PUNE: The e-box initiative, introduced by Union minister
Maneka Gandhi to enable children to file complaints of sexual abuse, has not elicited the desired response so far.
The e-box, set up under the Prevention of Children against
Sexual Offences Act (
POCSO), has received only 1,100 responses since its launch in 2016, a dismally low figure due to lack of awareness, various activists working in the field have pointed out.
The POCSO e-box was introduced in order to provide children a platform, where they could report sexual abuse digitally with the help of schools or NGOs.
In its booklet, the ministry of Women and Child Development had stated that since the inception of POCSO e-box in August 2016, the facility received 1,100 hits. Generally, ‘hits’ do not amount to the number of complaints registered, but the number of times a user clicked on the POCSO e-box link available on the National Commission for Prevention of Child Rights (NCPCR) website where a person, after clicking the link, may or may not register a complaint.
Activists shared that there has been poor awareness regarding the facility. Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe, director of Childline told TOI that such schemes can be implemented through agencies like Childline.
“We have a network throughout the country and we could have created the necessary awareness regarding the scheme. Unless that is done, nobody would report on it,” she said.
A parent, whose child has suffered abuse, told TOI that she wasn’t aware of an e-box facility. “We did not register an FIR, neither are we aware of any such initiative,” the parent shared.
Representative image