Death of children in CCIs should be reported within 24 hours: NCPCR

New Delhi: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) will soon write to all states and union territories asking them to report the death of any child within their child care institutions (CCIs) inside 24 hours, so that the Commission can take necessary action at the earliest.

Moreover, the Commission will send a standard operating procedure (SOP) about escape, runaway, sexual abuse, children's death in CCIs to all the states and union territories.

The letters will be sent to all the chief secretaries, director generals police, secretaries of Women and Child Development departments, and commissions for protection of child rights in all the states and union territories.

According to NCPCR, in case a child passes away from natural causes or due to an illness, the person-in-charge of the CCI shall obtain the report from the medical officer, stating the cause of the death within 15 days and send a written intimation about the death within 24 hours of receipt of the report to the nearest police station, parents or relatives of the child, district magistrate, National Human Rights Commission and the NCPCR too.

According to the child rights body, as soon as the district magistrate/superintendent of police receives information related to the death of a child in the CCI, the report should be sent to NCPCR and SCPCR (state commission for protection of child rights) within 24 hours via telephone, post, e-mail, fax, the online portal.

Officials of the Commission claimed that they felt the necessity of issuing an SOP to all the concerned stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act and reporting such incident to NCPCR.

The Commission, through media reports, noticed that children in CCIs often run away from the institution due to various reasons, including inadequate physical infrastructure, food, sanitation and other facilities.

Media reports further claimed that the children are being tortured in the institutions.

Yashwant Jain, member, NCPCR, told Millennium Post that the Commission is taking necessary steps to make sure that children living in CCIs across the country are ensured their rights and provided a safe environment.