Karnataka Moves to Fix Gaps in Child Care Oversight and Public Safety

Crèche Monitoring Rules Haven’t Been Updated Since 2015

A month after the IT firm campus abuse incident, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has formed an expert committee to draft revised guidelines for private crèches and daycare centres. The committee is led by Sripad S., a retired Joint Commissioner of the Labour Department. It also includes the KSCPCR president and members, plus officials from relevant state departments. The final draft will be shared with the state Department of Women and Child Development. The current guidelines for crèche operation were released in 2015. They do not name a state-level nodal department or agency to monitor these facilities. This means there is no consistent, statewide oversight of private daycare spaces, a gap that drew public scrutiny after the campus abuse case. K.T. Thippeswamy, former KSCPCR member and child rights activist, expressed disappointment that revised guidelines have not been released faster. He said the commission should have already issued updated rules and appointed a dedicated nodal department to enforce them. Thippeswamy recommended each district set up its own separate inspection committee for crèches. District Child Protection Officers (DCPOs) should serve as member-secretaries of these committees. DCPOs already work directly with children and are trained in child rights laws including the Right to Education Act 2009 and Juvenile Justice Act 2015.

12 Arrested in Doddaballapur Factory Mob Attack

On July 26, a mob attacked a private firm in Doddaballapur in an incident police tie to road rage and moral policing. Doddaballapur Rural Police have arrested 12 suspects in the case, and are hunting for additional people who are still absconding. The incident started when Anupam Kumar and a friend got into an altercation with a group of 3 to 4 people near Doddatumkur village. After the initial fight, Kumar and his friend drove to the nearby firm premises. The group from the altercation followed them to the site. Around 30 to 40 people gathered at the firm. They damaged the window panes of Kumar’s parked car, destroyed the firm’s CCTV camera and monitor, and entered the premises to attack people inside. The firm’s owner, Arvind Bharadwaj, sustained bleeding injuries to the back of his head, right hand, and right leg after being attacked with a long stick, mace, and knife. Kumar suffered knife injuries to his head and right side of his body, plus abrasions on his hands and other areas. Some other employees sustained minor injuries. The attackers also issued death threats to the victims. The 12 arrested suspects have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and remanded to judicial custody. Police have formed three special teams to locate and arrest the remaining suspects for further investigation.

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