Deputy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Thursday sentry posts would never be established on school and college premises.

Speaking at an interaction in the capital on Thursday, Oli said, “The government recognises children and educational institutions as the Zone of Peace”.

Oli further said the government was committed to work on par with international standards of human rights to ensure the rights of children in the country. Adding that child rights is the concern of one and all in the country, Oli also announced to expedite works for rehabilitating conflict-hit children.

His statement came at a time when the government and the Maoists were facing criticism for not being sensitive towards rights of children.

Speaking at the same programme, Ek Raj Bhandari, a representative of the CPN (Maoist), said, “Though we (the Maoists) are not signatory to the international human rights conventions, we are committed to upholding the norms of the conventions and eager to solving the issues accordingly.”

Kieran Dwyer, spokesperson of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered the message of Ian Martin on the subject, which read, “It is important that the state authorities, the CPN (Maoist), protection and humanitarian agencies and donors work in a coordinated way to implement effective programmes to assist children who have suffered due to the conflict.”

Many children have been affected by the decade long insurgency that has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people.