Estimating the impact of Covid-19 on children, the United Nations has observed that in some cases ‘mitigation measures may inadvertently do more harm than good’ and for some children, the impact will be lifelong. Among those hardest hit are children belonging to socio-economically backward and marginalised communities. The UNICEF has reckoned that 120 million children could fall into extreme poverty and an additional 3.9 million children could suffer from malnourishment in South Asia attributable to causes related to Covid-19.
Noting these impacts, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued an ‘Advisory for Protection of the Rights of Children in the context of Covid-19’in late September of 2019 which though lookedcomprehensive, however, falls tooshort of incorporating a rights-based response.