The move came in the wake of the identity of a child, who was allegedly forced to drink her own urine by a hostel warden after she wetted her bed, being disclosed in the media, officials said.
The Commission also took a strong objection to a press release issued by Visva-Bharati University, disclosing the identity of the child who was subjected to the unacceptable treatment meted out by the warden of a school managed by it.
NCPCR has strongly objected to the same as it is violative of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act and any person contravening such provisions is also liable to penalties, the Commission said in a release here today.
In a letter to the Press Council of India, the Commission said the print media has been, of late, violating the provisions under the Juvenile Justice Act by disclosing the identity of the child.
It said children need care and protection and disclosing names, pictures, home address, school address and other parameters of their identity is in conflict with the law.
"Strict action should be initiated against the violators," the Commission said in the letter and asked the PCI to circulate an advisory or set a protocol to entire print media, refraining them from disclosing identities of such children.
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The child rights body has sent a similar letter to the I&B Ministry and Electronic Media Monitoring Cell (EMMC) on measures to be adopted for non-disclosure of identity of such children.
"A sensitisation programme for media personnel should be organised in collaboration with various stakeholders working in areas of protection of child rights and a strong set of protocols be issued as such disclosures only tend to leave its imprint and affect the social and mental health of children in their crucial developmental stage," NCPCR said in the release.
In a shocking case, an ailing Class V girl student in Santiniketan was allegedly forced to drink her own urine by the hostel warden after she wetted her bed "as a treatment to stop the bad habit".