(a) whether the Government has formulated any action plan to create awareness among children against child abuse to protect them from sexual abuse;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the topics on the said subject are also proposed to be included in school curriculum; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI KRISHNA TIRATH)
(a)& (b): The Government introduced ‘The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011’ in the Rajya Sabha on 23rd March, 2011. The Bill was referred to the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Human Resources Development. Based on the recommendations of the PSC, Government has introduced amendments to the Bill in the Parliament including, inter-alia, a clause to make it mandatory for the Central and every State Government to give wide publicity to the provisions of this Act through media including television, radio and the print media at regular intervals to make the general public, children as well as their parents and guardians aware of the provisions of this Act.
(c)& (d): Under National Population Education Project and Adolescence Education Programme being implemented by States and UTs and National Agencies (Council of Boards of School Education, Central Board of Secondary Education, National Institute of Open Schooling, Navodaya Vidhalaya Samiti and Kendriya Vidhalaya Sangthan) activities in schools are organized to create awareness and develop life skills to deal with issues related to Adolescents Reproductive and Sexual Health including Violence and Sexual Abuse. A Training and Resource Material for Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) has been developed by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for training teachers and organizing life skill based activities in schools focusing on adolescent concerns including sexual abuse.