Appointment of Chairperson of Child Rights Protection Comm
Delay even after repeated directives from HC
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 10: Started more than one and half years back, an exercise for the appointment of Chairperson and Members of J&K Commission for Protection of Child Rights has not reached the logical conclusion till date that too even after repeated directions from the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
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In exercise of powers conferred by Section 36 of the Commissions for the Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 (Central Act 4 of 2006), the Lieutenant Governor vide notification dated October 21, 2022 made J&K Commission for Protection of Child Rights Rules, 2022. In the Rules, the procedure for appointment of Chairperson and Members of the Commission was clearly defined.
Several months after the notification of Rules, the Social Welfare Department Vide Advertisement Notice dated June 15, 2023 invited applications from eligible interested persons for the appointment of Chairperson and Members of the Commission. The last date for submission of applications was June 30, 2023.
However, the exercise remained inconclusive for known reasons and for next several months no serious attention was paid towards making appointment of Chairperson and Members of the Commission. Again on October 18, 2024, the Social Welfare Department issued fresh Advertisement Notice inviting applications for one post of Chairperson and six posts of Members of the Commission and even relaxed eligibility criteria. The deadline for submission of applications was fixed as November 3, 2024.
Vide notification dated November 4, 2024, the Social Welfare Department extended the last date for submission of application forms for the appointment of Chairperson and Members till November 19, 2024. It was also mentioned that terms and conditions, eligibility and other details will remain the same as were notified on October 18, 2024.
“Though it is claimed that large number of applications were received following extension of last date till November 19 yet what is preventing the Social Welfare Department from submitting the list of eligible candidates to the High-Powered Committee headed by Chief Secretary is not being revealed by the department”, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
An officer of the Social Welfare Department, who is aware of the exercise conducted till date, when approached to ascertain the hurdles, if any, in the scrutiny of applications and submission of list, simply said, “the process is on…the department is on the job…Hopefully exercise will conclude in near future”.
However, sources said, “keeping in view the time taken till date the Social Welfare Department should have shown swiftness in submission of list of eligible candidates to the High Powered Committee as appointment of Chairperson and Members of the J&K Commission for Protection of Child Rights is not only requirement of the Central Act but also explicit and repeated direction of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh”.
As per the Act and Rules, the Commission will analyze existing law, policy and practice to assess compliance with Convention on the Rights of Child, undertake inquiries and produce reports on any aspect of policy and practice affecting children and comment on proposed new legislation with a child rights perspective.
Moreover, the Commission will study Union Territory policies that impact children and ensure that they comply with international child rights standards; undertake formal investigations where concern has been expressed either by children themselves or by concerned person on their behalf; promote, respect and give serious considerations to the views of the children in its work and in that of all Government departments and organizations dealing with child.
Moreover, the Commission will promote the incorporation of child rights into the school curriculum, teachers training and training of personnel dealing with children; call for Action Taken Reports on the recommendations made to various departments and authorities and review the plans and programmes of the Local Self Government and relevant Government departments from the child rights perspective and make appropriate recommendations.
There will be two zones in the Union Territory for facilitating the functioning of the Commission- Jammu Zone and Kashmir Zone and one Member as authorized by the Commission shall be incharge of a zone and the Chairperson may, taking into consideration the administrative and functional convenience re-allocate a particular district or districts already placed under one Member to another.
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