Lok Sabha Question No. 5750 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: Children in Conflict with Law
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 5750

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2025

## CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH LAW

## 5750.  DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

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

- (a) the  details  of  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  State  Government/Central Government to address the issue of recidivism in Children in Conflict with Law (CCL);
- (b) the number of CCL who have been provided aftercare services and facilities in accordance with the guidelines of Mission Vatsalya, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Central Government has a dedicated scheme/policy/ programme to provide non-institutional support to CCL;
- (d) if so, the details of the beneficiaries during the last five years, year-wise; and
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e): The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) is the primary legislation for ensuring the safety, security, dignity and wellbeing of children in any vulnerable or difficult situation. As per Section 2 (13) of the JJ Act 2015, 'child in conflict with law' means a person who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and who has not completed eighteen years of age on the date of commission of such offence'. The Juvenile Justice Boards are empowered to  take  decisions  for  the  welfare  of  children  in  conflict  with  law  (Sections  04-09). Section 53 of the JJ Act prescribes various rehabilitation and reintegration services to be provided in institutions established for children. Under section 8(j) of the Act, the Juvenile Justice Board is required to conduct at least one inspection visit every month of the residential  facilities  for  children  in  conflict  with  law  and  recommend action for improvement in quality of services to the District Child Protection Unit and the State Government.

Section 8 of the JJ Act, 2015 provides powers, functions and responsibilities of the Juvenile Justice Board. Further, section 8(3)(g) of the JJ Act, 2015 provides that a child in conflict with law can also be considered at any stage a child in need of care and protection and there is a need for the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to be both involved for such children.

Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development is  implementing  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme  namely  'Mission  Vatsalya'  through  the  State/  UT  Governments  on  predefined cost sharing basis between the Centre and the State Governments to deliver various  services  for  the  Children  in  Need  of  Care  and  Protection  (CNCP)  and Children  in  Conflict  with  Law  (CCL),  which  include  both  institutional  and  noninstitutional care services. 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.  Support  under  noninstitutional care is provided by way of State sponsorship, foster care, adoption and after care to children in need of care and protection.

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 the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The State/UT-wise details of children supported under Mission Vatsalya Scheme for non-institutional care including children in Conflict with Law for the last five years (from 2019-20 to 2023-24) is at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTs (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.5750  FOR  ANSWER  ON  04.04.2025  BY  DR.  SHASHI THAROOR REGARDING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH LAW

STATE/UT-WISE DETAILS OF CHILDREN SUPPORTED UNDER MISSION VATSALYA SCHEME FOR NON-INSTITUTIONAL CARE INCLUDING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH LAW FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS (FROM 2019-20 TO 2023-24)

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs                           |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|-----------|--------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                       |       604 |       144 |       144 |      9150 |     10000 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh                    |       903 |       318 |       318 |       840 |      1719 |
| 3         | Assam                                |       368 |       434 |       434 |       858 |      1919 |
| 4         | Bihar                                |       854 |      1646 |      1646 |       504 |      4001 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                         |      1250 |      1250 |      1250 |       288 |      1137 |
| 6         | Goa                                  |         0 |        13 |        13 |        27 |        62 |
| 7         | Gujarat                              |      1088 |      1438 |      1438 |       506 |       450 |
| 8         | Haryana                              |      1042 |      1042 |      1042 |      5155 |       643 |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh                     |       563 |       563 |       563 |      1347 |      1352 |
| 10        | Jammu & Kashmir                      |       521 |       979 |       979 |      1398 |      4024 |
| 11        | Jharkhand                            |      1125 |      1125 |      1125 |      3086 |      4629 |
| 12        | Karnataka                            |      1357 |      1375 |      1375 |      3875 |     12449 |
| 13        | Kerala                               |       323 |       323 |       323 |      1133 |      1455 |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh                       |      1125 |      2188 |      2188 |      2377 |     13715 |
| 15        | Maharashtra                          |      1688 |      1688 |      1688 |      9844 |     21680 |
| 16        | Manipur                              |       396 |       729 |       729 |      1120 |      1288 |
| 17        | Meghalaya                            |       260 |       490 |       490 |      1028 |      1083 |
| 18        | Mizoram                              |       396 |       396 |       396 |       591 |      1516 |
| 19        | Nagaland                             |       521 |       521 |       521 |       752 |       779 |
| 20        | Odisha                               |      1375 |      1375 |      1375 |      1772 |      3697 |
| 21        | Punjab                               |      1042 |       263 |       263 |       612 |      4150 |
| 22        | Rajasthan                            |       750 |      1438 |      1438 |       239 |       933 |
| 23        | Sikkim                               |       188 |       188 |       188 |       323 |       460 |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu                           |      1521 |      1521 |      1521 |      2975 |      5411 |
| 25        | Tripura                              |       198 |       365 |       365 |       305 |      1373 |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh                        |      3313 |      3313 |      3313 |      1766 |     10000 |
| 27        | Uttarakhand                          |       302 |       573 |       573 |       847 |      1817 |
| 28        | West Bengal                          |      1021 |      1083 |      1083 |      1670 |      2750 |
| 29        | Telangana                            |      1479 |      1563 |      1563 |      6454 |      4858 |
| 30        | Andaman & Nicobar Islands            |        42 |        52 |        52 |         0 |         1 |
| 31        | Chandigarh                           |        64 |        67 |        67 |       199 |       309 |
| 32        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |        94 |       156 |       156 |       519 |       984 |
| 33        | Ladakh                               |         0 |         0 |         0 |        29 |       411 |
| 34        | Lakshadweep                          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 35        | Delhi                                |       200 |       521 |       521 |       980 |       635 |
| 36        | Puducherry                           |       115 |       198 |       198 |       106 |       171 |
| Total     | Total                                |     26084 |     29331 |     29331 |     62675 |    121861 |

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