Lok Sabha Question No. 2974 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-17
Subject: Development of Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Vijay Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 2974 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2023

## DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN

## 2974.   SHRI VIJAY KUMAR:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- a. the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  development  of  women  in  Gaya Parliamentary Constituency in the State of Bihar;
- b. whether any steps have been taken by the Government for the orphan children in the State of Bihar;
- c. if so, the details thereof; and
- d. the details of the steps taken by the Government for the single parent ' s  child in the State of Bihar during the Corona pandemic?

## ANSWER

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

(a): To ensure better monitoring and efficient implementation across the country including Gaya parliamentary constituency of Bihar, presently in the XVth Finance Commission Cycle, all the schemes for women and children of the Ministry have been clubbed together into three verticals, viz. (1) Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 for improving nutrition indicators in the country (2) Mission Shakti, for safety, security and empowerment of women; and (3) Mission Vatsalya, for protection and welfare of children. The details of these schemes are as under:

- (i)  Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0: This  programme  has  been  reorganized  into  3 primary  verticals:  (i)  Nutrition  Support  for  POSHAN  and  for  Adolescent  Girls  (ii)  Early Childhood  Care  and  Education  [3-6  years]  and  (iii)  Anganwadi  Infrastructure  including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadis.
- (ii) Mission Shakti: Mission Shakti comprises of two sub-schemes ' Sambal ' and ' Samarthya ' for  safety  and  security  of  women  and  empowerment  of  women  respectively. The existing schemes of One Stop Centres (OSC), Women Helplines (181-WHL) and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) have been made part of Sambal sub- scheme; while the existing schemes of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel and National Creche Scheme have been included in ' Samarthya ' . A new component of Hub for Empowerment of Women has been included in 'Samarthya' subscheme,  under  which  the  Central  Government  provides  financial  assistance  to  States/  UTs including Bihar for setting up of Hub at State and District level.

(iii) Mission Vatsalya: Under Mission Vatsalya, the Child Protection Scheme(CPS) has been strengthened  for  better  outreach  and  protection  for  children  in  need  and  care  in  a  mission mode with the objective to: (i) Support and sustain Children in difficult circumstances, (ii) Develop context-based solutions for holistic development of children from varied backgrounds, (iii) Provide scope for green field projects for encouraging innovative solutions, (iv) Cement convergent action by gap funding, if required.

(b)  &  (c):  The  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  is  administering  '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. The Act provides for  protection  of  children  in  need  of  care  and  protection  and  those  in  conflict  with  law  by catering to their basic needs through care, protection, development, treatment and social reintegration.  It  defines  standards  of  care  and  protection  to  secure  the  best  interest  of  child. Under  the  JJ  Act  2015  (Sections  27-30),  the  Child  Welfare  Committees  have  been empowered  to  take  decisions  with  regard  to  the  children  in  need  of  care  and  protection including rehabilitation of orphan and destitute children, keeping their best interest in mind.

The  Ministry  also  implements  a  centrally  sponsored  scheme  namely ' Mission  Vatsalya ' (erstwhile Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme) through State and UT Governments for delivering  services  for  Children  in  Need  of  Care  and  Protection  (CNCP)  including  orphan children  and  Children  in  Conflict  with  Law  (CCL).  The  Child  Care  Institutions  (CCI) established under the scheme  support inter-alia age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, etc.

(d): The details of the steps taken by the Government for the single parent ' s child in the State of  Bihar  during  the  corona  pandemic  are  not  available.  However,  the  PM  CARES  for Children Scheme was launched by The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 29th May 2021 to support  children  who  have  lost  both  the  Parents  or  legal  Guardian  or  Adoptive  Parents  or Survivfing Parent to COVID-19 pandemic during the period starting from 11th March 2020. The objective of the Scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of Children in a sustained  manner,  and  enable  their  well  being  through  health  insurance,  empower  them through  education  and  equip  them  for  self-sufficient  existence  with  financial  support  on reaching 23 years of age.

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