Kathmandu, March 13:

Constituent Assembly chairman Subas Nembang today kicked off a campaign to collect fingerprints of children to pile pressure on the government to ensure the rights of street children in the new constitution.

The children will soon submit a 15-point charter of demands to the CA chairman, asking the government for a special programme to ensure their rights to food, accommodation, education, health and recreation.

They will also request the CA chairman to include a provision in the constitution to ban torture against children. They will also request the CA chairman to include a provision to bar the government from sentencing children below 18.

The children have asked the government to include child rights in school curriculum from the primary level, punish those involved in sexual abuse of street children, stop the dissemination of information on street children without their permission, establish rehabilitation centres for street children suffering from HIV/AIDS and provide citizenship certificates to them, among others.

Addressing the function organised by CWIN, Nembang said the campaign would help press the government to form a child-friendly constitution.

“In any country, children should be affected last by any tragedy. But the situation is opposite here,”

Nembang said, expressing hopes that the new constitution will be people-friendly. He also requested for people’s active participation in constitution-making process.

CWIN’s general secretary Tarak Dhital said they intended to collect fingerprints and suggestions from all districts and submit them to the authorities concerned by mid-April.