WBCPCR & UNICEF commemorate state Child Protection Day
Darjeeling: On the occasion of State Child Protection Day in Darjeeling by the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) Government of West Bengal jointly with UNICEF, 5 police personnel were awarded the Best Child-Friendly Police Award. Two children’s homes also received the Best Child Friendly CCI (Child Care Institute) Award. Among the two CCI one is a government-run one and the other run by an NGO. The theme of the programme was “Stay safe online.”
“This is for the first time that such a programme is being held in Darjeeling. We want to reach out to far-flung districts hence we chose Darjeeling. Around 350 children from Murshidabad, Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts attended the programme on Friday,” stated Tulika Das, Chairperson, WBCPCR.
The police personnel who received awards included SI Soumodeep Pattanaik of Naihati PS for his sincere efforts in rescuing several children; Trishna Limbu, at present posted in Alipurduar district for resolving several child rights violation cases and getting the perpetrators convicted; Ramakrishna Guria, presently posted at the Barasat police station for resolving a number of POCSO cases; Chunku Bhutia, the OC of Darjeeling Sadar Women’s police station for resolving several Juvenile Justice At violation cases and sexual harassment cases involving children along with Ranjan Chatiyal of Domjur Police station, Howrah for competently handling several child’s rights violation cases.
For the award in the best Government run CCI, the Subhayan Home for Boys, Balurghat, South Dinajpur was awarded.
“I would like to invite the Commission to come to Siliguri for a few days and to visit the vulnerable areas in the plains to earmark the challenges emerging in the child protection avenues in the days to come” stated Gautam Deb, Mayor, Siliguri Municipal Corporation. Speakers highlighted the vulnerability of children exposed to the net.
“One out of every three children has access to the net globally. They rampantly fall prey to websites in dark nets, unknowingly,” stated the Chairperson. Adding to this Prabhat Kumar, Chief, UNICEF, office for West Bengal said: “We have to be future-ready for children. The future is challenging as cyberspace is very dynamic.”
