Hyderabad: Key people from NGOs are heading crucial posts at women and child welfare department, raising concerns about conflict of interest.Though being without a committee for the past two months, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) started the process of recruitment on May 5.
Child right activists, however, allege that the recruitment is a farce as it has shortlisted the heads of non-government organisations, who could use government funds, or use their position, to promote their own organisations.
Madhusudha Rao, member secretary, State Legal Service Authority, who was a member of the panel that took the recruitment interviews, confirmed that many of the applicants are from various NGOs.
The criticism of choosing existing heads of NGOs for the committee stems from the fact that SCPCR was formerly headed by P. Achutya Rao, who also heads NGO Bala Hakula Sangham. He headed the NGO as an honorary president while holding the post of chairman of SCPCR.
During his tenure at SCPCR, cases like that of the 13-year-old Jain girl who fasted for 68 days and died, were reported first by Mr Rao’s organisation. Deccan Chronicle had reported the letter written by Mr Rao to police commissioner M. Mahender Reddy, demanding that a case be filed. Another member of the SCPCR, Mamtha Raghu-nath, also headed an NGO named Tharuni.
Such dual posts have been held in the past too. Various Child Welfare Committees in 2013, in the undivided AP, were headed by members of NGOs such as Divya Disha, Kasturba Gandhi Trust, and Don Bosco.
Mr Rao refutes allegations that the dual posts are conflicting. “I was selected for my sound understanding of law and 10 years of experience in child rights. This was a constitutional selection not a political one and I never misused my power.”
The six-member SCPCR is to be constituted under Section 17 of the Commission for the Protection of Child Rights Act of 2005.
