Chennai to have child protection panels in all zones, wards by March: Report

Reports say the decision was taken after child rights activists demanded formation of 'Siruvar Nagara Mandrams' (Child Urban Committees) and Child Protection Committees from the panchayat-level to the municipal-level across the state.

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Work underway

A report quoting GCC commissioner, J Kumaragurubaran, said work has already began for the formation of the committees including listing out of names of heads and members. Kumaragurubaran has said that both the zone and ward-level committees will most likely be formed within 20 days.

The GCC had directed the formation of these committees in early February 2025 with councillors or chairpersons as their respective heads.

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With crimes against children on the rise in recent years, these Child Protection Committees will prove to be an essential part of keeping children safe, while also recording the reports of crimes committed within closer circles of communities.

This would especially be beneficial for children who are marginalised and vulnerable, offering them the opportunity to seek justice at a community-level.

Who will be the members?

Members at the ward-level include an urban health nurse, a child welfare officer and a representative of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) or the School Management Committee (SMC).

More members would be representatives from the Child Helpline (CHL), District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), an Anganwadi worker and two boys and girls each as representatives of SHGs as per the recommendation of the school’s principal or director.

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Special members as listed by the GCC would be members of disabled communities, officers from the labour department and a representative of the residential welfare association from the respective ward.

At the zonal-level, the head of the committee would be the chairperson with members included from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), an NGO-member, labour department inspector and the school principal of the concerned school from primary to higher secondary schools, and some more as per the GCC’s list.

Responsibilities

These committees will be responsible for creating community vigilance and protecting children with the help of authorities.

One of the many objectives of these committees is to conduct meetings at least once every three months (January-March, April-June, July-September and October-December).

The goals of these committees include ensuring that all children study up to Class 10, prevent child labour and nutritional deficiencies in vulnerable children.

Key issues

The issues to be addressed by them include child trafficking, child marriage, child labour, displacement for child labour, prevention of illegal adoption and other issues related to child protection.

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After their meetings, the committees are expected to submit a report within 10 days to the District Collector who will then pass it on to the social welfare department.

More awareness needed

While most child rights activists applauded this move and have pushed for it, they expect there to be community-led awareness campaigns about these Child Protection Committees as such committees in rural areas are reportedly largely inactive.

“While it is a welcome move, the government should create awareness about the committees as many of the village presidents are unaware of the village-level child protection committees. Their reports should be consolidated at the level of the local body to understand major issues faced by the children in them. This will help the local bodies to take the initiative to solve them,” TNIE quoted a child rights activist as saying.