The days of security agencies posing for the media with runaway children rescued from railway premises- as well other places- will soon be a thing of the past. Responding to a DNA query on whether such publicity was harmful and stigmatising for the child, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has replied that it was.
Stuti Kacker, chairperson of the NCPCR said that identification of a runaway child is stigmatising for the child. "As far as possible we must respect the privacy of such children. I will certainly direct the concerned stakeholders not to release pictures of rescued child once it is reunited with the parents," said Kacker.
The NCPCR is the custodian of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that agencies like the Railway Protection Force (RPF) as well as the railway police have to follow when it comes to the rescue of runaway as well as trafficked children found on trains and railway premises. The SOP, finalised between the railways, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Welfare and NCPCR, was issued on March 5 last year.
Of late the Railway Protection Force (RPF), while doing a fine job with rescuing children in larger numbers than ever before, have also got into the habit of releasing these pictures as part of their good work on social media and other platforms like print and television media.
"It does create an issue for the runaway child. Very often running away from home is an impulsive decision in which the child doesn't give a deep thought at all. To punish him this way by releasing his pictures on social media where it has a perennial life is unfair on the child. It is indeed stigmatising if even after the child grows into a normal well-thinking adult who has completely understood the sheer stupidity of running away from home, the pictures of his rescue by security agencies are still floating on the internet," said a psychiatrist.
In 2013, the RPF rescued 4658 minors, in 2014 the numbers stood at 4448 minors while in 2015 the number of children rescued was a high of 7044.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "children rescued")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}