Corporal Punishments have been banned by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in 2000. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE Act) further reiterated this ban through Section 17, thereby providing an assertion to legislative discourse of the Parliament of India.

Though such profound bans do not go without a certain degree of complacency, the RTE Act (as is popularly known) only provides for a disciplinary action under the service rules to whoever who is in contravention of the provisions of Section 17. Thus, is the Act, in its present form, simply providing lip service to the ban on corporal punishment?

A study conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Government of India in 2009-10, which gathered experiences of 6,623 children across seven States, found that 99.86% of children experienced punishment in schools of one kind or another. While 81.2% were out rightly told that they were not capable of learning, 75% were hit by a cane, 69% were slapped on their cheeks, and a few even received electric shocks! The study also made a revelation of sorts – children in Central, State and private schools were at equal risk of being subjugated to corporal punishments and the phenomenon was prevalent not only in government schools, as perceived commonly. Majority of the children inculcated an internalized fear of adults and many other psychological ramifications due to physical abuse and manhandle at schools, other than the damage caused to their physical health and well-being.

India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Rights of Children, whereby Article 28(2) requires the State parties to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity…”. Further, Article 37(a) requires State signatories to ensure that no child is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

India has promulgated several provisions in its Constitution against banning of corporal punishments in the country. Article 21A of the Constitution provides that “the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.” This fundamental right has been actualised with the enactment of the RTE Act. Further, Article 39(e) directs the State to work progressively to ensure that “… the tender age of children are not abused”. Even Article 39(f) directs the State to work progressively to ensure that “children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.” The act of punishing students in school has also been punished under several of the general sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The Supreme Court of India, in case of Kishor Guleria vs. The Director of Education, held that the National Education Policy modified in 1992 completely banned corporal punishment in every school. The Policy talks about a child centered approach and encourages a warm, welcoming and encouraging approach to children in schools to allow overall development of the child.

The persisting problem today is that more than 90% of the cases are not reported owing to the fear residing within the psyche of children and the widespread social acceptance and resulting legitimacy of corporal punishment as means of ‘disciplining’ children. The most important task for the Government of India is to amend the RTE Act, whereby the legislature imposes a punishment to the violation of Section 17 of the Act. Corporal punishment must be banned in all settings, whether schools, institutions or the family.

Gunjan Wadhwa is research and policy analyst at National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Government of India, New Delhi

Adwait Vikram Singh is Child Rights Lawyer and Activist