Bizz Buzz Bureau Vijayawada

AndhraPradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (AP SCPCR) on Tuesday called for comprehensive administrative reforms to make the father's name non-mandatory in government forms and official records wherever it is not legally mandatory, emphasising that no child should be denied education because of the absence of the father's details.

Addressing a one-day State-level workshop on "Making Father's Name Non-Mandatory", jointly organised by the Children of India Foundation and AP SCPCR in Vijayawada here, Vetukuri AVS Suryanarayana Raju, Chairperson of AP SCPCR, highlighted the need to place children's dignity, identity, equality and fundamental rights at the centre of government documentation procedures. He emphasised that every child is an independent rights-holder and that a child's identity, dignity and future should not be determined by the marital status, family circumstances or social position of their parents. Referring to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC),he highlighted Articles 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 16 and 28, which uphold the principles of non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, identity, participation, privacy and the right to education. He observed that children of single mothers, unmarried women, widowed and divorced women, survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and children living under the care of guardians or other caregivers often face difficulties when government applications insist on the mandatory disclosure of the father's name.