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BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA, September 3, 2004: The tiny toddlers in Orissa will no longer see a cane in the hands of their teachers as the State government on Thursday imposed a ban on corporal punishment in educational institutions. Chief Minister Navin Patnaik asked the officials of the school and mass education department to see that the children studying in government and private schools are not subjected to physical or mental torture by their teachers and, instead, they are dealt with in a subtle and delicate manner.



This move by the Orissa government is seen as a major victory for the child rights activists who have been campaigning against corporal punishment across the State. Recently, Save the Child, an international child rights body, had invited all the legislators of Orissa Assembly to a symposium to interact with school children where some students narrated how they suffered from mental trauma because of corporal punishment. Some children, as well as the child rights activists, had then urged the State government to make a legislation to ban physical punishment in schools. In response to their demand, Speaker of Orissa Legislative Assembly Maheswar Mohanty, who presided over the meeting, had observed that awareness, not any legislation, could solve the problem. He, however, had assured the delegates that he would see that the State government issues an executive order to ban corporal punishment.



The Andhra Pradesh government through a gazette notification issued in February, 2002 – has reportedly imposed a ban on physical punishment. The children’s consultations held in Sambalpur, Cuttack and Koraput districts had identified physical and psychological punishments as the most prevalent form of violence that affects their development and well-being in the later years. Children who participated in these consultations said this affected their school performance as the fear of punishment dominated their mind rather than learning. Many of them had said that they dropped out of school because of physical and mental torment.

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