Tulika Das has been appointed chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights and will take over the responsibility on Thursday with the retirement of present chairperson Sudeshna Roy.
Das, who has been working for the past 34 years towards an “inclusive society with equal rights”, is now the director of SANCHAR, an organisation that works with persons with disabilities, their families and the community.
The commission that works for the protection of child rights and to protect children from abuse is a wing of the Bengal government’s department of women and child development and social welfare.
Das, who has worked in the field of rights and disabilities, said it was most important to create more awareness about child rights and give children a sense of security to build their faith in the law.
“We have to reach out to more children and disseminate information and awareness and the child rights laws. People should be made aware of the laws,” Das told Metro on Wednesday evening.
Apart from “preventive measures”, Das emphasised supporting the children to get “justice”. “It is our duty to make them feel secure and develop faith towards law.”
Das said that she wanted to take forward the working of the commission based on the guidelines and direction which her predecessors Sudeshna Roy and Ananya Chakraborti Chatterjee have redefined over the past few years.
“The functioning of this body has been nicely defined by Sudeshna (Roy) di and Ananya (Chakaborti Chatterjee) di. I hope I will be able to do justice to the chair,” Das said.