·
4 May 2012
Hindustan Times (Mumbai) http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
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Chetan Chauhan chetan@hindustantimes.com
Teacher thrashing students will face up to 7 yrs in
jail
Govt. proposes changes to Juvenile Justice Act
NEW
DELHI: The government has put its foot down against corporal punishment and
ragging and is proposing changes in the law that would send offenders to up to
seven years in jail.
To
protect children in educational institutions, the government has for the first
time defined corporal punishment and ragging in the proposed changes to the
Juvenile Justice Act, which is being renamed as the Child Justice (Care,
Protection and Rehabilitation) of Children Act.
For
corporal punishment, a jail term of up to a year is being proposed in cases of
simple injury and emotional distress to the child. For subsequent offences, it
would be three years. A second conviction would also mean dismissal from
service.
A
five-year imprisonment has been proposed if a child is grievously hurt or
subjected to severe mental trauma. A repeat of such an offence would invite a
sevenyear term.
Corporal
punishment affects almost every other child in India. A 2009-10 survey by the
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights among 6,700 students in
seven states saw around 99% of them confirming punishment at the hands of their
teachers.
Tough
measures have also been proposed to check severe ragging — up to two years’
imprisonment, a fine of Rs10,000 or both. Ragging by an institution’s staff
would put them at the risk of dismissal and a bar on working with children in
the future. The women and child development ministry has also proposed a new
section in the law to cover ragging inside as well as outside the institution.
The
tough new provisions are to also protect kids in government-run childcare
centres. The jail terms proposed are higher than those under the Indian Penal
Code.
The
proposed changes, which were shared with the states last month, also provide
for a threeyear jail term if children are pushed into any religious service
that hampers their “holistic development”.
“The
aim is to put a check on converting children into religious slaves, such as
devdasis,” said a senior government official. The level of the crime would be
decided by the juvenile justice board in each district of the country.
