MACR bats for Child Policy

IMPHAL, Feb 22: The Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACR) has drawn the attention of the State Government and the legislators of the State to debate and discuss the draft State Child Policy which has been pending for a protracted period, and to approve it during the ongoing State Assembly session.
 A statement issued by the  State co-ordinator of MACR today mentioned that despite the State Government deciding to set up two fast track Courts for the trial of POCSO cases, the Government is yet to approve the draft State Child Policy 2017 for dealing with all child related issues in a holistic manner.
Pointing out that the draft policy has been stuck for the last three years, it reminded that the draft policy was submitted to the State Government by the Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MCPCR) in 2017, after a rigorous rectification process involving key line departments, academicians, media, intellectuals, judiciaries and inputs from NCPCR.
The policy mandated to synergise all line departments, convergence of various child related programmes and schemes to ensure a child friendly environment to promote and protect child rights effectively in Manipur.
Reminding that Chief Minister N Biren Singh gave assurance to adopt the State Child Policy on September 29, 2017 and Governor Najma Heptulla also expressed confidence that the State Government would consider implementation of the policy on September 30, 2018, the MACR urged the State Government to deliberate on the issue and approve it during the ongoing Assembly session.