The need for child protection rules in India

One of the core premises we have is that "Parents know Best." 
Hell, NO!! I doubt if they even know enough. 

I always insist that the Indian State has failed its children. In a big way. 

To be an adoptive parent, you have to prove 1000 things - your financial ability, your emotional maturity, your existing relationships with friends and family, your support group, your reasons for adopting. etc. etc. One friend had her adoption request rejected bcs many years ago, she had had to give up on an adopted dog bcs she just could not take care of it. The adoption officer said, "A child is not a dog." And rejected her application! They did not consider that by this time, she has quit the long hours job that necessitated her giving up the dog, and is a complete stay at home person, willing to invest her time and energy in a lovely child. 

No such restrictions on the biological parent. But you are not raising your child in a silo. 
You are creating a future citizen, and when: 

1. 11th class children kill 2nd class children, 
2. 5 year olds die because its grandmother did not hold the child's hand and hold it away from the traffic direction, 
3. A 4 year old inserts a pencil in the private parts of a classmate, 
4. We have THOUSANDS of NGOs handling lakhs of kids just dealing with abused and abandoned and runaway children (all by biological parents) 
5. We have a spate of 5-6 year olds on spectacles 
6. 15 year olds on PCOD drugs
7. 23 year olds who are "discovering themselves" and unable to do normal tasks
8. 14 year olds who are being brought in scary numbers to be treated for depression
9. Children being sent to hostels because the parents "cannot discipline them at home" 
10. 11 year olds who bring 25000 in cash to school and we have no idea if parents know
11. Raise an entire generation with obesity epidemic. 
    

You are NOT doing parenting right. 

In India, you can: 

1. Stop the immunisation of your child. 
2. You can pull the child out of school. 
3. You can hit your child. 
4. You can leave your child unattended. 
5. Send the child to a school or in a school van that is obviously unsafe for children. 
6. You can take a young child to a violent movie with graphic scenes. 
7. You can look the other way if someone is being "too affectionate" to your child. 
8. You can abuse a male child by asking it to "man up". 
9. You can expose your child to firearms in the house. 
10. You can, as the post says, give alcohol to your child. 
11. You can take your child to a bar (the law requires that you have to be at least 18 to enter a place where alcohol is being served), 
12. You can ask your grown daughter to return to a family that is abusing her just to "keep the marriage" 

And that is when you know BEST? 

Just because child protection rules do not exist in India does not mean that we don't need them.