Lok Sabha Question No. 484 (STARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: Child Care Institutions
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Thirumaavalavan Tholkappiyan, Dr. D Ravi Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *484

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2025

## CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS

## *484.  DR. THIRUMAAVALAVAN THOLKAPPIYAN :

DR. D RAVI KUMAR :

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

- (a) whether  as  per  National  Human  Rights  Commission  Report,  2022,  out  of estimated three crore orphan and abandoned children only about 2.6 lakh children  live  in  7000  Children  Care  Institutions  (CCIs)  in  country  leaving  a large number in need of institutional care;
- (b) if so, whether any measures are being taken to resolve the issue, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether despite being covered under Juvenile Justice Act, 28% of CCIs are not registered with State Governments and 39.6% of CCIs are not visited by State Inspection Committees on a random basis according to the CAG Report; and
- (d) if so, the details of the measures being taken thereon and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI. ANNPURNA DEVI)

- (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTs (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.484 FOR ANSWER ON 04.04.2025 RAISED BY  DR.  THIRUMAAVALAVAN  THOLKAPPIYAN  AND  DR.  D  RAVI  KUMAR REGARDING CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS

(a) & (b): National Human Rights Commission has informed that no such report has been published.

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 in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) by catering  to  their  basic  needs  through care,  protection,  development,  treatment, rehabilitation and social re-integration.  It defines standards of care and protection to secure the best interest of the child. The Act envisages statutory structures at State and  District  levels  which  include  State  Child  Protection  Society,  Child  Welfare Committee, Juvenile Justice Board, District Child Protection Unit and also Child Care Institutions. The primary responsibility of implementation of the JJ Act lies with the respective State/UT Governments.

Under Sections 27-30 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Child Welfare Committees 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  functioning  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.  The JJ Act, 2015 (Section 109) provides for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights at national level and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights at State level respectively to monitor the implementation of the Act.

Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme  namely  'Mission  Vatsalya',  through  the  State/  UT  Governments  on predefined cost sharing basis between the Central and the State Governments to deliver services for children in difficult circumstances which includes institutional care and non-institutional 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 non-institutional care is provided by way of sponsorship, foster care and after care to children in need of care and protection. Under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme, the District  Child  Protection  Unit  functions  under  the  overall  supervision  of  District Magistrate  to  ensure  review,  monitoring  and  inspection  of  the  service  delivery institutions i.e. Child Care Institutions and the care provided.

The scheme, through Toll-free Child Helpline (1098) also provides for emergency outreach services (24x7) for children in difficult circumstances. It is further integrated with  the  Emergency  Response  Support  System-112  (ERSS-112)  Helpline  of  the Ministry of Home Affairs and Women Helpline 181.

The  Ministry  has  issued  various  guidelines  and  advisories  from  time  to  time  for strengthening implementation of Mission Vatsalya by the States/UTs. These include Mission Vatsalya Guidelines, Standard Operating Procedures for Child Helpline & Model Foster Care Guidelines 2024.

The Ministry regularly follows up with the State/ UT Governments 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 implementation of the scheme lies with the States/ UTs.

(c)  &  (d):  Comptroller  &  Auditor  General  of  India  have  informed  that  no  such observations have been made in their report.

Under section 41(1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015  (JJ  Act,  2015),  all  institutions  whether  run  by  a  State  Government  or  by voluntary or non-governmental organisations, for housing children in need of care and protection or children in conflict with law are required to be registered under the JJ Act, 2015. Section 42 of the JJ Act, 2015 also provides for punishment of any person, or persons, in-charge of an institution housing children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law, who fails to comply with the provisions of section 41(1) of the JJ Act, 2015.

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 being the focal point in the district for  implementation  of  the  Act,  takes  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.

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