Lok Sabha Question No. 1082 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-22
Subject: Child Development Committee
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: N.K. Premachandran, Rajmohan Unnithan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1082

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.11.2019

## CHILD DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

## 1082. SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN SHRI RAJMOHAN UNNITHAN

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the  Government has taken note of allegations regarding the politicalisation of Child Development Committees in Kerala;
- (b) if so, the corrective action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government  has  stipulated qualifications for the  Chairman  and Members of Child Development Committees and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  initiative  taken  by  the  Government  for  ensuring  proper  investigation  and prosecution of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases;
- (e) whether it  has  come to  the  notice  of  the  Government  that  agitation  is  going  on  in Kerala  against  the  release  of  accused  in  POCSO  cases  due  to  the  failure  of  fair police investigation;
- (f) if so, the steps taken by the Government to address the problem; and
- (g) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  formulate  a  scheme  for  the  investigation  of POCSO cases  so  as  to  ensure  a  fair  enquiry  and  prosecution  of  the  accused  in POCSO cases in a time-bound manner?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to  (c): As  per  the  information  provided  by  the  Directorate  of  Women  and  Child Development, Kerala, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) are functional in all 14 district of Kerala. An inquiry  was instituted against CWC Chairperson, Pallakad, Govt. of Kerala on the basis of a complaint. Based  on  the  preliminary report of  enquiry  Committee, Chairperson, CWC, Pallakad has been restrained from exercising the duties and powers of Chairperson/Member of CWC. He subsequently, resigned from his post.

As per the Section 27(1) of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act),  Child  Welfare  Committees  (CWCs)  are  to  be  constituted  by  State  Government  by notification  in  the  Official  Gazette  for  every  district,  for  exercising  the  powers  and  to discharge the duties conferred on such Committees in relation to children in need of care and protection under JJ Act, 2015. The Committee shall consist of a Chairperson, and four other members as the State Government may think fit to appoint, of whom atleast one shall be a woman and another, an expert on the matters concerning children.  As per Rule 15 (3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 framed under

JJ Act, 2015 Chairperson and the members shall be above the age of thirty-five years and shall have a minimum of seven years of experience of working with children in the field of education, health, or welfare activities, or should be a practicing professional with a degree in  child  psychology or psychiatry or social work or sociology or human development or in the field of law or a retired judicial officer. The primary responsibility of execution of the Act and Rules lies with the State/UTs.

(d) to (g): As informed by Directorate of Women and Child Development, Kerala, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala called a Higher Level meeting on 5.11.2019 to review the status of POCSO cases in Kerala and a Committee has been constituted under Chief Secretary to conduct State Level review of cases time to time.

'Police' and  'Public Order'  are  State  subjects  under  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the Constitution of India. The responisbilities to miantain law  and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including children rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws. As per Ministry of Home Affairs, a number of initiatives have been taken for prevention and speedy investigation relating to cases of sexual assault, which are given below:

i. The  Criminal  Law  (Amendment),  Act  2013  was  enacted  for  effective  deterrence against sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe  even  more  stringent  penal  provisions  including  death  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and trials within 2 months each.

ii. MHA has  launched  the  'National  Database  on  Sexual  Offenders'(NDSO)  on  20 th September  2018  to  facilitate  investigation  and  tracking  of  sexual  offenders  across  the country by law enforcement agencies.

iii. In  order  to  facilitate  States/UTs,  MHA  on  19 th February  2019  launched  an  online analytic tool for police called 'Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences'to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.

iv. In order to improve investigation, MHA has taken steps to strengthen DNA analysis units  in  Central  and  State  Forensic  Science  Laboratories.  This  includes  setting  up  of  a State-of-the-Art  DNA  Analysis  Unit  in  Central  Forensic  Science  Laboratory,  Chandigarh. MHA has also sanctioned setting-up and upgrading of DNA Analysis units in State Forensic Science Laboratories in 13 States/UT.

v. MHA  has  notified  guidelines  for  collection  of  forensic  evidence  in  sexual  assault cases  and  the  standard  composition  in  a  Sexual  Assault  Evidence  Collection  Kit.  To facilitate adequate capacity in manpower,  training and skill building programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers has commenced.  A total number of 6023 Officers have already been trained by the Bureau of Police Research and Development  (BPR&D)  and  Lok Nayak  Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Criminology  and  Forensic  Science  in  collection,  handling  and  transportaion  of  forensic evidence.  BPR&D  has  distributed  3,120  Sexual  Assault  Evidence  Collection  Kits  to States/UTs as orientation kit as part of training.

vi. In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  measures,  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  have issued advisories from time to time with a view to help the States/UTs to deal with crimes against women, which are available at www.mha.gov.in.