DCPCR requests DDA to disclose strategies to include child-friendly spaces in masterplan

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) requested Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to disclose the inclusionary strategies of child-friendly spaces drafted in Delhi Master Plan-2041. According to the panel, the request is owed to the shortage of children’s homes and similar centers. “The existing efforts by the state to ensure implementation of child rights of rehabilitation and a secure life are hampered by the non-availability of land at the district or even at MLA constituency levels… thereby, resulting in non-compliance of the state’s commitment in providing infrastructure and facilitating policies,” the DCPCR said in its letter to DDA earlier this month. DCPCR also pointed out that 125 children homes in the city have already been overcrowded.

The authority has also urged DDA to consult NGOs for the drafting of child-friendly spaces in the proposal. It has engaged the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to help prepare the draft plan. NIUA has suggested the agency to plan out integrated child service centers to tend towards the needs of the unfortunate children in the capital. “At present, the state of physical infrastructure for children in the city is dismal. Delhi has an acute shortage for child care institutions as well as infrastructure to counsel children in distress including victims of abuse, rescued from street situations and even those suffering from various disabilities, because of the unavailability of land,” said Ramesh Negi, chairperson, DCPCR.