Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Preparation Of Uniform National Level Policy To Deal With Rights Of Orphaned

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court to prepare a uniform national level policy to deal with legal and fundamental rights of the orphaned.

It has been argued that economic & social hardship faced by orphans in this country have been for long overlooked and ignored as a result of which they have been deprived of the rights which are conferred upon the citizens of the country in form of reservation and other benefits such as economic security in pursuing education, higher education and reservation in government jobs.

“Based upon the research paper work available it has been stated that 4 % of India‟s child population of 20 million are orphans. As per the NFHS– 4 (2015-16), overall, 5%of children under age 18 years are orphans. The percentage of children who are orphans rises rapidly with age, from less than 1% among children under age 2 years to 9% among children aged 15-17 years. The Northeast region has the highest percentage of children who are orphans (6% or more in every State except Tripura).”, the plea states.

The plea preferred by Advocate on Record Abhinav Ramkrishna states that the petitioner herein tried to explore legal rights and liabilities of orphans across the country and also suggested legal measures for the welfare and personal identity of orphan children in the country, however few questions are left to be answered like:

• Whether there is absence of protection of rights and issues related to Orphans under our Constitution or Juvenile Justice Act is violative of Article 14?
• What is the Status of Orphan Children in India and how do the Respondents herein propose to secure their educational future not only at primary level but also by providing them full scholarship to pursue their higher education in colleges & also by affording them reservation in government jobs at entry level?
• Whether or not the constitutional rights granted to the backward classes are primarily contained in three constitutional articles - Art 15(4), Art 15(5) and Art 16(4) can be allowed to be extended to orphans who remain un- adopted?

The petitioner has averred that the respondents have admitted that no such protection has been granted to the orphans at par with other citizens who have been granted safeguards under Art 15(4), Art 15(5) and Art 16(4) of the Constitution.

Reliance has been placed on the definition of “child” as per The Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 as per which, “a child is any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier” to aver that the child is a human being with rights and dignity and what characterizes the child, it is his youth and vulnerability.