Pics: Meryick D'Silva
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MD)
Mangalore, Jul 9: "The child welfare committee (CWC) has settled 1,121 cases of 1,138 and has given Rs 7.15 lac as scholarship to 125 student beneficiaries in the district," said Asha Nayak, outgoing chairperson of the child welfare committee.
Addressing a press meet at Hotel Woodlands here on Wednesday July 9, she thanked the police, hospitals, NGOs, media and the general public for helping the CWC in protecting the rights of the children.
She specially thanked Wenlock hospital, Regional Advanced Paediatric Care Centre, Bala Sanjeevini, all government departments and especially the women and child welfare and education departments, and the media for creating awareness about the rights of children among the public.
She said, "As we leave the office after a tenure of three years and nine months, we would like to place on record our sincere thanks for all the co-operation received from the public, non-governmental organizations, governmental departments, and the district administration. It’s only because of the support of all these people that we have been successful in providing justice to many children and we are happy that the children who were abused and facing bad conditions are now feeling secure."
'Jagruti’ Application
She also thanked NITK, Suratkal, for developing the Jagruti application using which one can file a complaint of child abuse or any other atrocities against children online. There is also a website that serves this purpose. Action will be taken as per the complaints, she said.
Appreciation for Wenlock staff
Nayak appreciated the work of the staff of the Wenlock Hospital, especially Harini, one of the nurses there for treating a four-year-boy with 60 percent burns and broken limbs as a mother would.
"The entire hospital took care of this boy who had lost his parents and had only a 11-year-old brother as his family. The entire hospital worked as a family for this boy. The doctors contributed from their pocket while nurses looked after them day and night. In normal conditions, it is impossible to recover from 60 percent burns but the service of the hospital gave a new lease of life to the boy. Now, both of them are studying in two separate prestigious institutions and will be paid Rs 1,000 every month," she said.
Nikhith Shetty new CWC chairperson
She also announced that Nikesh Shetty would be the new chairperson of the CWC. Speaking about the new amendment to children’s rights, she said that it will bring more hope to children as well as to the CWC activists, as it will be more effective compared to the current one, and that the new government is expected to table it at the earliest.
Dr Sufala Kotian, Dr Manjula Rao, and Lavanya Shetty were present on the occasion.