underscore (_) as the subject of the mail while making the submission. Plagiarism for Article/Essay writing should not be more than 15% in any case. Word limit Article/Essay/Story Writing is 1000 words (all excluding footnotes). Participants are requested to register separately for separate categories. Submission Participants are requested to submit their works in .doc/docx format via mail at crcurjaa2020@gmail.com mentioning the concerned category followed by Name & separated by (_) as the subject of the mail. Deadline The last date for registrations is 10th August 2020. Prizes E-certificates to all the participants. Cash Prizes to the top three participants of all the events with a Certificate of Appreciation. Article Competition: Rs. 1,000/-, Rs. 750/- and Rs. 500/- rupees to top three participants respectively. Essay Writing: Rs. 750/-, Rs. 650/- and Rs. 500/- to all the top three participants respectively. Story Writing: Rs. 1,000/-, Rs. 750/- and Rs. 500/- rupees to top three participants respectively. Poetry: Rs. 1,000/-, Rs. 750/- and Rs. 500/- rupees to top three participants respectively. Drawing: Rs. 1000/-, Rs. 750/- and Rs. 500/- to all the top three participants of Group A, B, and C respectively. Selected works will also be published in CRC’s Newsletter, Social Media handlers, and official blog. Contact Mr. Ayush, Public Relation Coordinator: +917480830235 Ms. Srishti Sarraf , Coordinator: +918294787998. (WhatsApp Only) Email Id: crcurjaa2020@gmail.com (Kindly mention ‘Query’ as the subject of the mail) Brochure is here.

By- Asst.Prof. Sugandha Sinha, Faculty Coordinator & Mrs. Sneha, Centre Coordinator CRC-CNLU With deaths of children in Muzaffarpur owing to AES (Acute Encephalopathy Syndrome) finding unrelenting media attention, the time is ripe for Bihar to introspect the situation of children in the state and challenges in the way to assuring their well-being. The ensued responsibility is not of the government alone, but of all institutions involved in the caring and nurturing of children right from their birth to adulthood, working in close collaboration and communication with each other. To be honest, the situation in entire country is grim and it would be unjust to point fingers at Bihar alone, which has made huge strides at both social and economic fronts, and is continuing its struggle for greater economic development. SITUATION OF CHILDREN IN BIHAR For instance, Bihar has made substantial progress in some of the key indicators on child well-being in the last decade including infant mortality rate, neo natal mortality rate and maternal mortality rate. There has also been a substantial decline in the percentage of child marriages in the state. The infant mortality rate and neo natal mortality rate has declined from 60 (in 2003)[1] to 35 (in 2017) and 32 (in 2002) to 27 (in 2016) respectively. The maternal mortality rate has also declined to 15.8 % as per the estimates of Health Management Information System, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In the last ten years, institutional delivery has increased from 20%[2] to 63.8% (NFHS 4– 2015-16). At the same time, immunization of children has also increased substantially from 32.8% (NFHS -3) to 61.7% (NFHS-4). Despite these impressive figures on well-being of children, mammoth challenges still remain. According to NFHS-4, 48.3 % children are stunted, 20.8% children are wasted and 43.9% children are under-weight in Bihar. 60% of women in Bihar are anemic leading to long term adverse impact on the survival and health of their off springs. Bihar accounts for highest number of stunted children in India.[3] All districts of Bihar show high rate of stunting, above 35%.[4] Almost half of the 20 districts worst affected by stunting in India, are in Bihar.[5] Studies show that at a microeconomic level, 1 percent loss in adult height due to childhood stunting equals to a 1.4 percent loss in productivity of the individual.[6] Bihar has one of the highest prevalence of child marriage in the country, standing at 43 %.[7] With respect to child labour, of the 6.5 million children in the age group of 5 to 14 years working in unorganized sector in India, 11% of them are child workers from Bihar. Bihar is second in terms of number of child labourers. Data on elementary education shows high dropout rates and also reveals low learning outputs among the SC/ST community. These figures become daunting if we compare them with population composition of the state. Of the total population of Bihar, approximately 46% are children (persons below the age of 18 years).[8] This is much higher than the percentage share of children’s populations in the total world population (31%) as well as in total Indian population (37%).[9] In fact, Bihar stands in league with countries like Afghanistan and Nigeria, where too, more than 40% of the total population are children.[10] Given the huge population pressure of the young, and especially those who are on the wrong side of many parameters of child well-being, an appalling landscape evolves. Poor human resources, low economic output, delinquency, illness, loan, continuous deprivation of essentials of life including healthy food, consequent inter-generational mal-nourishment leading further to the cycle of poverty, all these factors keep the entire population in a state of continuous strife, unhappiness and economic scarcity. AES AND THE PLAN OF ACTION FOR CHILDREN (2019-2024) The Government of Bihar is not unaware of this precarious situation and has been working persistently to bring ground level changes. As per the mandate of National Policy for Children, 2013, the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Bihar has come out with the Bihar State Plan of Action for Children 2019-2024 to ‘accelerate the pace of intervention’ to achieve the rights of children. In addition, it has also released the Bihar State Nutrition Action Plan 2019-2024. The Action Plan for children speaks the language of child rights. It discusses the situation of children in Bihar, identifies gap areas and priority areas of action, sets goals to be achieved, actions and strategies to be undertaken to achieve these goals. The Action Plan identifies corresponding schemes, central as well of state, to which the actions/strategies suggested to be undertaken, relate to. In sum, the Action Plan does not express, however implicitly seeks to evolve an ecosystem in the state to guarantee over all well-being of children. It is interesting to note that the actions and strategies recognized in the plan are well known and easily discernable. The Action Plan does not go beyond the discernable, and possibly due to lack of mandate, will not be able to go beyond these and prepare a road map to illustrate the exact steps in implementing these actions. The question before us is therefore that can this and such other action plans evolve an ecosystem to guarantee well-being of children or something more is required. To understand this further, let us evaluate challenges set before the government by AES and whether such challenges have been addressed by the Action Plan. One of the most authentic sources to evaluate the outbreak would be Dr. T Jacob John who headed the team studying AES in Muzaffarpur in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 (the Government of Bihar’s stand remains that none of the studies are conclusive). In his articulate write up in Hindu on June 19, 2019, Dr. Jacob John has elaborated the causes of outbreak. Thereafter, he also mentions necessary strategies for preventing the disease which were laid down in the year 2014 itself, viz. educating families to not let their children sleep empty stomach, parental supervision on consumption of litchis and administration of 10% glucose to the ill children. Dr. Jacob laments lack of maintenance of Glucometer, non-sustenance of health education and most importantly, administration of 5% glucose rather than the prescribed 10% as key reasons for the death of so many children. Another reason recognized by him is that children are taken to private nursing homes and by the time they reach the SKMCH in Muzaffarpur, it is too late. Further, shortage of adequate numbers of beds have been emphasized.[11] The Government of Bihar has been coming out with detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for AES since the year 2015. The Standard Operating Procedures which includes awareness campaigns as well as local level interventions through Asha workers, PHC preparedness etc. are well articulated and exhaustive. It recognizes five levels of interventions before the child reaches the medical college hospital including at the primary health centres and at community level.[12] However, none of these could work this time. A well-articulated and well entrenched system, laid down in the year 2015 and revised annually, collapsed in the year 2019. Some blame it upon the elections or political uncertainty. But again, the question remains that can well-articulated and well entrenched systems to deliver well-being to most vulnerable citizens of the country collapse by something as regular as elections in a democracy. The Plan of Action recognizes three priority areas in the category of “Right to Survival” of the child, in which the primary focus is on health, which of course is the centre of attention due to AES as well. Three imperatives have been identified under this category, viz., reducing mortality rates among children, reducing malnutrition among children and improving accessibility of children to safe drinking water and sanitation.[13] We are aware of numerous statements by experts that under nourishment is one of the major reasons of AES.[14] To achieve these imperatives, a list of strategies and corresponding actions have been identified (awareness programmes, orientation programmes for example of VHSNCs (Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee), availability of full time pediatricians, availability of pediatric medicines, adequate staffing in hospital, availability of ambulance facility etc.).[15] These actions have been correlated to schemes which are already operational. For lack of space, we shall focus only on the National Health Mission because it is the most important and highly funded health programme of the country and in the plan of action, it has been linked to most of the actions prescribed to achieve the three imperatives mentioned above.[16] PROBLEM 1: RELEASE OF FUNDS In a study conducted by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, ‘Utilization, fund flows and public financial management under the National Health Mission’, the authors show that the institutional architecture for NHM’s resource delivery is so complex, it adversely affects the utilization of resources. It looks at the inordinate delay in the release of funds and consequent non utilization adversely affecting the achievement of targets and adverse impact on health situation. Specifically, mentioning the state of Bihar, it observes that significant delay was made in release of funds in the financial years (FY) 2015-16 and 2016-17 from the state treasury to the implementing agencies due to complex administrative procedures associated with release of NHM fund. ‘The file with the request for release of funds has to pass through a minimum of 32 and 25 desks up and down the administrative hierarchy in Bihar and Maharashtra.’[17] It observes that in the FY 2015-16 and 2016-17, Bihar and Maharashtra were able to utilize less than 50% of their NHM funds.[18] Another study shows that in the FY 2017-18, Bihar had received only 29% of its approved NHM budget by the third quarter.[19] When we look at human resources in health sector, only 12 % of NHM budget was dedicated to human resources in the financial year 2016- 2017. Out of this, Bihar could spend only 14% of the approved budget.[20] At the same time, Bihar had 96% shortfall of specialists at the CHC (Community Health Centre) level, as on March 2017.[21] Quite interestingly, a Planning Commission Report of 2011 estimates that 0.6% of the GDP would be required to appoint adequate human resources in health sector, in 16 states alone. The plan of action has nothing to do with fund release nor does not it have the mandate to touch upon areas which are not directly related to child rights. However, ignoring these structural issues assure that all actions remain only on paper. Interestingly, in a study conducted by PRS, 93.3% of household in Bihar said they do not use the government health facilities, 83.7% of them because they think the quality of care is poor.[22] No wonder, most ill children in Muzaffarpur were initially taken to private doctors. PROBLEM 2: DISSATISFIED AND POORLY TRAINED WORKERS The strategy to control AES in Muzaffarpur includes awareness campaigns. In fact, many actions proposed in the plan of action relating to health of women and children, are highly dependent on efficient working of Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHAs. ASHAs are frontline health workers who are incentivized for providing basic health facilities at the community level and spread awareness. In the SOP of the Bihar Government, they have, along with the Anganwadi Sevikas and the Self-help Groups, been tasked with the job of spreading awareness and identifying and providing first line of treatment for AES and such diseases.[23] ASHA had an instrumentalist origin, with the aim of utilizing women as first line health workers. The idea was that being accepted in a patriarchal set up as care givers, women accredited as ASHAs would have easy accessibility to women and children at community level, who are the primary focus of National Health Mission. ASHAs work on the basis of incentives. Voluntary and incentivized nature of ASHA was justified on many grounds including the government’s already overburdened health structure, under performance if fixed salaries were given (example Anganwadi workers), burden of life long pension and employment, idea was to utilize this cadre temporarily, need of flexibility in selection criteria, federal nature of the governance (health is state subject) etc. Underlying ASHA however are numerous problematic presumptions like ‘poor women can set aside time for volunteer work’, the assumption that ‘women ought to act selfless, altruistic and apolitical, ’[24] late payment and consequent belittling by families and demoralization due to late payment, sexual harassment, caste based discrimination, inaccessibility (like an old ASHA not trusted by an adolescent beneficiary).[25] Further, ASHAs donot earn a fixed salary and are eligible for performance based incentive based on activities under taken. In a study of ASHA workers, it was found that ASHAs depended on Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) as it was through this scheme that they received a more amount of compensation ‘as other tasks are either poorly incentivised or not incentivized at all.’ Incentive based model naturally attracts the ASHA workers to focus on those schemes which assure greater incentive. They may infact coerce people to access government services which may not be adequate and properly managed, because the incentive amount may be bigger. For instance, ASHAs may coerce people to access government facilities like institutional delivery despite absence of proper facilities and doctors.[26] According to National Health Mission’s update on ASHA programme (published in 2017)[27], ASHAs who facilitate in institutionalized delivery in rural areas are proposed to receive Rs. 300 for one such delivery, while they receive Rs. 50 per case for ensuring quarterly follow up of low birth weight babies and newborns discharged after treatment from Specialized New born Care Units. Similarly, for undertaking six (in case of institutional deliveries) and seven (for home deliveries) home visit for the care of the new born and post partum mother, she is proposed to be paid Rs 250/- and for ‘mobilising’ and ensuring every eligible child (1-19 years out-of-school and non-enrolled) is administered Albendazole, she is proposed to receive Rs. 100/-, for distribution of 100 ORS packets, she is proposed to receive Rs 100/- at the rate of Rs 1 per ORS packet. ASHA may prefer, quite in consonance with the logic of incentive based model, to engage in those schemes which pay more with less effort. Terms like ‘mobilising’ and ‘ensuring’ requires much more mental and physical labour. Similarly, distributing 100 sachets of ORS to 100 children at the rate of Rs. 1 may not be economically appealing. The nature of responsibility on ASHA entails commitment, consistency, leadership, patience and hard work. Can incentive based model assure these qualities? In Bihar, the practical challenges that ASHAs face is delay in payment (Bihar paid incentives of the year 2017, in the year 2018), and other challenges mentioned above. In December 2018, the ASHA workers launched an indefinite strike, demanding their 12-point charter to be addressed. They pointed out that the government had not yet implemented its own agreement with the ASHA unions, made in June, 2015. They demanded a minimum wage and government employee status along with other provisions. Given their primacy in delivery of the basic, essential and the most important health care facilities to women and children including delivery of babies, neo natal care, nutrition and immunisation, spreading awareness, can a system so entrenched on market model and uncertainty and insecurity of tenure assure quality service? Can top down approach of policy making and training and bottom up approach of implementation work effectively?[28] Is ‘fixed’ salary the monster which causes poor performance or is it the poor selection criteria, poor training and poor hand holding? Can this neo-liberal model of delivering health benefits work effectively to deliver results of universal health? PROBLEM 3: TRAINING & CONTENT The plan of action talks of proper training of health workers including ASHAs. However, training does not take into account the context in which the ASHA has to work. It also does not take care of the unique requirements of different regions of the country. For instance, till recently no guidance was provided to ASHA to tackle challenges at ground level, for instance patriarchal norms.[29] Further, According to the Government of India update on ASHA programme, 2017, the data available upto December 2016 with respect of training of ASHA workers shows ‘a plateau in training roll out’. ‘For instance, Bihar has reported no training progress for over a year as the percentage of Round 3 and 4 training completion has been stagnant at 79% and 8% respectively.’ With respect to dissemination, an interesting example is of the Mother Child Protection Card (MCPC). A study shares the following regarding discussion of a group of women on MCPC which contains numerous messages, ‘Yet they also mocked its messages. Particularly, the ‘save money’ message received laughter and jokes. With no work, no money and no job, what was there to save? Household reserves were not available to them. They felt that several of the messages were ill fitted to the realities of how they lived. ‘Arrange for transport’ was similarly subjected to jokes and shared experiences. ‘Transport, what transport? When I was sent to the hospital to give birth I was pulled in a wooden wagon and it took us hours to get there’. ‘I walked’ another young woman explained, ‘accompanied by my mother in law who kept yelling at me to stop complaining’. ‘Ah’ yet another woman complained, ‘my mother in law only took me there for the money – so I had to walk too as she did not want to waste the money offered her to take me there. She did not even allow the sister ASHA to take me as that was wasting money too’.[30] Have these realities been taken into consideration when designing the card or training content of ASHAs? The purpose of highlighting these issues which seem disconnected to child well-being, is to bring to fore the fact that problems do not lie in the plan of action per se. The plan merely reiterates what is commonly known, interlinks strategies, actions, and programmes - making a roadmap to child well-being. But it does not take care of the built-in fault-lines in the system at various levels. We hit upon the AES on our road of action for child well because the trenches of structural faults which have been dug deep on the road to child well-being have remained unaddressed, ignored or dismissed. Centre-state relationship, fund release, programme design and its implementing agencies and their choices, recruitment and training are the more obvious trenches. There is many lurking in the landscape. THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION However, the Frankenstein lurking in the darkness needs to be addressed without delay. In the very beginning of the plan of action for children, the author highlights and emphasizes upon ‘rights of children.’ The plan of action has been formulated ‘to determine priorities of action at the state level to protect the rights of children in Bihar.’[31] The plan of action draws upon the legal framework created at the international and national level to protect the child rights including the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Constitution of India (Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles), Special laws and schemes ICPS, ICDS, state government schemes etc.[32] In short, we are essentially seeking to look at children from rights perspective and not from welfare perspective. It is not rocket science to realize that children lack agency. Children are neither voters nor do they have the legal capacity to move the court. They are dependent on adults for articulating and expressing their issues and moving courts in case of any violation against them. Adding to this, the hierarchical, patriarchal caste and class divided society with structural inequalities and acute poverty has built an ecosystem where moral, political, economic and sociological excuses are easily available to ignore children and dismiss their concerns. In such situation, there is no compulsion on any one to heed to children’s concern. The benefits of rights perspective are that it guarantees equality of all children irrespective of their caste, class, gender etc., it assures to all children certain universal rights which children have the right to demand and the state and other agencies have an obligation to fulfill. It can assure that the Fundamental rights and the constitutional values engrained in our constitution, apply to children as well. The welfare approach does not guarantee equality and universality of rights and does not impose corresponding obligation on government and its agencies. Therefore, child rights approach is a more effective means of protecting children and assuring their well-being. The plan of action focuses on this fundamental change of premise underlying the regime of child well-being. But has the rights approach made its way into the psyche of Indian society, political leadership, bureaucracy and implementing agencies or we are only paying lip service to this approach? AES is prevalent in the poorest and the most deprived sections of the society and children affected by them are mostly from poorest families and are malnourished. AES is therefore not only a disease of the body; it is disease of a society in which there is a huge gap between the rights guaranteed and actually enjoyed by children as citizens of India and as one of the most vulnerable groups globally. This disease puts a big question mark on the rights approach to children and their constitutional rights as citizens of India. Are we ready to heed? References [1]Government of India, Report: SRS Bulletin (Registrar General, 2005), available at http://censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/SRS_Bulletins/SRS_Bulletins_links/SRS_Bulletin_April_2005.pdf accessed on 29 June 2019 [2]Institutional Deliveries, available at: (Last Updated On: June 30, 2019). [3] Supra footnote 10 [4]Supra footnote 10; also see Vani Sethi & ors., “Bihar’s Burden of Child Stunting A District-wise Analysis”, Economic & Political Weekly, March 11, 2017. [5]Purnamia Menon and ors., “Understanding the geographical burden of stunting in India: A regression-decomposition analysis of district-level data from 2015-16.”, Maternal and Child Nutrition, (2018) 14. e12620. 10.1111/mcn.12620. [6] The World Bank, Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development – A Strategy for Large Scale Action (October, 2010). [7]Supra footnote 1 [8]Government of India, Census of India (Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, 2012). (Disclaimer 1: The post was written in June, 2019 considering the then circumstances prevailing.) (Disclaimer 2: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Child Rights Centre.)