RAJOURI, Nov 14: Dr Devansh Yadav, District Magistrate, Rajouri, sought civil society support to strengthen the district’s child protection mechanism. He spoke at a one-day training organised by the District Administration, Rajouri, in collaboration with the National Development Foundation, Jammu, and UNICEF India on the Mission Vatsalya Manual for the Three-tier Child Protection Mechanism, focusing on village- and block-level child welfare and protection committees.
Around 120 stakeholders from police, education, labour, rural development, health, social welfare, Mission Vatsalya, and civil society participated in the event.
Prominent among them were the district and sectoral officers. Students from International Schools recited the National song and the National anthem.
Abdul Raheem, DCPO Rajouri, and Sunny Kumar, Programme Manager, acted as resource persons, while Nisha Pandita, PO NDF, conducted the stage.
Rajiv Kumar Khajuria, Honorary Patron, National Development Foundation, was the keynote speaker. He sensitised the house in detail on the three-tier community-based child protection mechanism envisioned under Mission Vatsalya.
He also sensitised the house on child rights under the Constitution of India and the UNCRC. He requested the District Magistrate, Rajouri, to activate the three-tier child protection mechanism by reconstituting Village- and Block-level child welfare and protection committees as per the Manual developed by Mission Vatsalya.
In his presidential address, Dr Devansh Yadav, District Magistrate, Rajouri, emphasised the need to strengthen child protection and the education sector in the district and shared his innovative ideas to achieve this. He said the district administration is also developing smart classrooms and modern Anganwadi centres.
He directed the District Child Protection Unit, Rajouri, to create awareness at the village level and ensure that children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation are realised on the ground. He also asked the District Child Protection Officer to assess the need for CCIs in the district. He appreciated the work of the National Development Foundation and asked them to focus their activities in District Rajouri for the overall benefit of children and families in the district.