OUR CORRESPONDENT
SIVASAGAR: The first quarterly meeting of the Sivasagar District Child Welfare and Protection Committee for the current year was held on Monday at the Sukafa Conference Hall of the District Commissioner’s office under the chairpersonship of Additional District Commissioner Geetalee Dowarah.
The meeting emphasized the need to equip children residing in child care institutions with skills to become financially self-reliant in the future. To this end, the Education Department and various vocational and technical training institutes were urged to organize targeted training programmes and workshops. Special provisions were also discussed for offering training suitable to the needs of children with disabilities.
In a key directive, ADC Geetalee Dowarah instructed officials to expedite the process of issuing Aadhaar cards for all residents of the child care home ‘Kaumudalaya.’ She also assured that the district administration would extend full cooperation for Aadhaar enrolment procedures.
The meeting also revisited critical social concerns such as child marriage, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancies, and child labour. Officials were urged to take proactive steps to ensure no incidents of child marriage occur within the district. Special awareness campaigns were proposed for tea garden areas, and the education department was directed to monitor girl students’ attendance closely after the summer vacation.
In terms of healthcare, ADC Dowarah instructed the health department to provide regular medical check-ups, vaccinations, and overall health services for children staying in child care institutions.
The District Child Welfare Officer appealed to the administration to allot land for establishing a permanent office for the department. Furthermore, voluntary organizations were invited to come forward for the establishment of a second child care centre in the district. ADC Dowarah assured that necessary support from the district administration would be extended for this initiative. The meeting was attended by Additional Superintendent of Police (HQ) Prakash Medhi, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Moidul Islam, Deputy Superintendent of Police Lipika Phukan, Joint Director of Health Services Dr Makhan Kalita, District Child Protection Officer Dr Bikash Ranjan Konwar, and other departmental representatives, social workers, and members of voluntary organizations.
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