Shashidhar Kosambe, Chairman, Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), at the scanning center in Hosapete during a surprise inspection on Friday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Shashidhar Kosambe, chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), on Friday directed the district authorities to strictly enforce all norms under the Pre-Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994 at government and private scanning centers and warned that criminal cases would be filed and the centers would be closed if violations were found.
Mr Kosambe, who chaired a review meeting with district and taluk level officials of the Education Department on the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, said that Vijayanagar district had five government and 75 private scanning centres, all of which had to follow the prescribed procedures. He added that the Commission has been receiving an increasing number of complaints from various districts on the child helpline, with Vijayanagar reporting a higher proportion of cases related to health and education. The district has one of the highest numbers of malnourished children in the state, he noted.
During a surprise inspection of Sahaya and Raghav scanning centers in Hosapete earlier in the day, KSCPCR officials found CCTV cameras inside the scanning rooms, a clear violation of the IT Act and PC&PNDT norms, which require only a radiologist to be present during scans. Mr Kosambe instructed officials to issue show-cause notices to both centers and warned that any further violation would result in criminal proceedings. He directed the formation of three district-level teams comprising health and family welfare officers, RCHs and nodal agencies to inspect all the scanning centers within a week and submit a detailed report.
Expressing concern over gaps in the implementation of health programmes, Mr Kosambe said 580 children in the district were suffering from malnutrition, but no child had been admitted to the hospital’s 100-bed malnutrition rehabilitation center in the past six months. He directed the teams of the National Child Health Program and the Department of Women and Child Development to jointly conduct a survey and ensure that eligible children are admitted without delay.
Addressing the Ministry of Education, Mr Kosambe described as “alarming” the gap of almost 4,000 students between the number of children who passed Grade 9 and the number of children who registered for the Grade 10 examination last year. “The department has no information about these children, which is a matter of grave concern,” he said.
During a visit to a government girls’ high school in Amaravati, he noticed that students were carrying plates from home for mid-day meals, despite the requirement that plates be provided in the school. He directed the officials to ensure supply of new plates by Monday and submit a report with GPS tagged photographs or else a suo motu case will be registered. He also asked for a report on the number of Class 9 students who were re-enrolled in Class 9 despite having passed the previous year.
At Hosapete Rural and Badavane police stations, Mr Kosambe found that separate records of cases involving children were not kept. He found that schools and colleges do not hold weekly open houses, which are mandatory for police-student interaction. He directed the police to install signage related to child helplines and district level police officers at all stations and streamline their child protection duties.
The KSCPCR chairman created a stir by making a surprise visit to a government hostel near APMC, a Mother and Child Hospital, a 100-bed hospital, scanning centres, a district jail, rural and urban police stations, an anganwadi center near the DDPI office and a government girls’ high school in Amaravati. He also joined the students for lunch at the school.
Published – 05 Dec 2025 20:54 IST
