UPSC Mains 2025 GS2 Q18 — Child Rights
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has to address the challenges faced by children in the digital era. Examine the existing policies and suggest measures the Commission can initiate to tackle the issue. (Answer in 250 words)
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- Examinesuggest
- Scope keywords
- National Commission for Protection of Child Rightschallenges faced by childrendigital eraexisting policiesmeasures the Commission can initiate
- Implicit sub-parts
- What specific digital risks (cyberbullying, grooming, screen addiction, data privacy) fall under the NCPCR mandate?
- How effective are current frameworks like POCSO, IT Rules 2021, and the DPDP Act 2023 in the context of minors?
- What institutional bottlenecks prevent the NCPCR from monitoring the vast digital landscape effectively?
- What proactive (non-reactive) enforcement and advocacy roles can the NCPCR adopt under the CPCR Act 2005?
- Common pitfalls
- Focusing too much on general child rights without linking them specifically to the 'digital era'.
- Spending excessive words on the composition of NCPCR instead of its functional challenges and initiatives.
- Neglecting to mention the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 which has specific provisions for 'Children's Data'.
- Failing to differentiate between 'existing policies' (government's role) and 'measures the Commission can initiate' (NCPCR's specific role).
- Dimensions required
- Legal and Statutory (CPCR Act, POCSO, IT Act)Psychosocial (Mental health impacts of social media)Regulatory (Data privacy and platform accountability)Educational (Digital literacy and parental guidance)Institutional (NCPCR's monitoring and quasi-judicial powers)
- Marks allocation hint
Allocate 3 marks to identifying digital-age challenges. Dedicate 6 marks to examining existing policies and their implementation gaps. Devote the final 6 marks to forward-looking, actionable suggestions that the NCPCR can realistically implement through its monitoring and recommendatory powers.
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