Under Section 31 of the ‘Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education’ (RTE) Act, 2009, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
has been mandated to monitor the Children’s Right to Education.
For the
purpose of performing its functions under Section 13 (1) (j) of the Commissions
for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, NCPCR enjoys all the powers of civil
court trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) and, in
particular, in respect of the following matters, namely:
i.
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any
person and examining him on oath;
ii.
discovery
and production on affidavits;
iii.
receiving
evidence on affidavits;
iv.
requisitioning
any public record or copy thereof from any court or office; and
v.
issuing
commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents.
The States
and Union Territories (UTs) which have not set up the
Commission for Protection of Child Rights are (i)
Andhra Pradesh (ii) Arunachal Pradesh (iii)
Gujarat (iv) Himachal
Pradesh (v) Jammu & Kashmir (vi) Kerala (vii)
Manipur (viii) Meghalaya (ix) Mizoram (x) Nagaland (xi) Tripura (xii) Uttar Pradesh (xiii) Andaman & Nicobar (xiv) Chandigarh (xv) Dadra & Nagar Haveli (xvi) Daman & Diu (xvii) Lakshadweep (xviii) Pondicherry. Since
the CPCR Act, 2005 does not extend to the State of Jammu &Kashmir; this
State is not required to constitute the State Commission under the Act.
Rule 27 (2) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
Rules, 2010, provides that till such time the appropriate Government sets up
the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, it shall constitute an
interim authority known as the Right to Education Protection Authority for
purposes of performing the functions specified in sub-section (1) of section 31
of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
This
was stated by Smt. Krishna Tirath,
Minister for Women and Child Development, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.
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MV