Lok Sabha Question No. 3117 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-09
Subject: Measures for Protection of Women and Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Benny Behanan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3117 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2024

## MEASURES FOR PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

## 3117 SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the recent incidents of child abuse and trafficking, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to address the issue and strengthen child protection in the country;
- (c) whether the Government is aware of the increasing crimes against women, especially in urban areas; and
- (d) if  so,  the  details  of  the  measures  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the Government to improve women's safety and security?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  &  (b): The  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  is  administering  the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021) which is the primary legislation for ensuring the safety, security, dignity and wellbeing of children.

Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  is  also  implementing  a  Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely 'Mission Vatsalya' to support the State Governments and  UT  Administrations  for  delivering  services  for  Children  in  Need  of  Care  and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) under Institutional and Non-Institutional Care.

As per Mission Vatsalya Scheme guidelines, States and Districts are mandated to execute a 24x7 helpline service for children as defined under the JJ Act, 2015. The Child  Helpline  (CHL)-1098  has  been  integrated  for  synergies  with  Emergency Response Support System-112 (ERSS-112) Helpline of Ministry of Home Affairs through State/UT Control Rooms.

The Ministry constantly engages with the States/ UTs from time to time as regards implementation  of  Mission  Vatsalya  Scheme.    The  Ministry  has  issued  various advisories and held Zonal Conferences and Sensitization/ Dissemination Workshops under the Scheme for supporting on ground implementation.

The initiative taken under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme includes collaboration with National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore under 'SAMVAD'  (Support  Advocacy  &  Mental  Health  Interventions  for  Children  in Vulnerable Circumstances and Distress). SAMVAD works in areas of Mental Health, Care  &  Protection,  Education  and  Policy  &  Law.  Various  training  and  capacity building  programmes have been conducted for child protection functionaries and others stakeholders across the States/ UTs.

Also, the Ministry in collaboration with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie has developed an online training module on Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection for Children) Act, 2015 for capacity building of multiple  stakeholders  such  as  State  Governments/  UT  Administrations,  district authorities and others.

Further, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also taken following steps/actions to combat trafficking:

1. Conducted a national level multi-stakeholder 'E-Consultative Meeting to Combat Child Trafficking Post Lockdown Situation due to COVID-19' on 8th  May,  2020  comprising of representative from the NITI Aayog, SCPCRs, Police,  State  CID,  Anti  Human  Trafficking  Units  and  experts  in  the  field  of Human Trafficking.
2. NCPCR  has  started  to  drive  a  periodic  campaign  on  combating  child trafficking  viz.,  ' बाल तस्करी से आज़ादी '.  This  campaign  was  started  on  1st August 2022 in 75 bordering Districts of India, in commemoration of World Day against Human Trafficking observed on 30th July each year. As an extension of this campaign, this year the Commission is holding similar such campaigns in 100 bordering and adjoining districts of India.
3. The Commission has set up a Quick Response Cell (QRC) to  deal  with instances of children getting trafficked or missing as reported to the Commission from time to time.
4.  A month-long pan-India rescue & rehabilitation of Child & Adolescent Labour Campaign was conducted from 20th November 2023 till 10th December 2023 wherein total 1464 children & Adolescents have been rescued.
5. Special Rescue Initiatives:
- I. A  significant  rescue  operation  was  conducted  at  International  Agro  Food,  a slaughterhouse in Dasna, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh through which 57 children were rescued from exploitative conditions in May 2024.
- II. Another  rescue  mission  was  conducted  at  Som  Distilleries  in  Sehatganj, Raisen, Madhya Pradesh through which 59 children were rescued from dire conditions out of which 43 were minor.
- III. The  Go  Home  and  Reunite  (GHAR)  portal  has  been  developed  to  digitally monitor and track the restoration and repatriation of children according to the protocol.
- IV. Additionally  following  monitoring  portals  have  been  developed  to  cater  to different categories of children in India-
1.  MASI- Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection
2.  Baal Swaraj Portal- Covid Care
3.  Baal Swaraj Portal- CISS
4.  Baal Swaraj Portal- Citizen Login (Portal)
5.  Tracking Portal for out of School Children
6.  POCSO Tracking Portal
7.  NCPCR's Management Information System (MIS) Portal
8.  POCSO E-Box
9.  E-baalnidaan.

Further, The Protection of Children Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 was also enacted to safeguard children from sexual abuse and sexual offences. It provides punishment as per the gravity of offence. 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.

(c) & (d): 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of  life  and  property  of  the  citizens  including  investigation  and  prosecution  of  crime against women rest with the respective State Governments. However, Government of India has taken a number of initiatives for safety of women across the country, which is 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 girls below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and filing of charge sheet in rape cases in 2 months and trials to also be completed in 2 months.

ii.  With the introduction of three new Criminal Laws, for the first time the crime against women which had been scattered through the IPC have been rearranged and placed under  one  Chapter  in  Bhartiya  Nyaya  Sanhita.  A  new  offence  for  having  sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage, employment, promotion or by concealing identity etc. has been incorporated.

iii. Emergency Response Support System provides a pan-India, single internationally recognized  number  (112)  based  system  for  all  emergencies,  with  computer  aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress.

iv. Using technology to aid smart policing and safety management, Safe City Projects have been sanctioned in first  Phase  in 8  cities  (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,  Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai).

v. Government has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to provide a framework and eco-system for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to deal with cyber-crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. vi. Government has launched National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) to enable the public to report all types of cyber-crimes, with special focus on cyber-crimes against women and children. vii.  Financial  assistance  under  the  'Cyber  Crime  Prevention  against  Women  and Children (CCPWC) Scheme has been provided to the States/UTs for their capacity building. viii.  'National  Database  on  Sexual  Offenders'  (NDSO)  was  launched  on  20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies. ix.  'Investigation  Tracking  System  for  Sexual  Offences'  was  launched  on  19th February 2019 to facilitate the police to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018. x.  Steps  have  been  taken  to  strengthen  DNA  analysis  units  in  Central  and  State Forensic Science Laboratories. xi. Guidelines have been notified for collection of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases and the standard composition in a sexual assault evidence collection kit. Bureau of Police Research & Development has distributed 18,020 Sexual Assault Evidence

Collection Kits to States/ UTs as orientation kit as part of training.

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

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