Last year in October, the Delhi Government had launched the ‘Desh ke Mentor’ programme, in a bid to provide career guidance to the students of classes 9 and 12. Under the initiative, the government invited people between the age group of 18 and 35 to register themselves as mentors. The aim of this initiative was to provide insights into diverse career options, by people who are experts in their particular field. However, the apex child rights body NCPCR has expressed its concern over children being exposed to unknown people through the scheme and the potential of crime and abuse. Further, the child rights body has recommended suspending the programme until all the loopholes of the scheme are not eliminated.
On January 11, the NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo wrote to the principal secretary of Delhi’s education department, H. Rajesh Prasad suggesting that the government should “immediately suspend the concerned scheme till the time when all the loopholes pertaining to the safety of children are overhauled”.
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ThePrint reported that the child rights body had first written to the Delhi government on December 7, seeking an explanation on the criteria to select mentors and will they undergo a police verification. The Delhi government’s education director Himanshu Gupta addressed the concerns of NCPCR officials and in his letter, he mentioned all the criteria which have been put forth for the selection of mentors. He had informed that mentors of the same gender are being assigned to a mentee in order to ensure the safety concern.
However, the NCPCR was not satisfied by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government’s response. Hence, in the latest letter, they have urged the government to suspend the initiative for now and work towards ruling out all the loopholes. Kanoongo revealed that the government is silent on the question of police verification, which according to her indicates that there is no provision of police verification.
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