GUWAHATI, Feb 11 - Childline Guwahati today launched a campaign to sensitise people about child rights and other issues faced by children in their day-to-day life. The campaign �Does My Childhood Matter?� will focus on children in various types of distress like abuse, infringement of their rights and unsafe and unprotected environments.
Chairperson of the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) Sunita Changkakti; Deputy Labour Commissioner, Assam, Ajanta Sharma; IGP (CID) Surender Kumar; working president of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, Assam State Branch (ICCW ASB) Nivedita Hazarika; former nodal director, Childline Guwahati, DK Saikia, and coordinator of Childline Guwahati Nirmal Deka were present in the launch event.
�The abuse or the distress that the children are subjected to are the core issues of the campaign. The children are asking whether their childhood really matters to the society around them, which is supposed to protect them. The idea is to infuse a sense of responsibility so that they can help the children in distress by intervening in person or by calling CHILDLINE/1098 and reporting it,� Saikia said.
�As part of the campaign, Childline Guwahati will conduct puppetry shows, street plays and various competitions among children, including short film throughout the year with the support from all the key stakeholders, civil society organisations, public and especially children. The main aim is to sensitise and create awareness for building a sense of responsibility and bring about behavioural changes in society,� he added.
A total of 8,732 cases have been addressed by Childline Guwahati till date.
Surendra Kumar said the police and the Childline have been working very closely to tackle the issues of the children from many years.
�We should ensure grass-root participation to make this campaign successful,� Sunita Changkakti said.
Ajanta Sharma and Nivedita Hazarika said people should not engage children as labourers and those resorting to such practices must be brought to book. Children from city-based NGO, Kalyani Niwas, performed a play and also presented a chorus on the occasion.