Cuttack: In a significant step towards strengthening grassroots child protection mechanisms, the Centre for Child Rights (CCR) at National Law University Odisha (NLUO), in collaboration with its flagship community engagement initiative Project Kutumb, successfully conducted the launch cum orientation program for Community Level Child Protection Committees (CLCPCs) at Brajabeharipur in Cuttack, on Monday.
The CLCPC were launched in the presence of the Mayor of Cuttack Municipality Subhas Chandra Singh, District Child Protection Officer Pragati Mohanty, Corporator of Ward No 3, Pradeep Rout and NLUO Vice Chancellor Professor Ved Kumari.
Project KUTUMB is led by Dr Akshay Verma from NLUO and Dr Swagatika Samal from NLUO CCR and supported by Durbadala Mantry, Kanishka, Vijay Bhaskar, Dr Pradipta Sarangi, Amulya Swain, Ankit Kumar Keshri and Prof Biraj Swain NLUO.
The orientation programme is part of NLUO’s commitment to creating Child-Friendly Communities, and it marks a milestone in Project Kutumb’s mission to foster safer environments for vulnerable and at-risk children. The event aimed to formally establish the CLCPC for the neighbouring settlements and to sensitize and train its members—comprising key stakeholders such as local youth groups, Self Help Groups (SHGs), school teachers, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM), parents and caregivers, community leaders, elected representatives—on their roles and responsibilities in ensuring children’s rights, protection and overall well-being.
Project Kutumb, launched in August 2022, is NLUO’s flagship outreach programme, implemented with the shared leadership of the CCR. It seeks to holistically transform adopted settlements into aspirational communities with active citizenship and responsive state mechanisms. The project takes a rights-based and community-driven approach by empowering families, children and local institutions to take an active role in child protection. It is being implemented in Braja Beharipur (Upara Sahi and Tala Sahi), Baba Tilkanagar, Valmiki Nagar.
The initiative aligns with the objectives of the Mission Vatsalya mandate of Government of India, which advocates for decentralized and community-led mechanisms to protect children in need of care and protection. Through a combination of awareness-building, capacity enhancement, needs assessment, and vulnerability mapping, Project Kutumb, aims to establish sustainable, locally lead child protection systems with long-term impact.
Founded in 2015, the Centre for Child Rights (CCR) is the oldest research, teaching and advocacy center at National Law University Odisha. It is also the second oldest CCR in any NLU in India and the only Chair Professorship on Child Rights in India (Law or non-Law Universities included), thanks to the efforts of the Vice Chancellor Prof Ved Kumari. The CCR is committed to advancing child rights through teaching, legal research, policy advocacy, training and community engagement. As one of the key actors of Project Kutumb, CCR has conducted extensive vulnerability mapping and needs assessments in the adopted settlements to ensure that interventions are data-driven and need-sensitive, keep the best interests of the children front and centre. This is per the NITI Ayog mandated indicators.
CLCPC serves as the grassroots mechanisms for monitoring child rights violations, responding to abuse or exploitation and promoting children’s safety through community participation. The CLCPCs with their members and mandates were launched at the event. This is in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which India is a signatory to, and it marks the 10th anniversary of SDGs this year.
During the orientation programme, members of the newly formed CLCPC were introduced to key child protection issues prevalent in their settlement, about children’s rights, existing legal safeguards and services, reporting mechanisms and the responsibilities expected of them as community protectors which include identifying at-risk children, ensuring access to government welfare schemes, reporting violations and fostering a child-sensitive environment.
Subash Chandra Singh, Mayor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation, underscored the municipality’s commitment and support for child rights initiatives. Commending the efforts of the community members, NLUO and Project Kutumb, he said: “In spite of the progressive laws, courts and institutions, there are so many children missing, trafficked. This needs the commitment of the state, citizens and society to reintegrate children back to their families. The state of the child is the metric of the society and its imagination of the future. Not a single child should drop out of education. No child should be harnessed into child labour because of the poverty of the family members. No settlements/habitats should have liquor shops. Excise duty on liquor should never compete with child welfare. That is not a trade-off we can afford. Every child in conflict with the law is a child whose rights have been violated, a child whose need for care and protection has been neglected, hence, child protection is of immense importance.”
Pradeep Rout, Corporator of Ward No. 3, expressed appreciation for the initiative. He committed his own leadership to the issue of child protection and acknowledged the collaboration and leadership of NLUO and pledged to work closely with the community members, CLCPC members and NLUO to transform the Ward No 3 into a child-friendly community.
The participation of local leaders highlighted the growing recognition of child protection as an essential component of development and as a shared responsibility. The presence of Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), ASHA and Anganwadi workers, school staff, and Self Help Group (SHG) members added strength to the diverse, community-rooted approach envisioned by Project Kutumb. The community members of Brajabeharipur Tala Sahi voluntarily contributed infrastructural and electrical accessories as a mark of their ownership and commitment to child protection.
Regular review meetings, refresher training programmes, linkages with Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), and feedback mechanisms have been planned to ensure the CLCPCs remains active and effective foregrounding children, their voice, agency, safety and progress.
In this context, the Vice-Chancellor of NLUO, Prof Ved Kumari, who conceptualised Project Kutumb, noted that substantive progress in child protection is possible only when there is consistent collaboration between community and the state instruments and children have a voice and agency in shaping their own and their community’s futures. She further added, “It is the responsibility of premier educational institutions to contribute to the life and aspirations of the society, especially the neighbourhoods around them. NLUO is not just an institution to churn out legal professionals, NLUO is also committed to the agenda of justice and enabling the under-privileged children and communities in the neighbourhood for better lives and life-chances, is a core ambition of KUTUMB and NLUO. Children need to be listened to, not just be made members in planning committees pro forma. The inter-generational dialogue, the conversations between children and the elders need to happen meaningfully.”
The CLCPC will be the first port of call, the platform for community and the state child protection machinery, ensuring timely reporting, service delivery and grievance redressal. Highlighting the importance of this critical link in safeguarding children from adverse experiences, Pragati Mohanty, the District Child Protection Officer, Cuttack said, it is as much the responsibility of the parents, society and the elected representatives.
Towards this goal, as the CLCPC begins functioning in the settlements of Braja Beharipur (Upara Sahi and Tala Sahi), Valmiki Nagar and Baba Tilkanagar. NLUO’s CCR and Project Kutumb will continue to provide technical and institutional support, enabling members to make their communities child-friendly, where every child is protected and thrives.
