Lok Sabha Question No. 4308 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-20
Subject: Child Abuse in Shelter Homes
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Vamsi Krishna Gaddam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4308 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2024

## CHILD ABUSE IN SHELTER HOMES

## 4308. SHRI VAMSI KRISHNA GADDAM:

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

- (a) the number of child abuse cases reported in shelter homes across the country during the last five years, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has assessed reasons for such incidents, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government has identified systemic failures leading to recurring abuse cases in shelter homes, if so, details of the corrective steps taken at both the national and State levels;
- (d) the details of investigations/actions taken against shelter homes reported child abuse cases during the last five years, year-wise and State-wise including in Tamil Nadu;
- (e) the details of the measures implemented and funds allocated to ensure higher on-site  healthcare  presence  in  shelter  homes,  especially  in  overcrowded facilities; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  effectiveness  of  protection mechanisms  in  the  country  including  Tamil  Nadu,  if  so,  the  details  of  the challenges posed therein?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (f) : The Ministry of Women and Child Development administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015). It is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children. It defines standards of care and protection to secure the best interest of the child.

Section 41 of the JJ Act, 2015 mandates the registration of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) in all States/Union Territories (UTs), for housing children in need of care and protection or children in conflict with law.

Sections 27-30 of the JJ Act, 2015 empower the Child Welfare Committees to take decisions  with  regard  to  the  Children  in  Need  of  Care  and  Protection  (CNCP), keeping their best interest in mind. The Committees are also mandated to monitor the functions of the CCIs. Similarly, sections 04-09 of the JJ Act, 2015 empower the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) to take decisions regarding the welfare of Children in Conflict with Law (CCL).

The JJ Act, 2015 and Rules made thereunder provide for inspection of Child Care Institutions  by  State  Level  Inspection  Committee  and  District  Level  Inspection Committee. The District Level Inspection Committee is constituted by the District Magistrate  with  Additional  District  Magistrate  as  Chairperson.  The  District  Level Inspection Committee inspects all CCIs in the district and submits the report of the findings  to  the  District  Magistrate  or  the  State  Government  for  improvement  and development of CCIs in accordance with the provisions of the JJ Act, 2015 and Rules made thereunder. The District Magistrate shall take follow up action on the report of inspection  committees  and  ensure  that  corrective  measures  are  taken  in  a  time bound manner. The primary responsibility of implementation of the JJ Act lies with the respective State/UT Governments.

The  Government  of  India  has  enacted  the  Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual Offences  (POCSO)  Act,  2012  to  provide  strong  safe  guards  for  children  against sexual abuse. The Act define a child as any person below the age of 18 years. It provides for establishment of Special Courts for the purpose of ensuring speedy trial. It  was  amended  in  2019  to  introduce  more  stringent  punishment  including  death penalty for committing sexual crimes on children, with a view to deter the perpetrators & prevent such crimes against children. POCSO Act also prescribes provisions of mandatory  reporting  of  crime,  as  per  Section-21  which  provides  punishment  for failure to report or record a case.

POCSO Rules, 2020 include provisions for mandatory police verification of staff in schools  and  care  homes,  procedures  to  report  child  sexual  abuse  material (pornography), imparting age-appropriate child rights education, among other things. The Rules also stipulate that suitable material and information are disseminated by the  respective  Governments  in  all  public  places  such  as  panchayat  bhavans, community centers, schools and colleges, bus terminals, railway stations, places of congregation, airports, taxi stands, cinema halls and such other prominent places and also be disseminated through social media.

Further,  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  is  implementing  a  Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely 'Mission Vatsalya', through the State/ UT Governments on pre-defined cost sharing basis between the Central and the State Governments to deliver services for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL). The scheme provides services to the CNCP and CCL category  of  children  for  their  rehabilitation  and  social  re-integration  into  the mainstream of the society.  These services include both institutional care and noninstitutional care services. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the JJ Act, 2015 and the Mission Vatsalya scheme support, inter-alia, age-appropriate education,  access  to  vocational  training,  recreation,  health  care,  counselling  etc. Support under non-institutional care is provided by way of sponsorship, foster care and after care to children in need of care and protection.  Further, Mission Vatsalya guidelines stipulate Child Care Institutions (CCIs) with a capacity of 50 children and for North-Eastern States, Himalayan States and Hilly areas in other States, CCIs with a capacity of 25 children or as per the need of the States.

The  Ministry  regularly  follows  up  with  the  State/  UT  Governments  and  various advisories have been sent so as to ensure the effective implementation of Mission Vatsalya Scheme. The Ministry conducts meetings, trainings and workshops from time to time with the State and UT Governments to strengthen implementation of Mission Vatsalya Scheme at the field level. The State Child Protection Society and District  Child Protection Units at the State and District levels provide day to day monitoring of the scheme.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) at National level and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) at State level, under section  109  of  the  JJ  Act,  2015,  monitor  the  implementation  of  the  JJ  Act, 2015.  NCPCR has developed an online portal for real time monitoring of the CCIs including  Shelter  Homes.  56  complaints  of  child  abuse  in the  CCIs have  been reported on this portal including from Shelter Homes across the country during the last five years from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The complaints received on the NCPCR portal  are  forwarded  to  the  district  authority  concerned  and  State  authority  for appropriate action. The State/UT-wise number of child abuse cases in CCIs including Shelter homes as reported on the portal of the NCPCR during the last five years is at Annexure.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.4308  FOR  ANSWER  ON  20.12.2024  BY  SHRI  VAMSI  KRISHNA  GADDAM REGARDING CHILD ABUSE IN SHELTER HOMES

STATE/UT-WISE  NUMBER  OF  CHILD  ABUSE  IN  CHILD  CARE  INSTITUTIONs  INCLUDING SHELTER HOMES DURING THE LAST FIVE YEARS

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs                           |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|-----------|--------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1         | Andaman & Nicobar Islands            |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                       |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh                    |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 4         | Assam                                |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 5         | Bihar                                |         1 |         2 |         1 |         2 |         0 |
| 6         | Chandigarh                           |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh                         |         0 |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 8         | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 9         | Delhi                                |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         1 |
| 10        | Goa                                  |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 11        | Gujarat                              |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 12        | Haryana                              |         0 |         0 |         3 |         1 |         0 |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh                     |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 14        | Jammu and Kashmir                    |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 15        | Ladakh                               |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 16        | Jharkhand                            |         0 |         2 |         1 |         0 |         0 |
| 17        | Karnataka                            |         1 |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 18        | Kerala                               |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 19        | Lakshadweep                          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 20        | Madhya Pradesh                       |         1 |         0 |         2 |         0 |         0 |
| 21        | Maharashtra                          |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 22        | Manipur                              |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 23        | Meghalaya                            |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 24        | Mizoram                              |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 25        | Nagaland                             |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 26        | Orissa                               |         0 |         4 |         1 |         1 |         1 |
| 27        | Puducherry                           |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 28        | Punjab                               |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 29        | Rajasthan                            |         2 |         0 |         4 |         0 |         1 |
| 30        | Sikkim                               |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 31        | Tamil Nadu                           |         0 |         3 |         5 |         0 |         0 |
| 32        | Telengana                            |         0 |         0 |         2 |         1 |         0 |
| 33        | Tripura                              |         0 |         0 |         1 |         0 |         0 |
| 34        | Uttar Pradesh                        |         3 |         0 |         1 |         0 |         1 |
| 35        | Uttarakhand                          |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         1 |
| 36        | West Bengal                          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
|           | Total                                |        12 |        13 |        21 |         5 |         5 |

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