The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) organised the sixth Regional Seminar on Child Protection, Child Safety and Child Welfare ‘Vatsal Bharat’ at Swatantrata Bhavan in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) here on Friday which was attended by Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Priyank Kanungo and attended by more than 1,500 participants, including representatives of NGOs from different corners of the country. During the programme ‘Vatsal Bharat Award’ for the best performance in child begging and child labour free campaign and out of 51 major religious places identified in India, Kashi Vishwanath Temple (KVT) complex got first place in making it child friendly, child begging and child labour free. For this, Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Varanasi district Himanshu Nagpal was awarded and honoured on the stage by the NCPCR and MWCD. In the same function, the Vatsal Bharat Award was conferred on Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), founded by Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi, for its constant efforts towards protection of child rights and ensuring child welfare. Aditi Das Raut, Additional Secretary, MWCD and Priyank Kanungo, Chairperson, NCPCR presented the award. The members of child welfare committees, juvenile justice boards, village child protection committees and representatives of Anganwadi workers participated in the seminar. The event is part of a series of regional seminars to be organised across the country to increase awareness and reach of child protection, child safety and child welfare issues. NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanungo said today we all have got the privilege of organising this event at Mahamana’s BHU in Kashi. “We are happy that people from different corners of the country have come here to participate. Since the year 2014, many important works have been done for child welfare. Due to changes in Mission Vatsalya and Juvenile Justice Act, the respect of child protection workers has increased,” she said. She said due to the visionary thinking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an ambitious scheme like PM Cares for Children was made possible. “India’s Juvenile Justice Act is very vast, we all have to work together on the ground for this,” Priyank Kanungo said, also mentioning that under the guidelines prescribed in the Juvenile Justice Rules, 2022, a protocol had been established for inter-district and inter-state transfer of children. “This initiative involved the collaboration of the National Commission for Children and the State Children’s Commissions," she informed. In his welcome address, Additional Secretary of MWCD Sanjeev Kumar Chadha said the idea behind this seminar is to celebrate and appreciate the work being done by all functionaries who are working in the districts and even working at the panchayat level. He mentioned that under the dynamic leadership of the PM, the child protection ecosystem in the country has been transformed in the last few years by the Juvenile Justice Act and there has been a paradigm shift from the amendments made in the rules, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which has been issued by the Government of India.
Earlier, the function began with a cultural programme organised by the Ministry of Culture. The presentation of ‘Raag Ahir Bhairav’ by three young research scholars mesmerised the audience. The second presentation was of Bharatnatyam, followed by Odissi dance by Rahul Mukherjee’s team in which he won the hearts of all by performing beautifully on the song of Vande Mataram. The artists of the Arya Group enthralled everyone by presenting a cultural programme based on Baba Bholenath of Kashi.