the Gandhi Jayanti Programme in Kanpur, causing tremendous hardship to the participating school children. At the function arranged by the City Administration of Kanpur on 2 October 2005, the chief guest reached the venue three hours late. The children were forced to sit in the scorching heat without any food or water from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. They were severely dehydrated and many started fainting. There was no first-aid, doctor or transport available at the venue to help the children. Those who needed immediate hospitalization were rushed in private cars to some government hospitals without any assistance from the concerned authorities. 6.142 The complaint also alleged that even as a large number of students were found to be in critical condition, the authorities continued with the programme without providing food and water to the remaining children. The complainant sought the intervention of the Commission for taking action against the authorities responsible for such blatant violation of children's rights. 6.143 While considering the matter, the Commission observed that the report submitted by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kanpur accepted that 10,000 children had gathered in the open ground and that some of them became unwell at 10.50 a.m., yet no steps were taken to protect the other children from the scorching sun. The administration should have taken immediate measures to give some relief to the other children. The fact that the children were kept waiting under the scorching sun for the chief guest for another three hours indicates a total lack of concern on the part of the administration for the health of children. In the opinion of the Commission, this is a case of blatant violation of the human rights of children. 6.144 The Commission strongly condemned the practice of using small children as showpieces during a VIP's visit. It further observed that the administration must appreciate that children are valuable assets of the nation and they must be handled with care and affection. Forcing children to sit under the scorching sun for six long hours is a blatant violation of their human rights and the Government must be made to pay some token monetary relief to the affected children so that such incidents do not recur in future. 6.145 Accordingly, the Commission recommended that the State of Uttar Pradesh pay an amount of Rs. 5,000 each to all the 49 children who had to be taken to the hospital after becoming unwell. 6.146 As the proof of payment was received by the Commission, the case was closed on 2 January 2008. 34. Attempt to Rape a Woman (Name Withheld) by the Local Police of Lucknow, UttarPradesh (Case No. 5485/24/1998-1999) 6.147 The Commission received a complaint from one Ram Bhajan, stating that in his absence, a police party headed by Jagram Verma, Station House Officer of one of the Police Stations in Lucknow, forcibly entered his house in the night of 30 May 1998 and tried to rape his sister-in-law. Thereafter, the victim was taken forcibly to the police station where she was implicated in a false case under the NDPS Act. National Human Rights Commission 59