INTRODUCTION:

The One Nation, One Election Bill (ONOE), formally introduced as the 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2024, represents a watershed moment in India’s electoral history. It seeks to synchronise the elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, thereby reviving a practice followed in the early years from 1951 to 1967. The initiative, endorsed by a High-Level Committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, is projected by the government to enhance administrative efficiency, reduce fiscal and environmental costs, and minimise governance disruptions caused by frequent elections. It is also expected to foster a unified national vision by aligning the country’s democratic cycles.

AIM OF THE EVENT:

The proposal has generated intense debate within legal, political, and academic circles. Former Chief Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and J.S. Khehar have affirmed its constitutional viability but has also emphasised the necessity of safeguards to prevent the concentration of “unbridled powers” in the Election Commission. While advocates highlight its potential to save billions of rupees, administrative resources, and promote stable policy cycles, critics caution that such a sweeping change may dilute regional representation, centralised political authority, and overshadow local governance issues, thereby altering the balance of India’s federal structure.

Against this backdrop, the Constitutional Law Society, NLUO, is organising a panel discussion on the theme “Synchronizing Democracy Through One Nation One Election: Reform for Efficiency or Engineered Consensus?”. The session aims to bring together eminent jurists, policymakers, and scholars to critically examine the constitutional underpinnings, logistical feasibility, and democratic safeguards surrounding ONOE. The discussion will not only consider the reform’s efficiency claims but also its potential impact on political pluralism and the voter’s democratic experience. By engaging with both the promises and perils of this electoral restructuring, the panel aims to contribute to an informed and balanced discourse on one of the most consequential constitutional reforms of our time.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

Ms. Yamini Aiyar is currently a Senior Visiting Fellow, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia and Watson Institute, Brown University. She was the President and Chief Executive of the Centre for Policy Research, a leading multidisciplinary think tank in New Delhi from 2017-2024. Ms Aiyar’s work sits at the intersection of research and policy practice. During her tenure she spearheaded the establishment of two important new research initiatives within CPR on State capacity and Politics. Prior to becoming President, she set up the Accountability Initiative at CPR known for its work on governance, social accountability and expenditure tracking in social Policy. Her research interests span the fields of contemporary politics, state capacity, welfare policy, federalism and India’s political economy. She is also a part of a number of boards and advisory committees of research centers and non-profits such as Advisory Committee, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Member, United Nations Committee of the Experts on Public Administration and Member, Chief Minister’s Rajasthan Economic Transformation Advisory Council (2022-2023) to name a few. She has been widely published across national and international journals and is a regular columnist in the Hindustan Times and Deccan Herald.

Dr Asha Sarangi is a Professor of Political Science at the Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She did her PhD from University of Chicago, USA, where she was awarded the COSAS Fellowship for her work. She is also the recipient of the Social Scientist Award under the Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme given by the University Grant Commission. Her areas of interest include political and cultural economy of development in modern India, identity and politics in South Asia and more specifically linguistic nationalism in modern India. She has written for several academic journals such as Taylor & Francis, EPW and the India Review. She has also authored several books on language and identity politics in India as well.

Mr Yashwant Deshmukh is a senior Journalist and Psephologist. For more than 25 years he has been inseparable part of Political and Elections coverage in Indian Media and has appeared extensively on almost all the leading News Channels including Aaj Tak, ABP, Times Now, Zee, Republic, India Today, BBC, CNN18, TV9, News24 and number of vernacular networks. He is the founder-director of C-Voter, one of the leading international Public Opinion and Stakeholder research agencies with expertise in working on assignments related to democratization, disaster mitigation and conflict resolution. A first-generation entrepreneur, he has travelled in more than 40 countries working in a number of transitional states and societies across Asia, America, Europe and Africa. Yashwant Deshmukh is an accomplished speaker, mentor, coach and trainer for media and communications students. His regular research workshops are attended by hundreds of students in many International as well as Indian universities.

The Panel Discussion shall take place on 12th September 2025, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. It shall take place virtually and shall witness participation from students all over the nation.

The Ministry of Education released the NIRF Rankings 2025 on September 4, 2025. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan unveiled the 10th edition at a special event at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

National Law University Odisha secured the 15th rank in NIRF 2025 among the top 40 law institutions in India. A total of 267 institutions participated in the NIRF 2025 Law category.

The achievement marks a significant rise for NLUO, which was ranked 26th in NIRF 2024 and 30th in NIRF 2023.

• India Rankings 2025: Law

The healthcare sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. In India, the healthcare sector is promisingly emerging as a large sector both in terms of revenue and employment. This sector encompasses a wide range of segments, including hospitals, medical devices, and equipments, health tourism, clinical trials, telemedicine, gig economy engagement, and health insurance outsourcing. We see a rapid expansion in the sector owing to the factors of increased awareness, increased service force participation, better public-private funding and investment. A large pool of well-trained medical professionals, enhanced coverage of the population in terms of healthcare services and comparatively lower cost of medical service that the Indian health sector offers, making it a preferred destination for both domestic and international patients to avail healthcare services.

Advancements and awareness in technology have been impacting the healthcare industry to such an extent that the relationship between the health seekers and health providers is both complementary and conflicting. The interface between health and law is often perceived to be necessary whenever the health seekers and the health providers encounter conflicts. However, the integrative and redemptive role of law in healthcare is rarely harnessed. Today, leading a healthcare organisation takes more than the ability to treat patients. Providers in managerial and leadership roles need to balance legal requirements, financial responsibilities, competitive pressure, and human resource needs to streamline healthcare delivery. This necessitates the need for an integrated approach to healthcare management. The discipline of Law forms the best thread to weave this approach.

Against this backdrop, National Law University Odisha is offering a two-year Program of MBA in Healthcare Management and Law, which is a forward-looking program designed to bridge this critical gap. The program offers an integration of legal education with healthcare management principles, enabling students to lead in this dynamic sector.

Title: Practical Aspects of Litigation, Arbitration, and Ancillary Legal Frameworks

Mode: Online

Duration: 32 hours (19.5 hours of knowledge-based sessions, 10.5 hours of drafting sessions, and 2 hours of assessment test)

Timeline: 2nd August 2025 to 12th September 2025

Registration Fees:

• INR 700 for NLUO students
• INR 1,200 for students from other universities
• INR 1,700 for working professionals

Registration: Link

Payment: Link

Course Objectives:

• Impart foundational knowledge of civil litigation and procedures under the CPC.
• Develop expertise in domestic and international arbitration frameworks.
• Equip students with practical drafting skills for critical legal documents.
• Analyze post-award remedies, enforcement mechanisms, and challenges of arbitration.
• Explore interdisciplinary intersections between arbitration, commercial laws, IBC, consumer law, and investment treaties.

Course Outcomes:

• Analyze jurisdictional principles, limitation periods, and procedural requirements for civil suits, and draft arbitration agreements.
• Apply provisions, evaluate grounds for challenge, and develop strategies for enforcement.
• Integrate ancillary laws into dispute resolution strategies.
• Formulate cross-border arbitration clauses aligned with institutional rules.

Schedule:

• 02nd – 03rd August: Module 1 (Civil Litigation)
• 09th – 10th August: Module 2
• 16th – 17th August: Module 3 (Interim Measures, Procedure & Time Management)
• 23rd – 24th August: Module 4 (Post-Award Remedies, Challenges & Enforcement)
• 30th – 31st August: Module 5 (Ancillary Legal Frameworks)
• 06th – 07th September: Module 6
• 12th September (Tentative): Assessment Test
• Last week of September (Tentative): Course Results

Assessment:

• The assessment test comprises 50 marks (MCQ) and 50 marks (subjective/descriptive answers).
• A minimum of 50 marks out of 100 is required to pass and receive the certificate.
• The test will be conducted online under the supervision of Alumni Relations Society members.

Attendance:

• A minimum of 75% attendance is mandatory to be eligible for the assessment test.

Resource Persons:

• Mayank Sapra (Batch of 2009-14): Advocate-on-Record at the Supreme Court, Delhi HC, and tribunals, specializing in real estate, arbitration, telecom, insolvency, and human rights.
• Gaurav Rai (Batch of 2010-15): Managing Associate at C&S Partners, specializing in commercial arbitrations, with an LL.M. from University College London.
• Arbaaz Hussain (Batch of 2010-15): Advocate-on-Record at the Supreme Court, with expertise in complex civil and commercial disputes, including arbitrations.
• Sughosh Subramanyam (Batch of 2011-16): LL.M. from University of Cambridge, practicing before the Supreme Court and High Courts, founder of Chambers of Sughosh Subramanyam.
• Pragya Prakash (Batch of 2013-18): Senior Associate at Trilegal, specializing in international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution.
• Pranav Budihal (Batch of 2013-18): Foreign Counsel at Providence Law Asia, Singapore, with an LL.M. from NUS and prior experience at SIAC.

Call for submissions: Original Research Papers, Case Commentaries, Case Notes, Articles, Pop culture reviews, Fact Sheets, Info-graphics, Photo-essays for the “Journal on the Rights of the Child of National Law University Odisha”

ISSN # 3107 – 4030

Double Blind Peer Reviewed Journal

About the Center:

Centre for Child Rights (CCR) is the oldest and the specialized action research centre of the National Law University Odisha (NLUO) Cuttack. The Centre was inaugurated on April 12, 2015, by Hon’ble Justice Dipak Misra, former Chief Justice of India and the then Visitor, NLUO, in the august presence of the Hon’ble Chief Justice and Judges of Orissa High Court, and Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha.

CCR aims to build a rights temper and mainstream it amongst the children, state and the society, strengthening law and access to justice for children, and promoting child wellbeing by supporting and initiating research, policy advocacy, and community action on children’s issues. The Centre aims to provide integrated support and consultancy to different layers of institutional governance for protection and insurance of child rights, child protection, and understanding and reforming enabling and disabling factors to further child rights and the inter-sectionalities.

Headlined by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ved Kumari, one of the foremost chroniclers of juvenile justice and everything child rights in the world, NLUO got its first ever Chair Professorship on Child Rights with a five-member staff team sanctioned by the Hon’ble CM of Odisha in 2023. This is led by the Chief Minister’s Chair Professor – Prof Biraj Swain. This is the only fully functional chair professorship on child rights across India (law and non-law universities included)

About the Journal: Journal on the Rights of the Child of National Law University Odisha

The Journal i.e. Journal on the Rights of the Child of National Law University Odisha, is a platform initiated by the CCR, committed to plat-forming and mainstreaming pro-child rights’ discourse. We invite submissions (preferably original research papers) that explore the contemporary issues around child rights, the juvenile justice system, legislative developments, evolving socio-legal landscape of child well-being and the pop-culture discourse on children and their protection and rights. It is also committed to reclaiming journalism as a public good by demanding and shaping better coverage of children in news.

Periodicity: It is bi-annual, re-launched in April 2025. The next issue is due in October 2025.

Editorial Team:

Patron-In-Chief & Editor-In-Chief

Prof Ved Kumari, Vice-Chancellor, NLUO

Patron & Publisher

Prof Rangin Pallav Tripathy, Registrar, NLUO

Editor

Prof Biraj Swain, Chief Minister’s Chair Professor cum Director, Centre for Child Rights – NLUO

Editorial Advisory Board

• Hon’ble Justice Madan B Lokur, Chairperson, United Nations Internal Justice Council & Former Judge, Supreme Court of India
• Hon’ble Justice Geeta Mittal, Former Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court
• Prof Bernd-Deiter Meier, Criminal Justice Institute, University of Hannover, Germany
• Prof Christopher Birbeck, Professor of Criminology, Salford University, Manchester, UK
• Prof Bhabani Prasad Panda, Director, School of Law, KIIT & Former Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra National Law University

Editorial Board

• Prof Ved Kumari (Editor-in-Chief), Vice Chancellor, National Law University Odisha
• Prof Biraj Swain (Editor), Chief Minister’s Chair Professor cum Director, Centre for Child Rights, National Law University Odisha
• Prof Ravinder Barn, Professor of Social Policy, & Head of Law and Criminology Department
• Royal Holloway, University of London
• Dr Frederick Phillip Fabian de Moll, Professor of Educational Science, Faculty of Education Science, Bielefeld University, Germany
• Dr Damanjit Sandhu, Professor and Head, Department of Psychology, Punjabi University Patiala
• Dr Asha Bajpai, (Former) Founder Dean and Professor, School of Law, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
• Dr Kalpana Purushothaman, Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Psychology and Research, Bangalore, Former Juvenile Justice Board Member, Bangalore Urban

Associate Editors

• Dr Swagatika Samal, Researcher, Centre for Child Rights, NLU Odisha
• Dr Pradipta Kumar Sarangi, Researcher, Centre for Child Rights, NLU Odisha
• Mr Ankit Kumar Keshri, UNICEF Consultant, Centre for Child Rights, NLU Odisha
• Dr Rashmi Rakha Baug, Assistant Professor (Law) and Co-Director, CCR, NLU Odisha
• Dr Shubhanginee Singh, Assistant Professor (Pol. Sci.) and Co-Director, CCR, NLU Odisha

Submissions being sought:

1. Original Papers on ongoing research, completed research (4000 -6000 words)
2. Case Commentaries (1500-2000 words)
3. Notes and comments i.e. articles on legal challenges and implementation review of laws on child rights and child protection, in national, sub-national and global space (1500 -2000 words)
4. Book Review (1200 – 1500 words)
5. Numbers at a glance: Fact sheet on child rights / child well-being: One indicator at a time presented visually through info-graphics
6. Juvenile Justice at a glance : Summary and commentary of most important developments in the past 4-6 months gone by (3000 -4000 words)
7. Through the Pop culture lens: Review/commentary on any pop culture content i.e. film/web series/comics/anime etc. (1200 – 1500 words)
8. Children in the news: Media scan and commentary on journalism around child rights: the best reportage and the worst reportage of the 4-6 months gone by and the broad trends (2000 – 2500 words)

Themes on which articles and papers are invited: 

Following is a suggestive (non-exhaustive) list of themes for the submissions:

1. Any contemporary judgment / legal landscape/ research on child rights, protection, children’s well-being and original data and the authors’ interpretation on it

For example (suggestive not exhaustive):

• The emerging trends of teenagers being charged with Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) even in consensual romantic relationships and how does that square up with the Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ARSH) focus of the State too
• The latest SC judgment on Prevention of Child Marriage Act and how to not abuse that for undue criminalisation

2. Your article/commentary on any topical development and its impact on children:

For example (suggestive not exhaustive)

• Right to Education in the era of school mergers, closure of schools and para-teachers
• Continued under-funding of health and education sector and its impact on children’s cognitive development, life chances
• Is anonymization possible in the digital age? And is the principle of fresh start condemned to be violated because of over-sharing on social media, digital media ingression and over-present surveillance?
• Is re-integration and rehabilitation possible in case of children charged with heinous offences?

3. Public finance/budget allocation and children: Is the imagination progressive, is the allocation adequate?
4. Any film/web series on children/juvenile justice, your review of the same with a child’s best interest perspective
5. Your critic/commentary on reportage on “children in news’ that stood out for you for how good/bad it was and why and any particular story/article/reportage that worked for you?
6. When they see us: Photo-essay of everyday children in their everyday lives (pre-published with due compliance of consent guidelines in case of minors’ photographs) and what such photos tell the author. (The photos should be from copy-left/open-source platform with no potential copyright infringement liability on the author or the journal)
7. Education/Health/Nutrition/Internet access at a glance: What the numbers speak: Infographically presented fact-sheet

Submission Guidelines

• All submissions must be original. By submitting a paper / article / commentary / review / fact-sheet / photo-essay, the author undertakes that it has not been submitted, accepted or published elsewhere.
• All submissions shall be made to ccr@nluo.ac.in with the subject line “Submission for CCR -NLUO Journal”.
• Plagiarism and extensive use of AI for writing will result in summary rejection of the submission.
• Submissions must be made in.doc/.docx formats only.
• Along with the submission please provide the Turnitin Report and AI report. Less than 10% plagiarism and similarity word count – 14 is allowed in the manuscript
• Please provide citations, references in APA 7^th edition format for any data-point used
• The content should be written in Times New Roman Font with a size of 12. Line spacing should be 1.
• All the submissions will be mandatorily subjected to anti-plagiarism check.
• Co-authorship is allowed (order of the authors need to be clearly mentioned) and the corresponding author and their contact coordinates need to be clearly mentioned.
• Self-referencing/ referencing to one’s prior published work is allowed but it needs to be clearly mentioned in the Bibliography.
• All submissions must include an abstract of the submission (150-300 words) with minimum five key words
• Alongwith with every submission there should be a separate title page document clearly mentioning, the authors’, authors’ pen profile (50-75 words), authors’ contact coordinates, social media handles separately. Additionally the title page should also contain:
  • Authors’ self-declaration that the submission is an original, unpublished work
  • Declaration of research-funding, if any
  • Declaration of conflict of interest, if any

Deadline for submissions (for October, 2025 edition): 24^th August 2025

N.B: As we are taking papers on rolling basis too, submissions not considered in October, 2025 issue will be considered in the upcoming issue.

Review Process

• Submissions for the Journal shall be reviewed on a rolling basis.
• Acceptance / rejection of submissions for the publication shall be conveyed within 5 / five weeks of the submission
• The Editorial Team will take maximum five weeks for the review of submissions along with blind peer review process. Once accepted the author cannot publish the accepted piece or any part of it in any other platform (academic, journalistic or blogspace like Medium / Substack etc.)
• The author should be prepared to make required changes as suggested by the editors
• Final editorial changes in the submitted content are subject to the discretion of the editorial board

We are delighted to share that Ms. T. Gowri Shailendra (Assistant Section Officer, Library) participated in the Two-Days International Conference on “Preserving the Legacy – The Life and Traditions of Tribal Communities”, held on June 25th and 26th, 2025. The conference was organized by Prince Shri Venkateshwara Arts and Science College, in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation Ltd. (TAHDCO), Chennai.

Ms. Shailendra presented a thought-provoking article titled “Empowerment and Personality in Tribal Women” and was honored with the “Voice of Excellence Award” for her impactful speech.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to her on this remarkable achievement!

Certificate

We are happy to share with you that the Centre is offering a Single Credit Course on Justice Entrepreneurship. The course will be offered in physical mode at the NLUO campus from 15.08.2025 to 17.08.2025. The Course is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students. Detailed information about the course is in the brochure attached to this email.

About the Course

The Justice Entrepreneurship credit course is a hands-on, 3-day experience where students dive into real-world justice challenges and develop innovative solutions. Through practical activities, students gain firsthand experience in justice-making, user-centred problem-solving, and the intersection of law and innovation. They will interact with real users, work closely with mentors, and craft solutions to address specific justice issues.

Topics to be Covered

1. Introduction to Justice Entrepreneurship
2. Identifying Community Challenges
3. Context-Specific Legal Barriers
4. Defining Problem Statements, Stakeholders and understanding Socio-Cultural Influences
5. Understanding existing Justice Entrepreneurs
6. Introduction to Transect Walk
7. Participatory Research Techniques for Justice Issues
8. Identifying Obstacles Citizens face in Accessing Justice
9. Engaging with Marginalised and Vulnerable Groups
10. Interpreting Insights for Action
11. Developing Prototype Solutions
12. Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Legal Innovation
13. Peer-to-Peer Learning & Team-Based Projects
14. Effective Storytelling for Justice Solutions
15. Pitching Legal Innovations to Stakeholders
16. Showcasing Solutions to the Community

About the Course Instructors
Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma is an alumnus of the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. He started his career as an associate at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, worked with an ODR platform SAMA, and worked with various human rights organisations such as Jansahas, Project Second Chance, Observer Research Foundation, among many other spaces. Currently, besides Law Firm Ready, he also co-founded Awaaz Leadership Labs, an initiative focusing on supporting law students in building law and justice ideas. He is also a Research Assistant at the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University.

Previously, he has served as Editor of the Journal of Indian Law and Society (JILS) and Team Leader at Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA). He has also been a core member of the NUJS Mentorship Buddy Initiative. He has mentored over 2000 law students across various domains, ranging from CLAT preparation to Online Dispute Resolution and career counselling.

Dimple Singh

Dimple Singh is a law graduate from Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. She is the co-founder of COHAS (Community of Hope and Support), an initiative that focuses on art-based learning pedagogical approach and emphasises constitutional values. She has experience in pro bono lawyering and has worked with organisations working in the field of child rights and women rights. She has trained over 1000 young students on climate, gender, and rights-based issues through her interactive workshops. She is working with Awaaz in JI 101 as a facilitator.

Brief Overview of the Course

Duration: 16 Hours of Session, including Presentation and Assessments

Dates: 15-17 August 2025.

Mode of Instruction: Offline/Physical

Course Fee: INR 1000/-

How to Pay and Register: Details in the Brochure (Click here)

Cuttack, Odisha

In a major stride toward strengthening child protection systems in the state, the Centre for Child Rights (CCR) at the National Law University Odisha (NLUO), supported by UNICEF, launched the Child Protection Mentorship Program (CPMP) on 18th July 2025 at NLUO, Cuttack.

Designed as a professional development initiative, the program aims to empower a new generation of child protection practitioners by equipping them with critical knowledge, practical tools, and ethical grounding necessary to respond to complex challenges facing children across the state.

The CCR at NLUO is a teaching, research and advocacy centre established to advance legal and social innovations in child protection. CCR engages in empirical research, advocacy, curriculum development, training of stakeholders and field-based partnerships. Over the years, it has emerged as a thought and practise leader in areas like juvenile justice, child participation, alternative care, child-friendly policing, child safety, survival, Economic-Social-Cultural rights of children etc.

The program aims to build a cadre of child protection practitioners who can support government schemes, strengthen NGO interventions, work with statutory bodies such as the Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees, and serve as watchdogs of child rights within their communities. Through structured learning, mentoring, assignments, and peer engagement, the CPMP envisions fostering reflective practitioners capable of critical analysis and compassionate action. The initiative aligns with India’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and supports national goals of building a competent and accountable child protection workforce, especially in high-risk and underserved geographies.

The CPMP is a response to the felt and expressed need of CP practitioners and the juvenile justice leaders in the sector. The course co-leads are Mr Ankit K Keshri, Unicef supported Technical consultant with NLUO-CCR and Dr Rashmi Rekha Baug, Assistant Prof of Law and Co-Director of the NLUO-CCR. The course curation was led by Mr Keshri. And the mentees were selected with a combination of eligibility criteria, through an open and transparent process and commitment to Odisha and child protection were key criteria.

The inaugural event, held in a hybrid format, witnessed the participation of eminent dignitaries from the judiciary, academia and civil society, as well as development professionals from various parts of Odisha, with 100 selected mentees forming the first cohort of the program. The valedictory address was delivered by Hon’ble Justice Murahari Sri Raman, Judge of the Orissa High Court and Member of the Juvenile Justice Committee – Odisha High Court. The event graced Mr Jagadananda, Mentor and Co-Founder of the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD); Ms Vijayalakshmi Arora, Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF New Delhi; Mr Manna Biswas, Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF Odisha; Mr. Sujit Mahapatra, Secretary of the Bakul Foundation. Eminent mentors such as A K Asthana, lawyer and child rights activist; Bharti Ali, former Executive Director of HAQ Centre for Child Rights; Nimisha Srivastava,  Executive Director and Founder of Counsel to Secure Justice; Swagata Raha, Co-Director – Restorative Practices, Enfold India and Co-Founder of Enfold Health Trust; Govind Beniwal, Child Protection Specialist from Unicef; Ghasiram Panda, Child Protection Specialist, Unicef Odisha also joined digitally.

Prof Biraj Swain, Chief Minister’s Chair Professor and Director, CCR-NLUO delivered the opening remarks.

Following this, Prof. Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor of NLUO and Patron-in-chief of CCR delivered the welcome address where she reinforced the role of academic institutions as changemakers in the social justice landscape. She spoke about the interdisciplinary nature of child protection work and commended CCR’s initiative to bridge the knowledge-practice gap through a mentorship model.

She said – Children and adolescents often take risks not because they’re defiant, but because their brains are still developing. With limited capacity to assess long-term consequences, continuous hormonal changes, what emerges is a ‘bulletproof’ mindset. They chase thrill, feel invincible, and remain less afraid of outcomes they barely understand.

Ms Vijayalakshmi Arora spoke on the importance of building the social service workforce. She contextualized the mentorship programme within a national and global push for professionalising child protection cadre and emphasized the role of training, mentoring, and reflective practice in building sustainable impact.

Drawing from decades of community engagement and building and strengthening civil society engagement, Mr Jagadananda, spoke on Odisha’s development trajectory and the essential role civil society had played, from humanitarian crisis and rebuilding, to planning for long-term development, to building civic capacity on Right to Information and Food Security and state capacity to respond. He also emphasised the centrality of investing in youth, young adults, adolescents, children for demographic dividends and society’s development. He called for investments in leadership development and urged participants to remain grounded in community realities and shared pragmatic inputs on 1-0-1 of working with the state systems.

Mr Sujit Mahapatra shared on the importance of art and creative works in trauma healing, therapy and building confidence amongst children. He spoke on From Art to Heart: Working with Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances.

Mr Manna Biswas provided an overview of the CPMP and presented the objectives, framework, and expected outcomes of the Program. Designed for Odisha-based professionals with a commitment to children of Odisha, it combines expert sessions, interactive discussions on topics such as child rights law, trauma-informed care, juvenile justice, ethical reporting, and crisis intervention. Participation is free, limited to 100 seats, and aims to ensure focused mentoring. Mr. Biswas highlighted the program’s inclusivity and the provision of completion certificates based on active engagement and consistent participation.

Following this, Mr. Ankit K Keshri introduced the mentors and mentees, setting expectations for the collaborative journey ahead. He explained how the mentorship model aims to foster ongoing support, guidance, and reflective practice, enabling mentees to translate knowledge into action. He encouraged participants to see this as a collective learning ecosystem and urged them to take ownership of their development. He shared that 225 applicants registered from amongst whom 100 were selected through a fair and transparent process which was communicated to each one of the applicants.

This was followed by an open house discussion for the mentees moderated by Dr Swagatika Samal, Researcher in the Chief Minister’s Chair Professor team, Dr Pradipta K Sarangi, Researcher in the Chief Minister’s Chair Professor team and Mr Ankit K Keshri. Some of the points raised by the mentees are:

• The skill to build rapport with adolescents as sometimes it becomes difficult for the mentees to communicate and understand them while working with them
• In case of mentally challenged children, how to seek full support from the non-supportive parents for better and timely treatment of such children
• Awareness on child protection programmes and schemes being rendered by the government especially to the police/railway police personnel as duty bearers etc.

Hon’ble Justice Murahari Sri Raman delivered the valedictory address. He emphasized the critical role of the CPMP in strengthening the capacity of frontline child protection actors in Odisha. Highlighting the unique vulnerabilities children face due to systemic neglect and social challenges, he commended the programme’s restorative justice approach, community engagement, and legal grounding. Justice Raman called for shifting from institutional care to preventive, rights-based interventions and praised NLUO’s KUTUMB initiative and the Centre for Child Rights’ leadership in driving community-based protection. He urged mentees to act with compassion, vigilance, and accountability to uphold children’s dignity and rights. “Let Odisha lead the way. Let us become the state where child protection is not a scattered mandate but a shared value” – he stated and expressed hope that the CPMP would create a ripple effect, strengthening Odisha’s child protection landscape from the grassroots upwards.

A formal vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Pradipta Kumar Sarangi, and Dr. Swagatika Samal. The event marked the formal commencement of the four-month online mentorship program, which will unfold through 32 curated sessions delivered by experts in the fields of law, social work, child psychology, policy advocacy, and community engagement.

The NLUO-CCR is comprising of Mr Amulya Swain, Mr Ankit K Keshri, Dr Swagatika Samal, Dr Pradipta Sarangi, Dr Rashmi Rekha Baug, Dr Shubhanginee Singh, led by Prof Biraj Swain. The Vice Chancellor of NLUO is the Patron-in-Chief of the NLUO-CCR. The Centre also has 19 student members who have been selected by open competition. The student members are headlined by Dhruv Dhingra, a final year student of the BBA-LLB programme and Aradhana Nayak of final year of 3-year LLB programme.

For further information, please contact:

Mr Ankit K Keshri: akeshri@nluo.ac.in Mob: 9475133988

Dr. Rashmi Rekha Baug: rashmi@nluo.ac.in Mob: 7008617386
Centre for Child Rights (CCR), NLUO, Website: www.nluo.ac.in