Sri Vijaya Puram, Mar. 30: The Andaman and Nicobar State Legal Services Authority successfully organized a State Level Conference on ‘Child Marriage & Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse’ on 29th March, 2025 in the Conference Hall of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Sri Vijaya Puram in collaboration with the Association for Voluntary Association formerly known as Bachpan Bachao Andolan and India Child Protection.
The conference began with the traditional lighting of the lamp and National Anthem and was graced by the Hon’ble Justice T.S.Sivagnanam, the Hon’ble The Chief Justice, High Court at Calcutta and the Patron-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar State Legal Services Authority and the Hon’ble Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, Judge, High Court at Calcutta, Zonal Judge, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Executive Chairman, Andaman and Nicobar State Legal Services Authority. The Hon’ble Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and the Hon’ble Justice Apruba Sinha Ray, who arrived in Port Blair for holding Circuit Bench also graced the occasion by their auspicious presence during the programme.
Welcome address was given by Registrar-cum-Member Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar State Legal Services Authority and in his welcome address, he expressed his gratitude towards the Hon’ble Justices gracing the occasion and also welcomed the high dignitaries and other stakeholders present in the conference. The officials of the different Department from Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Police, Social Welfare, Health, Education, PRI, Tribal Community, members of the Andaman and Nicobar Bar Association and other Non-Governmental Organization were present.
The Presidential Address was delivered by the Hon’ble Justice T.S. Sivagnanam wherein the Hon’ble Justice quoted the lines of Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa, “Safety and security don’t just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear” and also highlighted the statistics relating to the cases of child marriage and child sexual exploitation and abuse and cases of POCSO which poses a threat and also highlighted the provisions of law dealing with the issues and urged all the stakeholders for taking collective action and laid emphasis on public awareness campaign and acknowledging the pro-active role of legal services institutions including Andaman and Nicobar State Legal Services Authority.
The Hon’ble Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, in his address, highlighted the various provisions of laws, as existed in the past, and amendments thereto as well as the enactment of special laws like Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and urged all the stakeholders for collective action to curb the menace of child marriage & child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Amongst others, various speakers expressed their views on the subject from different sectors be it from the Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Police, Tribal Community, Non-Governmental Organizations, the retired Police Officer, Law Experts in the field. Ms. Sampurna Behura, Ms. Rachna Tyagi, Mr. Sudhir Kumar, District & Sessions Judge, A & N Islands, Mr. D.C. Kabir, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Tasneem Abid, Special Public Prosecutor, Ms. A.S. Zinu, Special Public Prosecutor, Mr. Manoj Kumar Meena, IPS, Sr.S.P, South Andaman, Dr. Arpita Saha, Assistant Medical Superintendent, Mr. Derik and Mr. Paul, Headmen, from Car Nicobar Island and experts from Indian Police Foundation, Advisor, India Child Protection and Child Rights Activists and Founder, Just Rights for Children, National Convener Just Rights for Children, Ms. Ajita Menon. The Judicial Officers of A & N Islands, Professors from JNRM, DIET, ANCOL, Andaman Law College, Doctors from Health Department, Block Development Officer (RD) and PRI members and the members of PRAYAS, Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board also participated in the conference.
The experts and Child Rights Activists and Founder, Just Rights for Children expressed his views that “The law of the land is the same for one and all.”
The programme went on with interaction wherein Their Lordships activity participated and the conference highlighted the gravity of the issues and the way to dealing with the same wherein the Hon’ble Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya stressed to take forward the key highlights of the views of the speakers.
Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Mr. A.S.P.S Raviprakash, IAS who is holding the charge of Law Department, Shri L.Kumar, Secretary (Education/Social Welfare), Mr. Arjun Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, South Andaman District expressed their valuable views and emphasized for collective action by all the stakeholders effectively to deal with the issues.
The programme has seen active participation of all sectors and will immensely benefit the inhabitants of these Islands as the children are the future of the country and their protection needs to be taken care of.
The programme was successfully moderated by Shri Dhananjay Tingal, Executive Director, Association for Voluntary Action, Ms. Sampurna Behura, Ms. Rachna Tyagi , Ms. Ajita Menon and other experts in the field. The programme ended with the way forward key note of Hon’ble Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and followed by a vote of thanks of Mr.Vinay Singh.
