On the occasion of 7th International Day for Street Children,  we at Bal Raksha Bharat reiterate our  commitment towards implementation of ‘UN General Comment No.21 on Children in Street Situations’ and pledge our commitment to equality, protection of every child, providing access to services and creating new solutions for all children in street situations. To mark the journey from commitment to action a e-Tutorial on the Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) laid out for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations was launched by Stuti Kacker, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

This tutorial aims at achieving a better understanding and wide scale reach of procedures and processes involved in rescue and rehabilitation of children in street situations. Earlier, Bal Raksha Bharat, in collaboration National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), had developed the “Standard Operating Procedures for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations” outlining the framework of intervention services that may be applied to a street child within the framework of existing laws and policies. This SOP has, so far, been rolled out in 7 states viz. Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar. Followed by roll out events, these states have organised trainings and orientation programmes for primary stakeholders and adhar camps for identity drive.

Speaking on the occasion, Director Programme and Policy impact, Bidisha Pillai, shared briefly the collaborative progress starting from the research undertaken with DFID support and stressed upon the need for further collaboration with the government at the implementation level as well. Launching the tutorial, Stuti Kacker said, “We are committed to the universality of child rights and the SoP has been a unique endeavour which lays out minimum standards of care and protection for children in street situations. I congratulate Bal Raksha Bharat and my team at NCPCR for realising their commitments for child rights and turning them into actions to ensure no child lives in vulnerable conditions.”

Speaking further, she outlined the framework of intervention services that may be applied to a street child within the framework of existing laws and policies.” Other speakers in the panel were Ms. Mamta from DFID, Mr. Negi-Chairperson Delhi SCPCR, Executive Director ChildLine Mr. Pandhiri and Director of Women’s welfare Dr. Alka from Uttar Pradesh. The panellist shared their progress and way forward actions. Dr. Alka from UP government shared the launch of UP government’s programme “Meri Pehchaan” that aims at getting adhar cards to enable access to entitlements for children in Street Situation. Salmaan our child champion expressed how important it is to have an identity and dignity in being called by own name.

I take this opportunity to thank all the hard work of our colleagues for making the event meaningful and forward looking. Shivani, Mintu, Dev, Vishal Goswamy and team, Stephanie, Vinay, Ashutosh, Laxmi and our SMT members Bidisha, Vishal and Sonali to have joined us. It was very encouraging to see our colleagues from NSO and DSPO participating. Many thanks.