Times of India: Nagpur: Thursday, August 23, 2018.
The Union
ministry of women and child development has asked the MHRD’s department of
school education to act on introduction of “comprehensive sexuality education”
at high school level, based on recommendations of the Madras High Court verdict
of October 16, 2015.
Replying to
an RTI query, ministry’s central public information officer (CPIO) Anand
Prakash, also the deputy secretary, informed that he had directed the
department of school education to take necessary action on the issues related
to MHRD urgently, as directed by Madras HC. He also sent a copy of his reply to
Dr Indrajit Khandekar, professor and in-charge of Clinical Forensic Medicine
Unit (CFMU) at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), Sevagram.
Khandekar has
been continuously following the issue of inclusion of sexuality education in
school syllabus since last three years. He had sought information from the
ministry on action taken on instructions issued by HC in its judgement.
In the order,
justice N Kirubalan had directed the central government to take a decision to
introduce free and compulsory comprehensive sexuality education at the high
school level. It should be done to enable students to understand gender
identity, sexuality, age-related physical changes and problems, and to protect
themselves from sexual advances and abuses. “India has its commitment under
United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)
Agenda 1994, affirming the sexual and reproductive rights (SRRs) of adolescents
and young people as per Article 253 of the Constitution of India,” the judge
had said.
The judgment
hogged limelight about three years back, as the HC had suggested “castration”
as an additional punishment to child abusers to act as a deterrent. The judge
quoted numerous examples of countries like Poland, Russia, Estonia and nine
states in the USA, including California, Florida, Oregon, Texas and Washington,
where chemical castration has been imposed against child sex offenders.
The HC
further mentioned that in the era of globalization, when every information is
pouring from the internet, youngsters naturally are curious to know about sex
and tend to see porn sites leading to sexual arousal and commission of related
offences against children. “Children should be taught about sexual advances,
inappropriate touch and sexual abuse. Lack of knowledge alone leads to this
kind of grave situation, which has to be necessarily addressed. We shouldn’t
misdirect children in the name of culture, values, morals and traditions. The
government is to take appropriate decision with regard to introduction of compulsory
comprehensive sexuality education to adolescent and young people,” it observed.