Courtesy: DHNS
 
Mangalore, Feb 27: Representatives of different NGOs in the City have urged the government to make changes in the proposed Karnataka Children Rights Bill 2005 and Compulsory Primary Education Bill 2005 before they are presented in the Assembly.

The NGOs including DEEDS, Valored and Magu Madhura Kalike after studying and consulting academicians and gender experts have come to the conclusion that the draft Bill has not been prepared in children’s perspective.

In a joint press release issued by Marlyn Martis of DEEDS and Hameed Manjeshwar of Magu Madhura Kalike, they said that the bill made no mention of child marriage, an unconstitutional system that deprives children of their normal childhood.

There is a need to look at the Bill in children’s perspective. The tone and the language used in the bill speaks of gender bias and is male-centric, they opined. The Chapter V Clause 18 of the Bill speaks of nutritious food for every child. But the same bill in Chapter II Clause 7 (3) (b) explains that a minimum level of nutritious food should not be denied to the girl child. This can be wrongly interpreted as less nutritious food for the girl child and wholesome meal for the rest. They also said allocation of 48 hours for teaching gender equality will not serve any purpose as gender equality should not be confined to teaching in classrooms.