Suman Tiwari
There is no land like the land of childhood,it should not be complicated ,the childhood suffering is having long life effect on the personailty as rightly said , a man is the product of his childhood surrounding and environment so it become imperative to protect childhood from being misused ,hence it is the high time to move forward with helping hand for those CHILD who are experiencing trauma due to sudden demise of their parents to covid .These small hands need our help so collectively it is our duty to advance helping hand for them and be reason for their believe that humanity is still alive .what makes a great person is a great foundation which to say is the childhood he has been , so let not it be abused at wrong hands .
Many child lost their both parents to Covid 19,or one of them but the earning member is no more or the legal guardian alive is having no means to support them or they do not want to bear their liability , they would be assisted by government .However for getting advantage of this scheme a child must be between age 0 to 18 years and need to approach within 2 years since the death of their parents so it is the high time to ensure your participation in the drive to save childhood .
The recent initiative of UP Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana 2021 is commendable step to protect childhood from being abused in wrong hands .This scheme will provide assistance to facilitate rehabilitation, social integration , education ,medical need ,and other basic necessity of children up to the age 0 to 18 years ,who are helpless and are abandoned due to sudden demise of their parents to covid on 1 march 2020 or later on The scheme also provide to them legal assistance to protect their property until they reaches the age of majority and DM of the district is vested with power of legal guardian for their property till that age.Apart from this District legal serviced authority is also there to assist them in getting free legal aid .In real sense step has been taken to materialize Constitutional mandate of social justice enshrined under the Constitution of India under the chapter Directive principle of state policy .
The important thing here is to know how we(every single individual ) can assist to materialize the scheme. So it is right time to be a informed citizen and spread your knowledge to your neighborhood ,area of residence so that no child could be given in wrong hand and childhood is not being abused . Under section 2(14) of the Juvenile justice (care and protection of children ) Act ,2015 children without parent or who are abandoned are defined as children in need of care and protection and if any such child is found by any person he need to produce them in CWC who will take decision of their further custody and pass appropriate order for their rehabilitation or other social integration related issue .However if you can not do this than give a call to child helpline number 1098 that call will be diverted to local police unit which in turn respond to bring the child before CWC for further discourse .Apart from this you can directly contact to District Child Protection Unit or District Child Protection Officer or District level task force constituted for the same objective. However if one can not do even this but you want to assist the child you can inform to your local police ,any public officer ie tehsildar ,Village Development Officer,BDO,Lekhpal,Zila panchayat Adhikari,SP,DM etc of your District who could be approached most conveniently by anyone,they will assist you in this drive for sure .You can even give call to National Emergency Number 112 to assist you in your pious step but do not let even a single child in the hand of wrong person.Make sure that no child is left with their relatives after death of their parents or their abandonment by their guardian without valid adoption which could lead their future misuse and abandonment without any legal liability .For valid adoption provisions are given in Juvenile Justice Act 2015 ,valid adoption of orphaned surrendered and abandoned child could be taken only through the recourses given in the Act, if any person or organization offers or gives or receives any orphan or abandoned child for the purpose of adoption without following the provisions as provided in this Act such person or organization shall be punished as per section 80 JJ Act .The Adoption law under the JJ Act is more simplier , secular than adoptoion under Hindu Adotion and Maintenance Act ,1956 which is applicable to Hindus only and limited geographical boundaries of India .So as per JJ Act only registered specialized adoption agency could give the child to adoption after opting all legal resources given under JJ Act and adoption regulation framed by the authority under the Act. Under the JJ Act CWC is the only committee authorized to declare the child free for adoption complying the norms of the Act it is only this declaration specialized adoption agency start procedure to give child into adoption.Apart from this the interested person may directly apply to these agencies.On such application being made the home study report of the prospective parents is to be conducted if they are found eligible for adoption than along with child study report and medical report of child their consent would be taken and the entire file would be send to the court for court order and till the court order the child would be placed in pre adoption foster care .On the receipt of certified copy of the court order the specialized adoption agency shall send immediately the same to the prospective adoptive parents ,the child adopted under the act is vested with all rights and obligation of legal child.
In India number of such specialized adoption agencies are functioning CARA is one of them so make sure that not even single child is left from being taken care and ensure your participation in the Government drive to save child from being misused and fulfil your moral obligation of Constitutionl duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious ,linguistic ,and regional or sectional diversity and to have a compassion for living creature.