Lok Sabha Question No. 5676 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5676 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2025

## NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD RIGHTS

5676.   SHRI SANJAY UTTAMRAO DESHMUKH:

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

- (a) the  number  and  the  nature  of  complaints  registered  with  the  National Commission for Protection of Child Rights regarding the child abuse during the last three years;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any investigation in this regards; the number of persons found guilty so far and the action taken against them in this regard;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to prevent abuse of children and women;
- (d) whether the Government has appointed nodal officers in the States in this regard, if so the details thereof;
- (e) the details of various schemes being run by the Government for the safety of women and children;
- (f) the details of the strategy formulated by the Union Government in consultation with the State Government to deal with the Crimes against children; and
- (g) the steps taken by the Government to prevent juvenile delinquency?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (g)  National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  Rights  (NCPCR)  receives complaints  related  to  child  abuse  and  takes  appropriate  action  on  a  case-to-case basis. Upon receiving a complaint, the Commission forwards the matter to the relevant district administration or police authorities for necessary action, including inquiry as per the requirements of the case. Updates on the actions taken are subsequently shared with the Commission.

The number of cases registered under various categories involving child abuse-such as the under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children ) Act 2015,  POCSO Act 2012, Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, and such abuses as child Trafficking , child Labour etc over the last three years are placed at Annexure .

The determination of guilt and the awarding of punishment fall within the purview of the  judiciary.  Department  of  Justice  is  implementing  a  scheme  for  setting  up  Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including Exclusive POCSO Courts for expeditious trial and disposal  of  cases  related  to  rape  and  POCSO  cases.  As  per  the  information received from High Courts, as of 28.02.2025, 745 FTSCs including 404 exclusive POCSO Courts are  functional  in  30  States/UTs,  which  have  disposed  more  than 3,13,000 cases.

The Government has enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,  2015  (JJ  Act,  2015)  to  ensure  the  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  proper  care, protection,  development,  treatment  and  social  re-integration.  Among  others,  the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021 empowers the District Magistrate to function as the focal point for implementation of JJ Act, 2015 and decide the cases of adoption.

All the schemes implemented by the Ministry for welfare and development of women and  children  have  been  clubbed  into  three  Umbrella  Missions,  viz.  (1)  Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 for improving nutrition & health indicators in the country (2) Mission Shakti, for safety, protection and empowerment of women; and (3) Mission Vatsalya, for protection, care and welfare of children in difficult circumstances. Details of the schemes are as under:

- I. Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0  (Mission  Poshan  2.0): Under  this mission, Anganwadi Services Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent  Girls  have  been  reorganized  into  3  primary  sub-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: The Government of India has launched 'Mission Shakti' - an integrated women empowerment programme as an umbrella scheme for the safety, security, and empowerment of women, to be implemented during the 15th Finance Commission period, i.e., up to FY 2025-26. It has been in effect across the country since 1st April 2022. Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes namely  "Sambal"  for  safety  and  security  of  women  and  "Samarthya"  for empowerment of women. The 'Sambal' has components of One Stop Centre (OSC), Women Helpline (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and Nari Adalat.  The  'Samarthya'  has  components  of  Shakti  Sadan,  Sakhi  Niwas, Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana,  Palna  and  SANKALP:  Hub  for

Empowerment of Women (SANKALP: HEW). The objective of the components under Mission Shakti are as follows:

## A. SAMBAL :

- i. One  Stop  Centre  (OSC) provides integrated support  and assistance  under  one  roof  to  women  affected  by  violence  and those in distress, both in private and public spaces. It provides services  like  medical  aid,  legal  aid  and  advice, temporary shelter ,  police  assistance  and  psycho-social  counselling  to needy women.
- ii. Women Helpline (WHL) provides seamless emergency and nonemergency support and information service to women and girls across the country through a 24/7 universal toll free number 181.
- iii. Beti  Bachao  Beti  Padhao  (BBBP) aims  to  address  declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of girls and women over a life cycle continuum. The scheme is primarily focused on creating mindset and behavioural change towards the girl  child  by  informing,  influencing,  motivating,  engaging,  and empowering all stakeholders.
- iv. Nari  Adalat is  an  initiative  aimed  at  empowering  women  and ensuring  justice  through  services  such  as  alternate  dispute resolution, grievance redressal, counselling, and evidence-based decision-making. It addresses gender-based issues like domestic violence, dowry disputes, child custody, and workplace disparities. Nari Adalat is successfully piloted from 2023-24 in 50 Gram  Panchayats (GPs) each in Assam  and  Jammu  & Kashmir.  Till 31st December 2024, in both the state of Assam and UT of Jammu & Kashmir the pilot State/UT a total 497 cases have  been  registered,  of  which  414  have  been  successfully resolved.

## B. SAMARTHYA:

- i. Shakti Sadan an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home for women  in  distress  situations  including  trafficked  women.  The number of beneficiaries under Shakti Sadan is 3,727 during the last three years.
- ii. Sakhi Niwas -  to  promote  availability  of  safe  and  conveniently located accommodation for working women in urban, semi-urban and  also  in  rural  areas  where  employment  opportunities  for women exist.  The  number  of  beneficiaries  under  Sakhi  Niwas 25,602 during the last three years.
- iii. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) Centrally Sponsored Maternity Benefit Scheme under which cash incentives  flow  to  the  beneficiaries  in  Direct  Benefit  Transfer (DBT) mode for the first child and the second girl child.
- iv. Palna aims to increase the participation of women in work force in  the  economy  by  providing  quality  crèche  facility  in  safe  and secure environment for children.
- v. SANKALP:  Hub  for  Empowerment  of  Women  (HEW) is  an initiative,  under  the  Samarthya  sub-scheme  of  Mission  Shakti which will function as a single window inter-sectoral convergence mechanism.
- III. Mission Vatsalya: Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely 'Mission Vatsalya' through the State/ UT Governments on pre-defined 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 non-institutional care services. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the Mission Vatsalya scheme support, inter-alia, ageappropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. Support under non-institutional care is provided by way of State sponsorship, foster care, adoption and after care to children in need of care and protection.

Government accords the highest priority for ensuring safety and security of children and has undertaken various initiatives in this regard. To safeguard children against sexual abuse and sexual harassment, Government has enacted The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. It defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years.

The Act 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. Section 4 of the Act prescribes rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years, which can extend to life imprisonment, for 'Penetrative Sexual Assault'. If the assault results in the death or causes the victim to be in a persistent vegetative state, Section 6 provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment. Section 8 outlines imprisonment for a minimum of three to five years for those found guilty of sexual  assault,  while  Section  10  increases  this  to  a  minimum  of  five  years  for Aggravated Sexual Assault  (A  person  can  be  charged  with  this  offense  in  certain aggravating circumstances, such as if the rape occurs within a relationship of trust or authority, or if it leads to pregnancy, among others). Section 14 of the Act imposes imprisonment of up to seven years for using children for pornographic purposes. Additionally,  the  Act  mandates  special  courts  for  speedy  trials  under  Section  28; ensuring that the cases are handled with the utmost urgency and sensitivity, reflecting the law's zero-tolerance approach to crimes against children.

Further  the  POCSO  Rules,  2020  were  also  notified  to  protect  the  children  from exploitation and violence and sexual exploitation. Rule 3 provides that any institution housing children or coming in regular contact with children including schools, creches, sports academies or any other facility for Children must ensure police verification and background check on periodic basis, of every staff, teaching or non-teaching, regular or contractual, or any other person being an employee of such Institution coming in contact  with  the  child.  Such  Institution  shall  also  ensure  that  periodic  training  is organized for sensitizing them on child safety and protection.

Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) from the financial year 20232024, has also introduced a scheme namely 'Scheme for Care and Support to Victims under Sections 4 & 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act,  2012'  from  NIRBHAYA  Fund  to  address  the  challenges  faced  by  the  minor pregnant girl child victims for implementation by the State/UT Governments.

*****

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (g) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5676 FOR ANSWER ON 04.04.2025 RAISED BY SHRI SANJAY UTTAMRAO DESHMUKH REGARDING NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD RIGHTS

| The number of cases registered under various categories involving child abuse over the last three years   | The number of cases registered under various categories involving child abuse over the last three years   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Years                                                                                                     | Total                                                                                                     |
| 2022-2023                                                                                                 | 2485                                                                                                      |
| 2023-2024                                                                                                 | 3302                                                                                                      |
| 2024-2025                                                                                                 | 12404                                                                                                     |

*****