Index

Chapter

Subject

Page No.

1.

Children's Rights

1 - 10

2.

ITE initiative at Bazardiha

11 - 14

3.

Petition for Government School At Baghawanala

15 - 16

4.

Model Village

17 - 18

5.

BEING A PRISONER'S CHILD

19 - 24

Guest Editor : Hope Chatterton Bentley

Technical Coordinator : Rohit Kumar
PVCHR/JMN published this news letter for Activist Knowledge Centre to
enhance the capacity of Human Rights Defender. This news letter published
with financial assistance from Dignity : Danish Institute Against
Torture. The Dignity: Danish Institute Against Torture is not liable for any
content in this news letter.

Preface

s an intern from LEAPNOW, U.S.A. I feel honored to have my work with PVCHR
recognized in this format. My background in journalism is not extensive, and I knew
very little in the eld of human rights at the beginning of my time here. Therefore this
publication is not to go into great detail about the many challenges to their rights and
comforts faced by children in Uttar Pradesh or India in general. Rather, its purpose of
consolidating the basics and exploring settings in which these challenges are most
apparent serves those outside of these communities, who may not be even remotely
familiar with this issue. My hope is that, as an observer, I have made this information
available to others who have limited access to this subject, because of the language barrier,
the distance barrier or any other barrier to information, thereby contributing (What I can) to
the strength of our global community. That being said, I would like to extend my deepest
gratitude to several people who helped me to overcome such challenges and make this
experience and publication possible, including: Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi, co-founder and
CEO of PVCHR and Shirin Shabana Khan, Program Director, for conceptualizing this
project and guiding me the whole way through. Also Irshad Ahmed and Dilshad Khan for
their literal guidance through the maze of Varanasi alleyways to important information sites,
and Shruti Nagvansi for providing much information on the issue of children's rights. And
nally Kranti, Anup Srivastava and again Shirin Shabana Khan for their invaluable
translation services.
Hope Chatterton Bentley
11 May 2015

Children's Rights
Author : Hope Chatterton Bentley
The purpose of this article is to explain the experience of children, their families and their
communities in regards to the violations caused to children's rights in India. After examining the
various facets of the issue, suggestions will be made as to how this overreaching problem and
each of the themes that feeds into it might be mitigated.
Childhood is a stage of life through which every human passes and during which important
developmental processes happen. Children are strongly inuenced by their environments, and
more vulnerable than the adults in their lives. Therefore, these adults are counted upon to protect
children from exploitation and abuse, and also to provide an environment devoted to safety and
health for children to learn and grow in. With more than four-hundred million children in India, it is
crucial that the adults in every child's life are dedicated to the support of the child.
Historically, children have been a low priority in national decision-making. However, there are
several policies that are in place to get India on track in terms of considering its children more
seriously. One important document providing explanation and protection in the matter of children's
rights in India is the Indian Constitution, 1950. The Constitution sets standards to benet all
children in India, regardless of caste or economic status, such as "free and compulsory
elementary education for all children in the six to 14 year age group" (Article 24), and the right to
"equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom"
(Article 39, section f). These are some of the rights specically concerning children, though it is not
to be ignored that, as equal citizens of India, they also have all of the rights which apply to adults
(right to equality, to be protected from discrimination, etc.). Other important documents include:
UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child (UNDRC),1959, which builds on the League of
Nations' Declaration of Rights. The Declaration states that children need "special safeguards
and care" even before they are born, to protect them from all forms of neglect, cruelty,
exploitation, trafcking, discrimination and unsuitable labour. It also calls for the law, as well as
society in general, to provide resources to support physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual
development.
National Policy for Children, 1974, the rst policy by the Indian government to document the
needs and rights of children. It upholds that children are as important to the country as adults
are and aims to ensure the rights listed in the Constitution and UNDRC are observed in Indian
society.
National Policy on Child Labour, 1987, and National Nutrition Policy, 1993, are action plans to
eliminate child labour using both short and long term strategies to intervene in harmful practices
regarding food production and distribution, health and family welfare, rural and urban
development and education.
National Population Policy, 2000, was implemented to improve the status of children in India,
specically emphasizing their right to free and compulsory education, vaccinations for
preventable diseases to every child, all-inclusive regulation of pregnancy, birth, death and
marriage registration and the reduction of the national infant mortality rate and maternal

Voice of Voiceless

mortality rate.
National Health Policy, 2002, a plan to attain an "acceptable standard of good health amongst
the general population," calls for increased access to public health. The proposal is to establish
new facilities in areas where there are non and to improve those that already exist.
National Charter for Children, 2003, highlights the Constitutional supplements aiding the cause
of children as well as the role and obligations of adults to fulll their needs. The charter pays
particular attention to vulnerable groups and the programmes that help them, and aims to
encourage the community to be conscious of their difculties by calling for protection against
abuse and advising the strengthening of families and society through the promotion of safety
and empowerment.
National Plan of Action for Children, 2005, functions in pursuit of the well being of all children.
The primary focus is on ending the common practices of child marriage and female foeticide
and infanticide. It also supports the survival, development and protection of female children,
offering legal and social protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
International law, namely the the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), 1992,
denes a child as any person between the ages of zero and 18 years. It was created to protect the
rights of every child in the world, without discrimination, and reaches beyond the children
themselves to their families, stressing in the importance of a healthy environment in supporting
healthy development. The Convention sets up ideals in what it considers the most important areas
of human rights, those being political, social, economic and cultural platforms. This comes in four
parts, or rights. The right to survival includes the right to life and the highest possible quality of
living, good nutrition, a name and nationality. The right to development encompasses education,
special care for young children, social security, leisure, recreation and cultural activities. The right
to protection provides freedom from all forms of inhuman and degrading treatment, exploitation,
abuse and neglect, and emphasizes special protection in the case of disability and emergency
situations, including armed conict. Finally, the right to participation calls for respect of the views of
children and provides freedom of expression, thought, conscience, religion and to information. In
regards to these standards, there are four key areas in which children's rights are being violated.
Many children from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes do not receive legal birth
registration because of the corrupt practices in healthcare and document management. These
same children, and even the children of higher social statuses, are suffering further at the hands of
healthcare providers and lack of proper facilities from preventable illnesses and complications,
including malnutrition, malaria and pneumonia. Child labour is another widespread plague
affecting millions of children in India, as the children themselves are treated as resources which
can be used to support their parents' struggling livelihood. Children of lower castes and other
marginalized groups are experiencing violations to their right to education by certain upper caste
authorities practicing discrimination, as well as by their obligations to help their parents.
In fact, the majority of child rights violations come from lack of education, not only in the children,
but their parents and communities as well. Many children are prevented from receiving an
education due to poverty, the perception of superiority and justication of intense discrimination
and, to come full circle, the suppressed peoples' lack of knowledge about their rights and the

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resources available to them. In this way violations to children's rights are perpetuated from
generation to generation.
It is the tradition of superiority and discrimination, especially regarding the denied right to
education, that must end in order for children's rights, and the rights of all people, to be recognized
and met, thus establishing a safe, healthy and supportive community. This is true for village, state,
country and even the international communities.
The marginalized community of India includes scheduled castes and scheduled tribes Muslims
and, in some areas, Christians. Children of these communities are most victimized by failed
acknowledgment of their rights because of their families' desperate economic and social statuses,
which create a complex web of challenges. In such communities, illness is often devastating and
high infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates prevail. Healthcare and education
providers often deny services to people of lower social statuses because of the perception of
"untouchability," and the law is silent, even abusive, in response.
One case example is the mistreatment of Mase, a deaf child. Mase was found by the Mirzamurad
police who, rather than bringing him to the childline, kept him in the police station for four months.
There he acted as a servant, bringing them tea and doing other tasks and nding his own food.
One night Mase was sexually abused by an intoxicated ofcer. The mistreatment remained an
open secret among the police ofcers for several days before the information was leaked to the
media, though the police ofcers still refused to admit the nature of the act, claiming instead that
the child was slapped when he refused to bring water.
This leaves the children of marginalized communities in an extremely vulnerable position in
regards to their health, access to information and protection from labour. Female children are
especially vulnerable. 45% of girls are married before they reach 18 years, as their birth families
are often eager to shed be responsibility. A Girl married as a minor is more likely to experience
pregnancy before 24 months of her last birth, pregnancy termination and sterilization. Child
marriages are also practiced to create matrimonial alliances between families and also because
many families do not want female children. The strong desire for male children is responsible for
the high rates of female foeticide, by which an estimated 35 to 40 million girls and women are
absent from India's total population.
Many families have no permanent source of income, forcing them to migrate for work and forfeiting
them from the benets of the local government schemes in place to support them. The people who
need this support do not know support is available, and the people who are supposed to offer
support do not take measures to inform them.
Many grassroots workers in India adhere to the caste system, so they offer aid only to struggling
upper caste families. In the rare instance someone from a marginalized community speaks up
about his/her need for aid, the upper caste community scolds him/her, putting the blame on the
lack of effort coming from that individual. Of course, this "lack of effort" is actually the inability to act
because of the limited education and heavy suppression of the marginalized communities by the
upper castes. This discriminatory cycle creates the context that enables violations to the rights of
all children, especially those belonging to vulnerable castes.
When a woman is pregnant, it is the responsibility of the healthcare department to provide her with

Voice of Voiceless

proper medications and facilities and care at no cost to her. Additionally, if she stays in the hospital
for 48 hours at the time of her birth, she is entitled to a free birth certicate for the baby and a
stipend of Rs 1,400. However, many women face a very different reality, and only 41% of births in
India are registered.
Women of marginalized communities are not admitted into the hospital because the healthcare
providers, mostly belonging to upper castes, refuse to care for them. Even if the woman is
admitted, she is often mistreated and harassed. Additionally, many authorities discharge new
mothers in less than 48 hours. Because they do not know about the benets of staying the full 48
hours, the new mothers do not receive the birth certicate or stipend. In fact, they are subjected to
various fees that healthcare providers illegally impose, such as those for birth certicates and
medications and, in some cases, to bring home a male baby.
Another preventative of a child receiving a birth certicate is that traditional families pressure
birthing mothers for a home delivery. The health of the new mother is not their primary concern, as
she is expected to return to household duties immediately and most people do not want to wait in
the hospital. Home deliveries also make getting a birth certicate exponentially more difcult. It
becomes the responsibility of the family to get the document from the village head within 21 days of
a birth to not be charged for a registration document. Village head is an elected position, so it is
possible for people of both lower and upper castes to be chosen. If the village head is from a lower
caste, he is most likely uneducated and therefore easily inuenced by the village secretary, who is
always well educated and of an upper caste. If the village head is of an upper caste, his interests
are similar to the secretary's in that empowering the backward castes is not on his agenda. In
either case, the village head is notorious for making it nearly impossible for families to obtain birth
registration. As the ofce is rarely open when it should be, families are told to go to the village
head's house, or to come back another day. They are continually put off, lead in circles and
charged illegal fees. If the birth registration has not been distributed when the 21 day grace period
has ended, the family must pay for the document to be issued by the court or else go without
registration.
The ramications of being undocumented can cause complications for a person's whole life, but
especially during childhood. The government offers many schemes, such as Mid-day Meal,
Integrated Programme for Street Kids and Nutritional Programme for Adolescent Girls, among
others. In order to benet from these schemes, children must be able to prove their age to the
government and the only way to do so is with a birth registration document. Documentation is also
important for children to be enrolled in elementary education. According to law, all children aged
six to 14 years have the right to free education. However, educators from upper castes tend to
question the age of children who are at either end of this age group and may deny the education
that is the children's right. It is also the right of all children, in the event of legal misdemeanor, to be
dealt with in juvenile justice systems. If a child cannot prove his/her age, however, authorities may
handle the situation in the adult justice system.
Because of the discrimination they experience in the hospitals, families from suppressed
communities often choose more traditional, less effective treatments. In the Musahar community,
especially, when children become sick their families believe if it is a natural illness, it will be healed
within a certain time frame. If children are not better within that period, it is believed they have been

Voice of Voiceless

cursed, and are brought to an ojha (witch doctor) who arbitrarily accuses a woman in the area of
practicing witchcraft. Because of this implementation of superstition, rather than professional
medical treatment, small illnesses easily become serious diseases.
Ojhas take advantage of peoples' weariness of healthcare institutions by encouraging the
negative perceptions then charging huge sums to heal the children. A common course of
treatment with an ojha lasts four to six months, provided the children survive that long, and
payment may be demanded of animals, food, alcohol and up to Rs 25,000. Families bury
themselves in irrevocable debt for their children to receive ineffective treatment, rather than taking
advantage of free services by trained providers. Again, this is partly due to the discrimination they
face from the providers and also because they are not aware that such services are free, nor that
the practices of ojhas are ineffective superstition.
When these families are given trained medical attention, they can run into barriers. Not only are
they sometimes unable to explain their symptoms well enough for doctors to understand, but
many doctors are uninterested in caring for them, and do not give the necessary attention or
explain the prescriptions. Also, the families are charged illegally for visits and prescriptions.
Under the Millennium Development Goal, a global initiative to improve the economic, societal and
health statuses of the world's poorest communities, India is to reduce child death rates by twothirds between 1990 and 2015. India is not on track. The country's target for mortality rates of
children under ve is 38/1,000 live births, yet, as of 2012, the rate was at 76%.
A prevalent health concern faced by children of vulnerable communities is dehydration, which can
be caused by a number of other ailments, including diarrhea which, itself, is caused by a number of
health hazards. More than 100,000 children die from complications that cause diarrhea every
year. Viruses and bacterias found in feces are the main causes, and they are mostly spread from
person to person when feces particles enter the mouth. This happens through vegetables that are
harvested from unclean elds, when ies carrying the contagions touch surfaces that are then
touched by people or from infected drinking water, all common conditions in the home
environments of vulnerable children, and even some families from the upper castes.
Dehydration can also be caused by chicken pox, which is considered an inevitable experience all
children must have in Indian society. While the illness itself is not particularly worrisome, it is
possible for children to develop secondary bacterial infections if not treated, which may have
permanent consequences. Many parents still uphold traditional forms of treatment, such as not
allowing the child to bathe for well over a week and using herbs that do not have strong effects and
may not be sterile. There are many other skin problems that harass communities with poor
facilities, mostly caused by infestations and reactions to something in the physical environment.
Malaria poses many problems for India, as it is considered a preventable disease, and yet
thousands of children die from it every year. The exact numbers remain unknown, because deaths
related to malaria are often assumed to be due to other causes. What is known, however, is that
the prevalence of malaria in this part of the world is caused by the overuse of antimalarials by
healthcare providers, which creates stronger pathogens, and also the lacking quality of the
facilities many families live in.
Pneumonia, also prevalent because of the poor infrastructure, is the world's leading deadly

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disease for children, and India has yet to introduce the newest generation of vaccines. It is
believed that the majority of deaths caused by pneumonia are preventable. Many of these
illnesses, among others, are preventable with proper vaccination. Yet, due to the difculties many
families experience with the healthcare system, millions of children die each year because they
are not vaccinated.
Children of all social statuses are are susceptible to malnutrition, which causes an average of 3.5
million child deaths annually. It causes severe complications for children when they become ill, as
they are too weak to ght the illnesses.
The weavers of Varanasi are especially vulnerable to malnutrition as their industry rapidly
declines, leaving many families without work. Bazardiha is an area in the Varanasi district that is
home to more than 100,000 Muslim weavers and lacks even the most basic of modern structures
such as accessible roads, functional sewage and garbage systems and drinking water, and there
is only one, poorly equipped public healthcare center. For this reason families living Bazardiha
face severe threats to their health.
Naazra Khatoon, the mother of one such family watched as her husband and three of their ve
children succumbed to starvation, all within two years of one another. First was her seven-year-old
daughter, Shaba Parveen. After Shaba's death, the family tried several times to get a below
poverty line ration card, but were denied. The next year her husband, Abdul Khaliq starved to
death and ten months later two of their children, Mohammad Murtaza, 3, and Shahina Parveen,
14, met the same fate within hours of each other. Days before Mohammad's death, he was
admitted into a hospital, but he received no treatment there and was sent home without any results
or explanation. Their ofcial autopsies claim that Mohammad and Shahina both died of diarrea. A
neighbor of the family refuted this report, saying "The family is extremely poor. There is a shortage
of food, ration and even clothing. The children died as they got no food and no medication when
they got ill." Naazra and her family are not alone. PVCHR partnered with ActionAid to prepare a
report on suicide and malnutrition in the weaver communities of Varanasi, which found that over 50
percent of their children are malnourished.
In 2001 the Ghasia tribe, living near Sonebhadra, were attacked by police ofcials when one of the
tribe members would not give two girls to satisfy the lust of two ofcers. Consequently, the entire
community, comprised of 55 families, was beaten. After the atrocity, most of the tribe was unable to
perform the hard labour (agriculture, ricksha pulling, mine working, etc.), and consequently were
not earning money for food. They were forced to survive on wild mushrooms, poor quality rice and
a grass that is poisonous to children. In less than a year, 18 of the tribe's children between the ages
of two and seven years died from consuming he grass.
Children all over India are usually malnourished because their families do not know which foods
provide the most nutrition, and cannot afford to supply enough food in general. In this case, it is
expected that children will help provide for their families.
One of the most common and devastating ways they do this is by becoming involved in the brick
kiln industry. The 7-Point agreement made between kiln owners and the government, as well as
verbal promises between the kiln owners and employees, are meant to ensure the safety and well
being of both children and adults by providing access to sanitation and medical facilities, clean and

Voice of Voiceless

comfortable living conditions and child care. Many kiln owners, however, do not meet these
agreements. Consequently, children of adults working in the kilns have nowhere to go during the
day and are brought up working alongside their parents in harsh, dangerous environments. It is
also common for children to be trafcked into the industry, usually by people who know their
families well and betray their trust.
Many kiln employees are treated as slaves, being unable to leave the property and being denied
basic needs for livelihood, such as sufcient pay, food and housing. Women and children are
made to work up to 12 hours a day, but are not considered employees, and so do not get paid.
Therefore men often struggle to support their families on meager wages, unable to afford
necessary medical attention or enough food for more than one meal a day. When asked for a loan,
or for wages to be given out in advance, kiln owners remain obstinate, denying even the urgent
needs of their employees and acting out abusively.
Those who work in the kilns live in jhuggies (small brick huts) with no cement holding the bricks in
place and roofs made of straw. Typical dimensions are four feet by ve feet, and too low to stand in.
The jhuggies have no ventilation, drainage, lighting, sanitation facilities, or clean water for drinking
and bathing. In the kilns themselves, there is usually one hand pump per kiln, which must be
shared by an average of 70 workers.
These are not conditions suitable for children. Kiln owners do not account for the children living in
the kilns with their parents, even though most of them work full time. They work because there is
nowhere else for them to go, as child care services are not provided and parents are not allowed to
take time off. Even when a child is born, the mother is made to work again after 15 days from
delivery. Girls, especially, are subjected to frequent physical and sexual abuse, though even male
children experience such mistreatment. The parents, too, tend to contribute to the abuse. Many
survivors tell stories of being so saddened by the conditions of their children, and so miserable that
they as parents have failed to provide for their children, that they beat them out of hopelessness
when they complain.
Children are also trafcked, sold or follow their parents to work in factories, mines, rice mills,
agricultural work, sexual exploitation and domestic work. Because of this, many children are
raised in a cruel and unsafe environment, inconsistent with their rights to survival and
development.
In one case, Momina, 12, was given by her parents to a couple who offered to educate her and
eventually arrange her marriage in return for doing their household chores. When she was taken to
their house, however, she became an abused bonded laborer. She was forced to do all domestic
duties and look after the couple's three year old child. Momina never went to school. Instead, she
went hungry, being allowed only drinking water and one roti per day. The couple tortured her,
burning her body and clothes with candles, and stufng her mouth when she cried out. The man of
the house regularly attempted sexual assault and whenever she called her parents, the couple
stood nearby with a baton, threatening to beat her if she exposed her condition. This continued for
four years until Momina's parents received word of the abuse she was enduring. When they
rescued her, she was on the verge of death and the family was intimidated and bribed in attempt to
keep Momina's bondage a secret.

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The Right to Education Act, 2009, stresses the right of all children aged six to 14 to be educated.
Under this act, it is the responsibility of the headmaster of each district's government school to
ensure that all children in the district are enrolled and attending classes. Before each school year
begins, the headmasters send the teachers of the schools to go to the houses of each family with
children in this age group. The government supplies them with lists of every family in the district
and how many children are in each, as well as their ages. If the teachers are told the children will be
attending private school, they cross the children's names off the list. If the children will not be
attending private school, the teachers mark them as enrolled in government school, regardless of
whether or not their parents intend to send them.
The corruption lies in the upper caste discriminatory traditions against those of low social status.
The teachers and headmasters are mostly of the upper castes and therefore do not want the
marginalized communities to be educated. The consequences would be that these communities
would know to what extent they are being mistreated and their rights are being violated. They
would be more provocative in communicating their needs and more effectively demand access to
a more comfortable livelihood.
It is common for most children to show up for at least the rst day of school, when they are given
books and uniforms. After that, some children go back to work, rather than continuing school. The
children who do stay are subjected to humiliation and corporal punishment. They are often denied
basic comforts and segregated from the children of higher social statuses.
Vijay, 14, was a student from the Musahar Community in Pindra. He cites being beaten as his
reason for dropping out of school. "One day I asked [the teacher] to go to the toilet but she said 'sit
down, go later.' So I urinated out the window," he said. "She hit me so hard with a stick that my hand
broke." Shyam, 14, of the same district, reports exclusion and violence against Dalit children. "The
teacher always made us sit in the corner of the room and would throw keys at us when she was
angry," he said. Dalit children are also served last at lunchtime. In one case, a Dalit child asked for
food at the beginning of lunchtime and suffered burn marks when the cook poured hot khichdi on
his hand as punishment.
While the teachers are the main antagonists, discrimination is so ingrained in the culture that even
the children participate. Whether they are discouraged by being personally abused or from seeing
their peers so mistreated, the children of lower castes steadily drop out of school.
Other children leave because they are called upon for seasonal employment. They spend some
time working for their parents and, when permitted to return to school, are discouraged by how far
they have fallen behind and drop out.
Still other children are prevented from going to school at all. Their parents often do not know that it
is their children's right to receive an education, or prefer them to stay home to work, cook, look after
their younger siblings, etc. They don't see that the school is effective, anyway, because the harsh
treatment is not conducive to learning. Also, the system is based on memorization, rather than
understanding. The teachers are given deadlines to nish the lessons, and they stick to them
rigidly, whether the children are keeping up or not, to earn their salaries.
Despite many children not attending school, the teachers account for them on their attendance
sheets, record that they have taken the exams and pass them on to the next class. Because of this

Voice of Voiceless

practice, the central government is unaware of the large numbers of children who are not in school
and have difculty taking measures to fulll the children's right to attend.
It is clear that the lack of education of suppressed communities, combined with the self-serving
perceptions of many upper caste authorities, is the root of the issue regarding children's rights. If
these marginalized communities were knowledgeable of the resources available to them and the
means of obtaining them, they would be able to recognize the injustices being done to them and
take action against the abusive systems.
PVCHR is combating health problems in the Musahar community, especially, by providing
education about the inefcacy and corruption of ojhas and the free services provided by hospitals.
The organization partners with private hospitals, and brings children in critical condition for
treatment, publicizing the results so that the community may begin to trust and understand the
benets of organized healthcare.
Additionally, PVCHR is currently monitoring the health statuses of more that 800 children at least
once a month, providing more frequent check-ups to children suffering from acute malnutrition.
Part of this project also includes increasing the capacity of health facilities with the expectation that
busy nurses and doctors are not tempted to send anyone away without treatment, as well as
generally strengthening the relationship between the healthcare providers and their beneciaries.
It is PVCHRs belief that a signicant aspect of providing better care to children of the targeted
communities depends on healthcare providers reaching out to these communities with respect,
giving them the attention and services they are entitled to. In the past, PVCHR has set up
workshops in vulnerable villages, inviting doctors to visit and explain the healthcare system.
These workshops have been so successful they are now run by the hospitals themselves.
PVCHR also sponsors the Kitchen Garden Project, targeting the Musahar and Patel Rajbhar
communities. The organization provides vegetable seeds to the families, instructing them to use
the land around their homes to feed themselves. The seeds are to be planted before the rainy
season so that, when the rainy season comes and the families are out of work, they will still have a
way to feed themselves. Special attention is given to educating teenage girls about their changing
bodies and which foods provide the most benecial nutrients for them, as the majority of young
women in India are anemic.
For the children's right to development to be acknowledged and supported, it is imperative that
they be allowed to go to school without facing harassment by teachers, other children and a
stressful system. They must also be free from the bonds of long workdays to enjoy the freedom of
pleasant and leisurely experiences within their communities. Similarly, to fulll their rights to
protection, children must be supported by their parents and local communities, working
cooperatively with high risk industries to create a sturdy and adhered-to system of understanding
and regulations.
It is imperative to the protection of the children's right to participation that they are acknowledged
as individuals who, though certainly require the protection and support of their parents, are very
clearly not the parents' property. They have needs and wishes and boundaries that are unique to
their individual selves and are not burdens to the family or tools to be used for cheap labour. All
children have the right to have their voices not only heard, but validated as well.

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PVCHR helped to establish the rst children's parliament in 2000 as a means of encouraging the
children in the Baghawanala village to speak up in their communities. The children of this village
come from weaver families and are the rst generation to be educated. The system mimics that of
the government schools, with one principal and ve teachers and utilizes books as well as cultural
experiences, and children are taught the arts, sciences, commerce and about their rights. This is
made possible for many of the girls who would otherwise be kept home to look after younger
siblings by the establishment of crches for all children aged zero to three years.
The parliament itself is comprised of all of the students as well as their teachers. They work
together to recognize and solve the leading issues within their communities. The parliament at
Baghawanala, for example, has conducted six street performances, intervened in child marriages
in their village and petitioned the central government to establish theirs as a government school.
The meetings are held once every month, though if there is a pressing issue involving the whole
community, they call a meeting with their parents, as well. They typically begin with a song
honoring any facet of human rights, choose a president, set an agenda and take minutes, and, at
the end, recap the entire meeting.
Complex issues such as children rights require great care and attention in order to be treated.
Each lending factor is interwoven with the other lending factors, as well as with the entire culture of
the society. Therefore, it is so important for everyone who is working to end the violations of the
rights of all children of the world to be mindful of the individuality and uniqueness of the
communities they are working with and all of the resulting experiences of the children there. That
each child, in addition, has his or her own attributes resulting in a uniquely one-of-a-kind individual
only adds to the complexity of the situation.
No one is exempt from the responsibility of upholding and promoting the rights of every child. The
practice of nurturing children is sure to instill compassion in interactions between adults, as well,
once the importance of invested and abuse-free relationships is established. Children everywhere
should have the opportunity to grow up in environments that encourage supportive, nonviolent
approaches to living together. In this way, a global community of cooperation and stability can be
established.
Resources :
http://www.archive.india.gov.in/citizen/education.php?id=38
https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/StanfordHumanTrafckingIndiaFinalReport.pdf
http://www.bba.org.in
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.childlineindia.org.in/child-trafcking-india.htm
http://inclentrust.org/inclen/uploadedbyfck/le/Diarrhoea-Pneumonia/Lecture
%202_1%20Burden%20of%20pneumonia%20in%20children%20in%20India.pdf
http://www.indianpediatrics.net/nov2005/nov-1101-1114.htm
http://www.loc.gov
http://mhrd.gov.in/rte
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3021416/
http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
http://timesondia.indiatimes.com
http://www.who.int/gho/immunization/en/

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ITE initiative at Bazardiha

Author : Hope Chatterton Bentley
Once the ourishing capital of the Benares silk weaving industry, the Bazardiha in Varanasi district
is now home to faltering businesses, child laborers and little opportunity for modern standards of
education.
To combat this violating pattern of illiteracy and unemployment or insufcient employment being
passed down from parent to child, the Sir Dorabji TATA Trust (SDTT) began an initiative to bring
information technology education to some of India's most underprivileged schools, and which is
now funded, in part, by the People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights in four of Bazardiha's
madarsas.
The Integrated approach to Technology in Education (ITE) was initiated by SDTT in 2012 in the
Murshidabad district of West Bengal "to provide an opportunity for adolescents to interact,explore
and authenticate their learning at school, using technology," according to the Trust's ITE Manual.
The initiative's list of prerequisites indicates that teachers must design lesson plans which
combine curriculum with the opportunity for students to create "learning artifacts" using
technology, in order to measure their furthered understanding of the materials. In this approach to
education, technology is used as a tool, rather than a lesson in and of itself.
The goal of ITE is to successfully integrate technology, pedagogy and content knowledge, based
on the research of Koehler and Mishra (2009) and their resulting TPACK framework. The
framework stresses the idea that technology, pedagogy and content knowledge should be treated
as interrelated components of education. This is more useful to students at an adolescent age,
who are developing the capacity for abstract thinking.
The difference between the technology education offered in government and private schools and
the Trust's ITE program is that, in the government and private schools, technology and education
are considered separately. Students learn how to use computers, and they learn subjects like
math and science and languages. SDTT, on the other hand, offers an integrated approach,
encouraging learning and engagement as students delve into their subjects with the support of
technology. This provides students with the opportunity to learn self motivation and reliance, as the
teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a lecturer.
Visiting the Trust-sponsored madarsas in Bazardiha, one quickly becomes aware of the students'
enthusiasm for engagement. Many of the students had never seen a computer before last year,
when the initiative was brought to their community. But now they praise the opportunity to study
materials outside of their textbooks. Presentations are created with bold, colorful zeal and often
include pictures of the students, taken with their laptops' built-in cameras.
The students also have a passion for researching with the internet. Most of them agree that one of
the most exciting things they have done in the past year is become familiarized with Google. This
frees them from the limitations of learning from a single source. They are exposed to perspectives
and points of view not offered by the textbooks, and which may have originated in another part of
the world. One group of students, after researching for a presentation about water as part of their
textbook's unit on natural resources, claims to have broadened their understanding of water from
"something to drink" to "the base of life on Earth." Tehnul, a student at Madin Natu Ashraf, puts it

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this way, "If we are familiar with the internet and Google, we can research anything."
Online exploration also offers a more enjoyable approach to education than the traditional use of
book and blackboard. Iram Asharaf, the ITE teacher at Raum Quil Islam, is nding that students
understand the material better through the use of ITE, and that she herself is better able to share
information on any topic with her students, and talk about it more deeply. "Textbooks glance over
[the information]," she says. She also observes greater retention of information in her students.
The ITE teacher at Nuriya Rizviya, Shaista Barveen, has a similar experience and says that ITE
has improved the retention as well as attendance of the students there. Nuriya Rizviya's principal,
Nasir Hussain, agrees. "Before ITE there was a traditional way of teaching. It was boring." With the
student-centered approach of ITE, a new path of collaboration between students and their
teachers is possible, and the students are given more opportunity to demonstrate a personalized
understanding of the information and concepts.
The class at Madin Natu Ashrav is currently working on projects about global warming. A loud
cowbell is rung to summon the 14 students of classes ve and six to the principal's ofce, where
their laptops are kept. One group's slide show presentation on the causes and consequences of
air pollution is alive with animation and color, testimony to the pride they take in their ability to share
their new knowledge. The students in this group say that, because of their ability to research in
depth, they now know that protecting the environment is an important daily duty.
A different group in this classroom has been learning about air pollution and using Open Ofce to
design a digital story, a presentation style that combines illustration and dialogue to share ideas.
The concept of this digital story is a conversation between a person and the air, in which the person
asks the air how it is doing. "Not so well," the air replies, and goes into detail about how it is being
harmed by human actions which cause pollution.
There is a more concrete benet of ITE, as well "Most students are from very poor families and
can not afford books," says Barveen. "With ITE, there is no need for books." Offering technology
gives everyone an opportunity to learn, regardless of societal or nancial limitations.
Creation is a new element offered for students to demonstrate their understanding, not only in
madarsas, but all over India. "My favorite part is creating something," says Tuba, a student at
Raum Quil Islam. She and her group are creating a power point presentation about the element
carbon and its components.
But the ITE curriculum isn't limited to the sciences. Beside Tuba and her partners, another group is
making a power point presentation about protecting trees, and wrote a poem in English.
They also use online resources to learn about their community and human rights, and apply ITE to
the other classes included in modern education, such as history, math, languages, and geography.
Some classes are learning to use spreadsheets by creating a chart listing every student's exam
scores in each subject next to his/her name.
Learning to create is something students will carry with them forever, even after they leave the
madarsas. "They now have a new technique to present," Ashara says. "So they have new ideas to
represent and use in the future."
But these students are uncertain as to whether or not they will be able to apply their technology

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skills to their futures. For the students of Madin Natu Ashraf, ITE ends after class seven. Most will
continue their educations in another madarsa, one that does not have computers. Two of the girls
in this class will not receive further education at all.
One student at Ummul Momineen Aisha al-Siddiqa aspires to become a teacher herself. "I want to
study for the rest of my life and contribute to the education of others," says Uzma, who is inspired
by the madarsa's principal, Israt Yasmeen. But she, too, faces an unpromising future.
Her family won't allow her to leave Bazardiha to attend her dream school. They want her to
continue her education locally, if at all, before considering sending her where she wants to go.
Uzma may have an advantage over many other girls in similar situations, if she is able to access a
computer after nishing school. Since she is learning how to use computers now, she may be able
to continue to explore the world from home with her newfound tools and skills in the future. "It
enhances our knowledge and capacity for learning," says Nasreen, one of Uzma's classmates.
Both of the girls are currently sharing general education with their community by privately tutoring
children who are not being sent to school.
The class at Madin Natu Ashrav is about to try a different approach to bring their newfound
knowledge into the community. They have found online advocacy platforms, which they plan to
use to reach out to local authorities, addressing the issues of drinking water and electricity, both of
which are in dangerously short supply. The students are trying to access a camera so that they can
shoot videos and photos to post online, in hopes of gaining the attention of the government. One
vision they have is to ll a bottle with water and take a picture of it against a background of a trashlined road.
Other students are also working to bring their new knowledge to their friends and families. In the IT
class at Raum Quil Islam, one group says they are happy to know that cooking with wood and coil,
a common practice in their community, contributes to poor air quality, and discussed the facts with
their parents. But they were unable to motivate any change, as there are no other options available
to Bazardiha's citizens.
Cultural challenges faced by their futures aside, the students benetting from the ITE initiative
currently experience the daily challenge of severely limited resources. Class sizes range from
about one dozen to 35 students, and each classroom is equipped with three computers, a printer
and one pen drive to access the internet. They establish rotation cycles for groups to work on their
projects, and those left without computers discuss the current subject from their books.
The shortages don't stop at availability of hardware. There is often a shortage of space, as well.
The IT classroom at Nuriya Rizviya, for example, doesn't have enough chairs for all of the
students, and those who are not using the computers must stand, as there isn't even enough room
for them to sit on the ground. The school has plans to expand, and has even purchased land on a
neighboring plot, but income is infrequent, as it depends almost entirely on donations from the
annual holiday Ede.
There are no chairs or tables at all in the IT classroom at Raum Quil Islam, and the students sit on
the oor, a tangle of wires running between each group. Abid, a student in this classroom, says he
wants to see two students to every laptop, rather than the current ratio of ve or six students per

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laptop.
It is more common than not for teachers in madarsas to teach more than one class. Barveen also
teaches elementary-aged classes and, at Madin Natu Ashrav, the Urdu teacher teaches science
as well. Ummul Momineen Aisha al-Siddiqa has 400 students and 16 teachers.
Shabdav Shahin is the ITE teacher at Madin Natu Ashrav. She believes that ITE is a "good tool for
[the students'] development, and her guiding question is "how can students use ITE for
themselves and for society?". Truly, this is a challenging question. The students are living in the
slums of a marginalized community, and struggling to update their education systems to
accommodate modern demands.
Traditionally, the madarsas have supplied only religious-based aid by community and do not
benet from government aid. High dropout rates mean low literacy rates and an undereducated
community, which supports the perpetuation of high dropout rates, low literacy and a new
generation of an undereducated community. "The students are eager, but unfortunately do not
have opportunity because they are marginalized," Shahin says.
Her students plan to use their ITE experience to their advantage, hoping that they will be qualied
for more suitable jobs than their families have found. They acknowledge that this may not be
possible, however, because of the discontinuation of computer availability when they are nished
school, as well as the strong bond of poverty and marginalization.
The students at Nuriya Rizviya say they will use their ITE experience to get into a good college.
When the class is asked 'who wants to go to college?' they all raise their hands.
***

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Petition for Government School At Baghawanala

Author : Hope Chatterton Bentley
In 2009 India passed the Right to Education act, making it the responsibility of the government on
both central and state levels to provide full time, quality education to all children aged six to 14
years. Five years later, the children of the Baghawanala slum in Varanasi still do not have access
to a government school. Baghawanala is a marginalized community with most of the population
being illiterate weavers below the poverty line, making it crucial that the children here are provided
with education if they are to put an end to their families' long history of poverty and exploitation
In 2000, The People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) established Raja
Suheldeve Jan Mitra Shikshan Kendra, a Full Time Centre providing education from class one to
ve for the children of Baghawanala. In the beginning, the Centre followed the model of a
government school, with ve teachers (one for each subject) and one principal. Due to insufcient
funds, the staff has since been reduced to two teachers and two cooks.
Other challenges to the Centre include limited funding for books and uniforms and the inability to
provide parents with the scholarship for sending their children to school. Additionally, they do not
benet from the Mid-Day Meal programme and do not have the authority to give the children
certicates acknowledging their completion of class ve. Despite the children's right to accessible
education until they are 14, most of the children of the Baghawanala area cannot go to school after
class ve, as there is no institution offering further education in the area (the closest is 3 km from
the village).
This leaves the slum's 120 students without the complete and quality education that is their right.
PVCHR has asked the Basic Education Board in Allahabad three times in the past 15 years for the
government to provide education to these students, even partnering with Deutsch-Indisch
Gesellschaft (DIG) and the Indo-German Society to fund the construction of a school building,
complete with drinking water, toilets and a kitchen, when the Board refused to provide education
based on lack of facilities.
The students of the Full Time Centre have made the demand, as well, with a protest in front of the
district head quarters and a petition to the prime minister, which was signed by more than 200
people. But the Board remains obstinate.
It is to be noted that India's prime minister Narendra Modi represents the seat of Varanasi in India's
parliament, thereby representing Baghawanla, and therefore has the authority to make this
happen.
PVCHR is once again requesting the establishment of a government school for the children of the
Baghawanala area. All children in the 6 to 14 year age group have the right to quality education, at
no cost to their families. As per the Right to Education Act, 2009, it is the government's obligation to
provide this service.
The restriction these children face in receiving an education is not an isolated issue. On one level it
reects caste discrimination and the exploitation of marginalized communities by upper caste
authorities. The children of the Baghawanala slum are being denied their right to education
because of policies made out of fear that, by gaining access to information and literacy, the whole

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community will become capable of advocating for all of their rights, in which case they would no
longer accept being taken advantage of. This exploitation is also preventing the children from
going to school because their parents, bonded by and indebted to the upper castes' 'employment'
opportunities, depend on their children as a source of income. By sending the children to work
rather than to school, it is possible for most families to earn at least one meal a day.
The other side to the issue is that, by being uneducated, the children will actually perpetuate the
cycle of poverty as adults. Their parents are unaware of their rights, or else unable to demand that
their rights be met, because they have no formal education, and therefore many of the people of
the Baghawanala slum do not even consider that their lives can be more comfortable, fullling and
autonomous. Their parents' parents lived in poverty and servitude for the same reasons, and the
trend goes back thousands of years. Education is the most important step in breaking this cycle,
and the government is refusing to provide it.
***

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Model Village
Author : Hope Chatterton Bentley
The Musahar communities of Sarai and Kudi villages in Uttar Pradesh have historically faced
crippling poverty and caste discrimination. Before PVCHR's intervention at the turn of the century,
police brutality, kidnappings by upper caste landowners and severe malnutrition among children
were the norm.
When PVCHR began its interventions in Musahar villages in 2000, its priority was to inform the
people in such communities of their rights as citizens of India as well as how to defend them.
Before, the only authority gure the villagers knew was the village head. As village head is a
position obtainable only to those of upper castes, however, the Musahar citizens were perpetually
denied in their requests for proper housing, drinking water and ration cards, among other
amenities.
Through PVCHR's initiative they learned of higher authorities such as the SDM, and began
holding public demonstrations to capture the attention of the media. The communities also learned
how to le written applications requesting their needs and which departments and organizations to
send them to.
As the villages were granted funding for proper housing and other requests, they also gained
accommodations that many villagers never imagined they would have, such as electricity and
toilets.
Successfully building new lives for themselves transformed the suppressed communities into
condent citizens, who then began to stand up to abuse by the police force. The villagers became
aware of the emergency helplines and how to effectively respond to the false charges that used to
be pressed against them regularly. In recent years, police have ceased to raid villages and
Musahars have won court cases against upper caste persecutors.
Those from upper caste communities have further begun to respect the Musahar villagers by
visiting them in their homes and attending their marriages. Perhaps the greatest victory, though, is
that the Musahar children can now attend government schools without being harassed by their
upper caste teachers and classmates. Now all of the children in these communities, including the
girls, are attending school. And where several years ago it was common for them to drop out after
class six, it is now more common for the majority of children to complete class twelve. One student
in Sarai is currently working on his BA degree and will become the rst in his village to graduate.
Malnutrition has also been eradicated in these communities, as well as better general health
established, as PVCHR helped the villagers to understand their rights to medical care and wrote
complaints against hospitals who were abusing Musahar patients.
Equipped with education, condence and dignity, the villagers of Sarai and Kudi feel good about
the future for the rst time in generations. They now understand the powers which inuence their
lives, as well as how to work with them. Whereas just a few years before these communities lived
from hand to mouth, they recently have begun to think about and plan for the future. One family in
Sarai aspires to purchase a refrigerator, testimony to the increasing stability of their livelihood.

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In addition, many families who used to leave the village for most of the year to work in the far away
brick kilns are now looking at local options. After utilizing their new knowledge of their rights and
options to participate in government schemes, they now have new skills, mostly in construction, to
seek jobs that will allow them to live at home year round. This will also help them get ration cards,
as they will not miss the registration date, as well as allow their children to attend school regularly.
Many villagers are looking to the next generation as proof of the transformation, as the children are
the rst in their families to receive complete educations and formally learn Hindi, as opposed to
Bhojpuri, the local language. The children of these communities participate in family affairs,
including keeping track of their parents' wages, more than the children of past generations. In the
Musahar villages of Sarai and Kudi, education is top priority.
***

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BEING A PRISONER'S CHILD

Authors: Dr. Archana Kaushik Panda, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, Delhi.
Ms. Gauri Sharma, Ph.D. scholar, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, Delhi.

Abstract
The paper is based on the research on children of prisoners who often remain 'invisible' in the eyes
of the State and society. With the aim to understand the challenges faced by children of prisoners
and the impact of incarceration of parents on them, the present study is located in Tihar jail of New
Delhi and in a slum at the outskirts of Delhi. With descriptive research design, the study is
qualitative in nature and uses case study approach.
Findings highlight vulnerabilities of the children, both who are in prison with their mothers and
those above 6 years, outside the prison. Being in the prison in their formative years, they are
devoid of a loving family, care, shelter and security. In prisons they are exposed to all kinds of
crimes and deviant behaviours. On the other hand, children who are left behind in the community
when their parent/s are imprisoned, may not get conducive care and support in the absence of
parental love. Both situations are negatively impacting the development of the child. Challenges
faced by children of prisoners are highlighted in the paper. Suggested interventions are presented
in the framework of child rights.
Introduction
A prison is an anthropogenic system aimed at correction, reformation and rehabilitation and is also
expected to function as a curative and correctional center. When a child is born or brought into
such an environment, the effect it has on their emotional, social and intellectual development can
leave a marked impact on their understanding of the world. For instance, the notion of 'normal'- is
extended to include physical labour and crime at a very young age, as a part of everyday life.
Moreover, only on their exit from this prison environment, may children understand that this is not
'normal'; this further creates a conict in them and thereby make them more vulnerable to
malicious behaviour.
When a child is born, her/his mind is a 'tabula rasa', a clean slate, on which his/her immediate
environment leaves the maximum impression. Several child theorists have said that the rst ve
years are a milestone in the total development of a child. Being in prison in their formative years
denies them of their basic rights of being in a normal family environment where they would have
been taken care of, loved and have a sense of security. In the prison, the children are also exposed
to various crimes and deviant behaviours. Thus, being in prison is bound to affect their young and
naive minds. Chattoraj (n.d) refers to them as 'a group of children who suffer silently within the four
walls without committing any crime but still remain obscure and negligent in the eyes of the policy
makers, social scientists and social workers.'
On the other hand there are some children who are left behind in the community, because they
may have families to look after them or are more than ve years old. The concern here is that the
conditions at home may not be conducive for the development of the child. Another factor that
might affect the child is the nancial and social conditions of the family. Many a times the stigma of

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being a prisoner's child affects the child's future as he/she is not only negatively labeled but at
times also ostracized. Other children in the community and within the family are asked not to
associate with 'those children'. This results in a feeling of isolation and they themselves begin to
withdraw from society which can at times also result in anti-social behaviour. Thus, the position of
the children of prisoners is difcult- people forget that they are children and begin to treat them as
criminals and label them as 'children of prisoners'.
Children are like wet cement; whatever falls on them makes a permanent impression. The
experiences children of prisoners undergo also affects their socialization and decides not only
their development but more importantly the kind of development they undergo. Perception and
attitude of the family members, community, peers, prison ofcials and the society as a whole
towards these children has an impact on their overall well-being.
In India, 'children of prisoners' is a neglected subject of study. Many government's policies and
schemes have not included them and they have no mechanism to protect them from any
exploitation or give voice to their rights. The present work is a humble attempt to bridge this gap in
literature.
The present research aimed to identify and analyze the challenges faced by children of prisoners
and their parents in terms of meeting the basic and developmental needs of the children of
prisoners and understanding the challenges associated with it. With descriptive research design,
the study is qualitative in nature. Using case study method, the research was conducted with two
categories of children of prisoners one, children who are inside prison with their mothers. For
this, women prisoners and prison ofcials at a prison in Delhi were interviewed and children were
observed using a structured check-list. The other category children of prisoners in the
community were interviewed in a resettlement colony, Keeping research ethics in mind, strict
condentiality of the prison respondents and ofcials is maintained.
Findings of the Study
The research study has following prominent ndings:
Mother-inmates and their children living inside the prison
Socio-demographic variables: Education is considered the road to empowerment. Most of the
women prisoners had low level of education up to 10th standard. People from lower socio
economic background have a higher frequency of committing crimes and a higher rate of
conviction and imprisonment as they do not have nancial resources, contacts and awareness to
get out on bail. Poor educational status hampers legal literacy too.
Most of the women prisoners in the study were young between 25-35 years. Imprisonment of
youth, most often than not, jeopardize the potentiality of productive years, which otherwise could
have been creatively manifested for the development of family, community and society.
Crime and incarceration: The types of crimes these women had committed include narcotics
trade, murder, kidnapping, theft, 420. Three women were also imprisoned due to their involvement
with their husband in the crime. Mostly, women had been imprisoned in the case of murder. One
can see that married women were found to be involved in all types of crimes and especially that of

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Voice of Voiceless

murder.
Though rules say that females can be arrested by women police only, the respondent mothers at
the prison shared the ordeal they had to go through during the time of their arrest. Few women
prisoners shared that at the time of arrest no female ofcer was present and the male ofcers
physically assaulted them. They were pressurized to commit to the crime and few could not even
inform family members regarding their arrest. I.O. did not inform the women prisoners regarding
the provisions for children. Children were taken to the police station, where they encountered the
hostile environment. This leaves a permanent mark on the psyche of the child who is witnessing
his/her parents getting arrested. The child learns that the social world is hostile and intimidating
and the repercussion may be resentment towards 'civic authorities', law-disobedience. Thus,
there are no proper systems in place that are sensitive towards the children of prisoners. This
increases the vulnerability of children to be involved in criminal activities in their life.
Child care concerns: It is a normal expectation to see a mother showing concerns about her
child(ren). However, during interviews, mothers in prison were preoccupied with the issues related
to their release. To them, the only solution to all the problem and worries, even concerning their
children, was their release and once that was done everything would fall in to place.
Facilities at prison: There was discrepancy in the information on facilities for pregnant and
lactating mothers in the prisons among the ofcials and prisoners. Prison staff maintained that all
facilities special diet, nutritious food, heaters, coolers, geyser, separate bedding, diapers,
feeding bottles, medical care, immunization, tonics, vitamin supplements, birth-certicates and
government welfare schemes like Ladli are available to all women. Most mother-inmates in the
prison contradicted their claim and told that barring a few cases, no special diet was given to
pregnant and lactating mothers. And that special diet was conned to milk. Prescribed calcium,
iron tablets and protein powder was not given. About immunization, they were not aware.
Due to poor nutrition and lack of facilities many women are not able to breast feed their children for
the required duration. Lack of adequate nutrition is making the children weak. It was shared that
women who were inuential and powerful only could voice out their concerns and dissatisfactions
and get facilities. Thus, discriminatory treatment exists in the prison outspoken and dominant
women getting facilities and poor and docile ones are overlooked and neglected.
One positive feature was in the birth-certicates, in place of birth column prison is NOT written,
which shows sensitivity and responsiveness of the prison administration.
There is crche facility inside the prison for the children where nutritious food is given, age
appropriate activities for stimulating the mental and physical development of children are held.
Largely, mother-inmates as well as children were satised with the functioning of the crche.
Impact of prison environment on children: Study results show that many children inside the prison
have developed fear of darkness, are often irritable and show anxiety through crying, thumb
sucking, withdrawing, and becoming very quiet.
For children living inside the prison, words like jail, court, mulaquat (visit), high risk cell, vakil
(lawyer), barrack, chori (theft), gali (abuse), etc., become a part of their vocabulary and
socialization process. While these words are considered taboo in the mainstream society, they are

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normal vocabulary for children who grow up inside a prison. This, indeed, negatively affects their
social and moral development.
Homosexuality is widely prevalent in prisons. Children see and ape such behaviours. Mothers
showed worry regarding this on the children's psyche.
Renowned psychologist Bandura (1969) has pointed out that when patterns of criminal behaviour
are exhibited in front of children, they become more prone to delinquency. Similar concerns were
shared by the mothers, prison ofcials and NGO staff.
Progress in developmental tasks
Using a structured checklist, the age-appropriate development of children inside the prison was
apprised. While physical development was somewhat satisfactory, there was delay in cognitive
development of these children. Many toddlers were showing delay in language development. It
was observed and shared that for the children born or entered in the prison in their early months it
was difcult to grasp and recognize alphabets and numbers, and they knew body parts but not
their functions. They exhibited difculties such as understanding simple commands according to
their age group, pronunciation problem and indulging in baby talk, late speech or not well
developed language. It implies that lack of stimuli from the surroundings is responsible for the
delay in language and cognitive development.
This apart, certain common behavioural problems among children, observed and cited, were rude
behaviours, disobediance, aggression, ghting, violence, mood swings, and such others.
Social scientists have asserted that, in general, any kind of hindrance observed in children's
development in early years will have a negative impact on their future development.
Mother-child relation: Commonly, non-cordial relation was observed between mother-inmates
and their children. The children would often blame their mothers and, in turn, mothers would lose
their temper and hit the children. Thus, the children have started associating fear with the mother.
Prison ofcials shared that women do not really care for their children. Sometimes, they use their
children if they get into some trouble and if they are punished or scolded, they start hitting their
children.
Children who are left behind, in the community
The second set of children in the study were those who are left behind in the community on the
incarceration of their parent(s). Many of these children, in the school going age, are residing in a
hostel and studying in a nearby school. There was no problems reported in meeting the health and
nutrition needs of the children as they are getting food from the hostel. However, they miss their
family a lot and feel the emotional void. The children shared that rarely their family members
visited them in the hostel. And many a times, they were unaware that their parent(s) had come out
on bail or were released and this, at times, makes them question relationships with parents.
Regarding the imprisonment of their parents, they did not disclose their backgrounds to the rest of
the children. As, especially the boys sometimes made fun of these children and passed
comments such as- 'you all are orphans'; as no one comes from their home to meet the children.
'They are here as their parents did something wrong'. And this not only leads to stigmatization but
also a lot of anger.

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On the other hand, the children living in the community did not face any stigma or labeling from
within the community. Rather during their parent(s) imprisonment, many times, their neighbours
helped them. In this community many families have been to the prison, hence there is greater
acceptance and openness. The elder sibling had to take the role of the care taker- cooking,
cleaning and health related issues. Children who had witnessed crime shared that for many years
they would get nightmares and cry but slowly with age, this has become better but they either hate
or blame the parent(s), for their present condition and cannot trust anyone. Thus, imprisonment of
a parent does not only impact the child socially and psychologically but also has an effect on their
health and schooling.
Conclusions and Suggestions
Thus, incarceration of parents does affect the children adversely. They lose a normal family
environment that is very crucial for the optimum growth of the children. A 'normal' family meets all
the physical, emotional and social needs of the child, provides security, love and support, ensures
that the child gets required stimuli for achieving all the age-appropriate developmental tasks.
When parents, the primary care-givers, are imprisoned, the child loses out on all that a normal
family environment would have provided to him/her. Physical development may be hampered due
to lack of nutritious food. Socialization is jeopardized. The Child becomes prone to 'faulty learning'.
However, India, being a welfare-state and a signatory to United Nations Convention on Rights of
the Children, commits itself to protect its children from situations that could harm them in any way
and ensure their rights. Children of prisoners are vulnerable and require support with tender care.
State, in the absence of parental care, is the guardian of the children in difcult circumstances.
Following the suggested interventions would facilitate creation of such a conducive environment
where children of prisoners, too, get their rightful share of resources and love in the society.
Inside the prison, a child friendly environment should be created. Installing geysers, coolers and
television does not make an environment child friendly. These are basic necessities. Inside the
barrack, toys, books and coloring material should be made available. Outside the barrack, more
swings should be put for the children. The prison needs to take more responsibilities rather than
depending on NGOs to fulll all the requirements for the children like blankets, clothes and
diapers. Emphasis on education should be more. Some provision should be made inside the
barrack to keep food and keep it fresh so that children feeling hungry at night may avail. Better
quality and quantity of food should be served.
The Model Prison Manual does suggest education and recreational activities. Linkage with nearby
schools (including playschools) would ensure better education to children living with their mothers
inside the prison. A serious review is highly recommended in the prison's budgets and an
increment be made in the women section and especially for the children i.e. both living inside and
those living in the community.
If India raties the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial
Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) (2010), the condition of the children in the
prison will become much better and those children who live outside the prison will be more willing
to visit their parents regularly.
The prison ofcials should appoint an ofcer or tie up with some NGOs, for regular follow up of the

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children who are left behind in the community and ensure that they are not deprived of their rights
or falling prey to any criminal activity, as this group is a 'vulnerable and at-risk group'. More staff
should be appointed such as probation ofcer, welfare ofcer and social workers especially for the
both kinds of children i.e. those who live inside the prison and those who live in the community.
Lastly, a comprehensive guideline should be formed for the children of women prisoners i.e. not
just the ones who are residing with their but those who are left behind in the community.
References :
1. Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of Behaviour Modication. New York.
2. Chattoraj, D. B. (n.d.). Children of Women Prisoners in Indian Jails. New Delhi: Lok Nayak
Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute Of Crminology and Forensic Sciences.
3. Delhi Prisons (2012). Annual Review. New Delhi: Prison Head Quarters, Delhi Prison,Govt. of NCT
Delhi.
4. Prison Statistics India (2012). National Crime Records Bureau Ministry of Home Affairs. New Delhi.
Retrieved August 2013, from http://ncrb.nic.in/PSI-2011/Full/PSI-2011.pdf.
5. Sutherland, E. (1947). Principles Of Criminology ( 4th ed.). Philadelphia: J.B.Lippincott.
6. United Nations. (2010). United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Noncustodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules). Retrieved from http://www.un.org.
http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/docs/2010/res%202010-16.pdf

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978- 81- 930543- 2- 1