News: The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has published draft guidelines to regulate child protection within the entertainment industry.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
- NCPCR is a statutory body established by the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
- It was established to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in accordance with the Child Rights perspective as laid down in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- The nodal ministry is the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
Composition
- A chairperson who, is a person of eminence and has done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children; and
- Six members, out of which at least two are woman, all are appointed by the Central Government with experience in child related fields.
News Summary
Draft New rules have been published by the NCPCR, to protect the rights of children working in the world of entertainment especially OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime..
Key Highlights:
Increases the scope of the guidelines
- The Guidelines to Regulate Child Participation in the Entertainment Industry were issued in 2011.
- However, the recent draft increases the scope covering social media and OTT platforms for the first time.
- The scope of the new guidelines will cover:
- TV programmes including but not limited to reality shows, serials, news and informative media, movies;
- Content on OTT platforms, content on social media, performing arts, advertising and
- Any other kind of involvement of children in commercial entertainment activities.
Stringent penal provisions
- The commission further included stringent penal provisions for violating the guidelines.
Mandatory registration of child artists
- It has mandated that child artists and children in entertainment need to be registered with District Magistrates.
- Producers will also have to run a disclaimer saying measures were taken to ensure there has been no abuse, neglect or exploitation of children during the whole process of the shooting.
Presence of at least one parent or legal guardian or a known person
- At least one parent or legal guardian or a known person has to be present during a shoot and in case of infants a registered nurse needs to be present along with the parent or legal guardian.
Need to ensure the child’s education under the RTE Act
- The producer also needs to ensure the child’s education under the RTE Act, to ensure no discontinuity from school or lessons. Also arrangements of adequate and nutritious food, water for the child during the process of production and medical facilities, should also be ensured.
Financial protection
- At least 20 per cent of the income earned by the child from the production or event shall be directly deposited in a fixed deposit account in a nationalised bank in the name of the child which may be credited to the child on attaining majority.
Content created by the child or his family/guardian
- Content created by the child or his family/guardian shall be treated as children working in a family enterprise as provided under Section 3(2)(a) of the Child Labour and Adolescent Labour Act, 1986.
Regulation of number of shifts
- A child shall only participate in one shift per day, with a break after every three hours.
- A minor, of age less than six years, shall not be exposed to harmful lighting and cosmetics.
Prohibits children being cast in certain in roles or situations
- The guidelines prohibit children being cast in roles or situations that are inappropriate as per child’s age, maturity, emotional or psychological development and sensitivity.
- Children cannot be shown imbibing alcohol, smoking or using any other substance or shown to be indulging in any sort of antisocial activity and delinquent behaviour.
- No child can be engaged in any situation involving nudity.
Provisions of different Acts protecting children have been included
- Provisions of different Acts protecting children have been included in the guidelines.
- This includes Acts such as:
- The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, Child Labour Amendment Act, 2016,
- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, etc.
Need for such guidelines
To fix the accountability
- Children are now being used in audio visual contents across social media and OTT platforms which had not been covered by the existing guidelines. Hence, there was the need to bring those under the regulating mechanism.
- Also, parents, who are using children to make money, have to be held accountable.
To ensure a healthy work environment for Children
- With the boom of technology and social media, children are increasingly getting involved in the business of content creation. So the guideline is needed to ensure a healthy work environment for them with minimal physical and psychological stress.
To protect children from grave risk of exploitation
- The children in the industry are at grave risk of exploitation because they lack the legal right to the earnings they generate, or safe working conditions and adequate protections via labour laws, etc. They are also often exposed to unsuitable, anxiety inducing, and at times, dangerous operational hazards.
- Apart from the industry-specific risks, the children are also susceptible to a variety of other crimes like sexual exploitation, child trafficking, bonded labour, etc.
