WCD Ministry implementing ‘Mission Vatsalya’ to deliver various services for Children in Need of Care and Protection as well as Children in Conflict with Law
WCD Ministry implementing ‘Mission Vatsalya’ to deliver various services for Children in Need of Care and Protection as well as Children in Conflict with Law
‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are the “State” subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility for preventing and countering the crime of human trafficking, therefore, primarily vests with respective States and Union Territories, who are competent to deal with such offences under extant provisions of law.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes data on missing and recovered women & children in the country in its report ‘Crime In India’. The said report is available up to the year 2023 and may be seen at www.ncrb.gov.in/crime-in-india-year-wise.html?year=2023&keyword=
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal Ministry for the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) which is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children and is implemented by the States and UTs. The Act creates statutory structures at the State and District levels which include State Child Protection Society, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), District Child Protection Units. It also provides for establishment of Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
Under the JJ Act 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection, keeping their best interest in mind. They are also mandated to monitor the function of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
As per Section 106 of the JJ Act 2015, the primary responsibility for the implementation of the Act lies with the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations.
Under Section 107 of The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, States and UTs are mandated to constitute Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) in each district and city which should be headed by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and to designate one Officer, not below the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector, as a child Welfare Police Officer in every Police Station.
This Ministry is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely ‘Mission Vatsalya’, through the State and UT Governments to deliver various services for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) as well as Children in Conflict with Law (CCL). These services include Institutional Care and Non-Institutional Care. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the Mission Vatsalya scheme support, inter-alia, age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. Under non-institutional care, support is provided to the children through Sponsorship, Foster Care, Adoption and After Care.
This Ministry has developed an integrated unified Mission Vatsalya Portal in consultation and coordination with States and UTs. The TrackChild portal for Missing/Found Children, Khoya-Paya application for Missing/Sighted Children and CARINGS portal for adoption have been integrated with this unified Mission Vatsalya Portal. The TrackChild portal is implemented with support and involvement of various stakeholders namely Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments and UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. Standard operating procedure have been issued in this regard. Advisories have also been issued to all States and UTs including Director General of Police of all States & UTs and other stakeholders regarding implementation of TrackChild. It is also integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems (CCTNS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs which allows interoperability in terms of matching of F.I.R.s of missing children with data base of TrackChild to trace and match missing children by the State and UT police concerned. Further, through Khoya Paya module any citizen can report about any missing or sighted children.
Further, This Ministry has directed all State and UT Governments to appoint designated nodal officers for Missing children at State Level and District levels. The details of these nodal officers have been uploaded on Mission Vatsalya portal. Ministry of Home Affairs has also appointed a nodal officer to coordinate with nodal officers from States and UTs on Mission Vatsalya and for collection of data from States and UTs regarding missing children.
The scheme also provides for emergency outreach services (24x7x365) for children in difficult circumstances through Child Helpline (1098) which is integrated with Emergency Response Support System-112 (ERSS-112) Helpline of Ministry of Home Affairs.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Annpurna Devi in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question today.