Child Welfare and Role Of NGOs

CHILD WELFARE
Introduction:The concept of a state sanctioned child welfare system dates back to Plato's Republic. Plato
theorized that the interests of the child could be served by removing children from the care of
their parents and placing them into state custody. To prevent an uprising from dispossessed
parents, he stated:
We shall have to invent some ingenious kind of lots which the less worthy may draw on each
occasion of our bringing them together, and then they will accuse their own ill-luck and not
the rulers.
Then over a period of time, many efforts were made by several nations for the purposes of
child welfare. Historically, social workers have played a key role in the child welfare system
by protecting children at risk and supporting families in need. Indeed, the social work
profession is strongly rooted in the tradition of social reform, much of which was directed
toward alleviating the problems of children in post-industrial society. Voluntary agencies and
government services for children were created by concerned citizens and public officials
during the past 70 years.
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child was drafted by Eglantyne Jebb and adopted by the
International Save the Children Union, Geneva, February 23, 1923, and endorsed by the
League of Nations General Assembly on November 26, 1924. . It states that:
By the present declaration of the Rights of the Child, commonly known as the Declaration of
Geneva, men and women of all nations, recognizing that mankind owes to the Child the best
that it has to give, declare and accept it as their duty that beyond and above all
considerations of race, nationality or creed:

The child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both
materially and spiritually.

The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child
that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the
orphan and the waif must be sheltered.

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The child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress.

The child must be put in a position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against
every form of exploitation.

The child must be brought up in the consciousness that its talents must be devoted to
the service of its fellow men.

A slightly amended version was adopted by the United Nations in 1946, and on November
20, 1959 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a much expanded version as
its own Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
Then came the United Nations "Convention on the Rights of the Child" which is a convention
establishing the political, economic, and cultural rights of children around the world, which
came into effect in 1990. Most members of the United Nations have signed the convention
partially or completely. Signing the convention requires that countries collect statistics on
basic aspects of child welfare for report to the UN. The convention defines children as any
person under the age of eighteen. Some of the rights specifically defined include: access to
health care and education, developing their personality, growing up in a happy environment,
and information of their rights.

Definition and meaning:Some definitions of child welfare are given below: Child welfare is a continuum of services designed to ensure that children are safe and
that families have the necessary support to care for their children successfully. Child
welfare agencies typically support or coordinate services to prevent child abuse and
neglect.
Child welfare is a term used to describe a set of government services designed to
protect children and encourage family stability. These typically include investigation
of alleged child abuse and neglect, foster care, adoption services, and services aimed
at supporting at-risk families so they can remain intact.
Child welfare encompasses programs and policies oriented toward the protection,
care, and healthy development of children.

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Most children who come to the attention of child welfare social workers do so
because of any of the following situations, which are often collectively termed child
maltreatment or child abuse:
i.

Neglect (including the failure to take adequate measures to protect a child

from harm).

ii.

Emotional abuse.

iii.

Sexual abuse.

iv.

Physical abuse.

Thus it means that the idea behind child welfare programs is that, in certain circumstances,
the interests of the child could be better served by removing children from the care of their
parents and placing them into state custody. While a preferred scenario is to support the
family while keeping it intact, the circumstances that are detrimental to the child may be too
severe. Under these conditions, children are removed on a temporary basis while the parents,
and possibly remaining siblings, receive supportive services until the family is deemed in a
position to resume care of the child. Within a national, state, and local policy and funding
framework, child welfare services are provided to vulnerable children and their families by
public and nonprofit agencies with the goals of ameliorating conditions that put children and
families at risk; strengthening and supporting families so they can successfully care for their
children; protecting children from future abuse and neglect; addressing the emotional,
behavioral, or health problems of children; and when necessary, providing permanent
families for children through adoption or guardianship.
Child welfare agencies typically:
1) Provide services to families that need help protecting and caring for their children.
2) Receive and investigate reports of possible child abuse and neglect; assess child and
family needs, strengths, and resources.
3) Arrange for children to live with kin (i.e., relatives) or with foster families when
safety cannot be ensured at home.
4) Support the well-being of children living with relatives or foster families, including
ensuring that their educational needs are addressed.
5) Work with the children, youth, and families to achieve family reunification, adoption,
or other permanent family connections for children and youth leaving foster care.

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In India, the National Policy for children lays down that the State shall provide adequate
services towards children, both before and after birth and during the growing stages for their
full physical, mental and social development. The measures suggested include amongst
others, a comprehensive health programme, supplementary nutrition for mothers and
children, free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 years, promotion
of physical education and recreational activities, special consideration for children of weaker
sections including SCs and STs and prevention of exploitation of children, etc. The
Government of India has also adopted the National Charter for Children, which has been
prepared after obtaining the views/comments and suggestions of the State governments/UT
Administrations, concerned Ministries and Departments and experts in the field. The
document also provides for protection of children in difficult circumstances, children with
disabilities, children from marginalized and disadvantaged communities, and child victims. .
The document emphasizes Government of Indias commitment to childrens rights to
survival, health and nutrition, standard of living, play and leisure, early childhood care,
education, protection or the girl child, empowering adolescents, equality, life and liberty,
name and nationality, freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly,
the right to a family and the right to be protected from economic exploitation and all forms of
abuse. The document while stipulating the duties of the State and the Community towards
children also emphasizes the duties of children towards family, society and the Nation.
India has also acceded to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to reiterate its
commitment to the cause of children. The objective of the Convention is to give every child
the right to survival and development in a healthy and congenial environment.
The government has implemented many schemes for child welfare such as:

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan being implemented by the Department of Education provides

for school infrastructure and quality improvement in education of the children. The
specific objectives are,
All children to be in school
Universal retention by 2010
Bridging all gender and social gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary

education level by 2010. Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the National flagship

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programme, the Government aims to provide free and compulsory elementary education to
all children in the 6-14 age group by 2010.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya is a new scheme being implemented by the

Department of Educaiton, which enables opening of 750 special residential schools
for the girl child belonging to SC/ST, other backward classes and minority in
educationally backward blocks having low female literacy.

A National Programme for education of girls at elementary level is also being

implemented by the Department of Education for children in difficult circumstances
including drop out girls, working girls, girls from marginalized social groups, girls
with low levels of achievement to gain quality elementary education and to develop
self-esteem of girls through a community based approach.

Mid-day meal Scheme is also one of the important schemes of the Government to aim
universal enrollment and retention of children. Under the programmed nutrition
snacks are provided to children attending schools.

Integrated programme for Street Children is being implemented by the Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowerment. This programme aims at preventing destitution of
children and facilitate their withdrawal from life on the streets. The programme is
targeted towards children without homes and family ties, especially vulnerable to
abuse and exploitation.

Thus it is clear that child welfare is a serious matter and the government is doing all it can to
provide for child welfare through its various schemes.

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ROLE OF NGOs IN CHILD

WELFARE
Defining NGO:A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a not-for-profit organization that is independent
from states and international governmental organizations. They are usually funded by
donations but some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers.
NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and
take different forms in different parts of the world. Some may have charitable status, while
others may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes. Others
may be fronts for political, religious, or other interests.
In India, it was the 1970s which saw rapid growth in the formation of formally registered
NGOs and the process continues to this day. Most NGOs have created their respective
thematic, social group and geographical priorities such as poverty alleviation, community
health, education, housing, human rights, child rights, womens rights, natural resource
management, water and sanitation; and to these ends they put to practice a wide range of
strategies and approaches. India is estimated to have had around 2 million NGOs and many of
them provide times primary schools and primary health centers in India. Similarly, a large
number of NGOs are working towards child welfare in India.

Observations made by NGOs:There are many Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) around Chennai working on the
welfare of the children. Most of the NGOs believe that the root cause of child labour are,
poverty, where the child is sent to work to earn a livelihood, to repay a debt, the child is sent
as bonded labourer; and unsupportive environment where the child faces an abrasive family
environment, inadequate facilities at school or no availability of schools at all.
There are about 1.5 million working children in Chennai, says a survey done by UNICEFChennai. As pointed out by Vidyasagar Ramamurthy, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEFChennai, children are being employed in unorganized sector, over which the Government has
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little control. Children work at home in the name of helping their parents. Amongst the
hazardous Industries that employ children, beedi, fire crackers, matchstick industries are
some of the largest employers. This could be because they also follow a manufacturing
system that can be set up at home. This system is outside the boundaries of the registered
factory which keeps them out of trouble from the Government.
Mr. T V Murali, Director and managing trustee of Cholai- Action for Child Labour is of the
opinion that globalization of markets has brought the issue to light. In the global market
today India poses huge competition to other countries. In order to negate the effect, many
countries have identified the industries in India that employ children to bring down Indias
value in the market. In Chennai, children can be seen working in restaurants, as road side
vendors, in automobile mechanic shops, home based beedi industries, as cobblers etc. Let us
not dwell in the misconception that these issues exist only in pockets. Child labour has been a
ubiquitous issue for centuries.
Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation:Children growing up in the outskirts of the city are often exposed to dangerous environments
and illegal activities. Virgil DSami, Director of Arunodhaya, an NGO which works in
rehabilitating child labourers (predominantly in North of Chennai) says, In Kodungayur,
Chennai, children go scavenging in the garbage dump yards; in Thiruvottiyur, Chennai, there
is a mass employment of children at the steel plants; in Kelambakkam, Chennai 10 to 16 year
old girl children are sent for domestic work.
On a visit to the rehabilitation center run by Arunodhaya in Kodungayur it was found that
children not only work at garbage dump yards all day for a petty amount of Rs.200, they were
also victims of substance abuse. To avoid taking a break, many of these children inhale
whitener ink which is sold in the shops at stones throw from the dump yard. Arunodhaya
works with these children to get them out of their addiction and get them to pass elementary
school. They run the rehabilitation centre which is planted very close to the dump yard where
the boys once used to work. Like a famous saying one rotten apple spoils the barrel, the
children in the rehab centre are still exposed to drugs and substance abuse. One reason could
be the location of the rehab centre. It does not entirely isolate these children for the dump
yard by taking them to a safer environment.
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Many children drop out of schools for various reasons. Unlike Arunodhayas rehabilitation
centre, Cholai-ACL runs a community college where children learn various work skills likecomputers, mechanics- for boys, tailoring, grooming training for girls. The community
college tied up with Tamil Nadu Open University. It takes a minimum of two years in
training and getting these children back to normal life. At Cholai we work not only at the
individual level but at a community level. We work with parents, schools, local politicians
etc. A supportive environment is necessary for the childrens growth says T V Murali.
Most students, who join the community college, are of the age group 14 to 16. They have
failed their board exams or are disinterested in studies. They are given vocational training at
the community college in the period before they give their supplementary exams.

Effect Of NGOs:NGOs have played a pivotal role in providing the child welfare services throughout the
country. Efforts and effects of some of the NGOs are listed below:-

Save The Children:Health & Nutrition:- They provide robust health and nutrition benefits to the children coming
from the most marginalised communities. Even today, almost 5 lakh children in India die
before their first birthday. Every 20 seconds, a child under five years of age dies. And most of
these deaths occur due to preventable and treatable causes such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and
malnutrition.
Education:- Thee help children with limited means get access to quality education, with a
focus on street children and girls. In 2014 alone, 1.66 lakh children benefitted through our
projects on education.
Child protection:- All children have the right to a healthy, happy and fulfilling life. During
emergencies and disasters, the set up Child Friendly Spaces where affected children find a
safe and conducive environment to overcome the trauma. In 2014, they protected 1.65 lakh
children from different forms of harm.

CRY (Child Rights and You):This NGO has started many schemes throughout the country and each of their program
targets a specific are. Some their programmes are listed below:Sociology Project

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ACTION FOR HEALTH EDUCATION & SOCIAL AWARENESS

Location: Kali Mata Basti slum and T Camp in West Delhi and Goyala Dairy slum in South
West Delhi
Project holder: Mr. Ram Kumar Verma
CRY support since: 2011 - 2012
CHANGE ENABLED:

93% children enrolled in schools.

78% pregnant women and 84% in Goyela Dairy completed both TT vaccines during
pregnancy.

15% reduction of malnourished children in Goyela Dairy this year.

COALITION FOR CHILD RIGHTS TO PROTECTION (QICAC) ODISHA -THRU

BASUNDHARA

Location: Odisha
Project holder: Ms. Saila Behera
CRY support since: 2006 - 2007
CHANGE ENABLED:

Child Welfare Committees are fully functional in 10 Districts.

Restoration of the child/children in other districts with support from the CWC of that
area through the CCRP network /District Child Protection Unit (DCPU).

26 Children are placed in families through legal adoption under JJ Act 2000.

Mid-day Meals regularised in all 19 schools.

BAL VIKAS DHARA

Location: 12 slum areas in the South West District, Delhi

Project holder: Dr. Bharat Singh
CRY support since: 2005
CHANGE ENABLED:

3,752 children enrolled in school.

307 birth registrations provided.

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269 children identified with malnutrition.

12 children's groups formed.

162 children immunized.

Smile Foundation:Smile foundation is a national level development organisation directly benifiting over
400,000 children and their families through more than 200 live welfare prejects in the field of
education, health care, women empowerment etc. in over 950 remote villages and slums in 25
states of India.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

68,030 women & girl children benefitted.

112 women and adolescent girls trained to be Change Agents.

Health awareness and access provided to 41,412 women and girls.

Educational support provided to 92 girls.

EDUCATION

21,346 children directly provided education.

Infrastructure support to 34 education centres, benefitting 6,890 children.

Over 8,000 children from 46 locations across India received nutrition support.

6,879 school drop-outs resumed education through bridge-course.

Conclusion:Thus it could easily be concluded that child welfare programmes are very necessary because
in our times children are prey to several forms of abuse such including physical, sexual and
psychological abuse. Children are also subject to violence in few cases. Many a times the
perpetrator of such abuse is the family of the child itself. That is why the concept of Foster
care needs to be emboldened so as to save the children who are suffering in the given
situation.
In my opinion, government is doing its part in promoting child welfare through several of its
schemes but there are still many problems in the implementation of these schemes on ground
level. Apart from that the general public also needs to make an effort so that abuse of children
could come to an end and every child could live a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling life. In
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recent times this role has been taken upon by NGOs in a very effective manner. Many of the
NGOs, whether working across India or focussing on certain regions, have made child
welfare their main agenda. And as a result of the collective efforts of government and NGOs
many children have been pulled out of the deplorable conditions of living. But still a lot more
work needs to be done.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.childwelfare.gov

https://www.childtrends.org/ourresearch/child-welfare

https://www.ifcw.org

https://www.newworldencyclopaedia.com/entry

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