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Unique legislation to protect girl child

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI MAY 11. Goa has introduced a landmark legislation for the protection of children, particularly to ensure elimination of all forms of discrimination against girl child and to prevent pre-natal sex selection and female foeticide and infanticide.

The Health Secretary of Goa, Rina Ray, told a media workshop held at Panajim last week that the Goa Children's Act, 2003, which came into force this month, was intended to promote and support the girl child and to give her a sense of self-esteem.

She said the Government would conduct gender sensitisation programmes at all levels. It would implement comprehensive policies and programmes for the survival, protection, development and advancement of the girl child. Equal opportunities would be provided to girls.

The workshop was organised jointly by the Centre for Advocacy and Research, New Delhi, and Sabu George, one of the petitioners in the Supreme Court seeking strict enforcement of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act with the recent amendments.

The Goa Act, incorporating the relevant provisions of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, seeks to enforce provisions pertaining to children in the Directive Principles of State Policy under the Constitution and thereby gives a new dimension to the rights of children.

The law gives special care and attention to the needs of the girl child and ensures elimination of all gender bias. It bans child prostitution and all forms of trafficking of girl children and sexual abuse.

Any person found using a girl child for commercial sexual exploitation would be fined Rs. one lakh and sentenced to simple imprisonment for one year. Further, degrading and violent portrayals of girl child have been prohibited.

Under the Act, the Government has directed that all those identified as child labourers (less than 14 years of age) shall be released forthwith and placed in children's homes till a satisfactory rehabilitation programme is put in place for them. And use of children for the sale of alcohol, narcotic substances etc., is prohibited.

Another unique feature of the legislation is that the Government will ensure that all street children are withdrawn from life on the streets within two years and placed in registered children's homes till a rehabilitation programme is formulated for their education and integration into society.

To achieve the objectives of the Act, the Government will create a State Children's Fund. Besides voluntary donations, all fines imposed under this Act shall be credited to this fund, to be maintained by a State-level authority.

Ms. Ray suggested that this model legislation be introduced in other States as well for eradication of rural poverty and uplift of children, particularly girl children.

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