WBCPCR to get child friendly room in office

Kolkata: West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) is the first among such commissions in all other states in the country to have a child friendly space in its office, where children will feel relaxed to speak out freely in a "convivial atmosphere".

Usually, a child remains traumatised when he or she passes through any odd situation or if they fall victim to any mental or physical torture. So the need of a child friendly room was felt where they can be kept soon after being rescued. Since police undertake the rescue operations and need to take the children to police stations initially, child friendly rooms were set up in some of the police stations in Kolkata.

Now, a quite similar child friendly room is being set up at the office of WBCPCR at Ultadanga. The commission in Bengal is the first one among all such commissions in other states of the country to get a child friendly room as suggested in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

The room will be inaugurated by Sashi Panja, minister of the Women, Child and Social Welfare department, on Monday at 12 noon.

The necessity of the child friendly room in the commission's office was felt as children are often brought there for hearing. Many cases of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) are being heard in the commission, in case there is any allegation of improper probe, etc. At the same time, cases in which children suffer due to dispute between parents, are also heard in the commission.

"They would feel better if they sit in a child friendly room and can speak freely while recovering from a traumatised state. So, the decision to set up the room has been taken," said Ananya Chatterjee Chakraborty, Chairperson of WBCPCR.

Both the exterior and interior of the child-friendly room has been given a completely different look. Different cartoon characters have been painted on the walls of the room and bright colours have been used to paint the remaining portions of the walls. It will make the place attractive to children and would help them to feel free, forgetting the odd situations they had faced in the recent past.

There will be ample number of soft toys in the room, with which the children can play during their stay in the office of the commission.