Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday demanded amendments in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act to bring school management under its ambit.
Participating in a discussion over crime against children during zero hour mention, Chandrasekhar said it is essential to make school management accountable for the crime against children on school premises.
Chandrasekhar highlighted the heinous crime that took place in Bangalore, in which a six-year-old student was raped in the school premises and to another case in which a two-year-old child studying in a preschool was raped by the school driver who was subsequently arrested.
“Governments, police and judiciary should adopt an urgent zero tolerance approach towards crimes against children,” he said.
Last week, Chandrasekhar took up the issue of abysmal conviction rate in cases of crime against children and brought it to the attention of the House. And alarming facts on ineffective prosecution emerged. According to the government data, the number of cases registered increased from 7,112 in 2011 to 12,363 in 2013.
However, the number of people convicted has only risen from 1,196 to 1,611 in 2013.
Demanding zero tolerance to such heinous atrocities, he said that school managements and teachers should be made responsible for children’s safety and there is a need for creating child crime cells in all police stations where FIRs and complaints can be registered immediately.
The Zero Hour Mention was brought by Rajani Patil. She raised the issue of crime against women and children and argued for stringent legal provisions and action against those involved in crime against children.
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