Lok Sabha Question No. 5550 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-27
Subject: Financial Assistance for Child Care Institutions
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5550

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026

## FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS

## 5550.   SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ALIAS VIJAY VASANTH:

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

- (a)       whether financial assistance is being enhanced for Child Care Institutions to improve security, monitoring and rehabilitation services for rescued minor victims, if so, the details thereof;
- (b)       whether any awareness campaigns have been conducted in schools and communities to educate parents and children about risks of trafficking and kidnapping, if so, the details thereof;
- (c)        whether a centralised digital tracking system for missing children is being effectively monitored to prevent interstate trafficking and repeated victimisation, if so, the details thereof;
- (d)       whether any periodic social audits have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of child protection schemes in preventing kidnapping and exploitation, if so, the details thereof;
- (e)        whether  the  Ministry  proposes  a  comprehensive  national  strategy  focusing  on prevention,  protection,  rehabilitation  and  long-term  empowerment  of  women  and children vulnerable to abduction and trafficking; and
- (f)         if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a):  Ministry  of  Women and Child Development is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely 'Mission Vatsalya' in all States and Union Territories on predefined cost sharing basis between the Central and the State Governments to deliver various services for children  in  difficult  circumstances  including  orphan  children.  The  scheme  provides institutional care and non-institutional care. Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the  Mission  Vatsalya  scheme  provide, inter-alia, age-appropriate  education,  access  to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. Under Non-Institutional Care Service, support is provided through Sponsorship, Foster Care, Adoption and After Care.

During revision of centrally sponsored schemes in 15 th Finance Commission, financial norms were appropriately increased to ensure basic needs, care, protection, development, treatment, rehabilitation and social re-integration of children living in Child Care Institutions.

(b):  The  TrackChild  Portal  is  implemented  with  support  and  involvement  of  various stakeholders namely Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments/ UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. Advisories have been issued to all States and UTs including Director General of  Police  of  all  States  &  UTs  and  other  stakeholders  regarding  providing  information  of missing children on the TrackChild portal.

Under Mission Vatsalya, States and Union Territories are supported to conduct awareness and capacity-building programmes for strengthening child protection systems at the grassroots level. Further, the Ministry also organizes zonal conferences and sensitization/dissemination workshops under Mission Vatsalya Scheme to create awareness and strengthen implementation among stakeholders.

(c): This Ministry has developed an integrated unified Mission Vatsalya Portal in consultation and coordination with States and UTs. The TrackChild portal for Missing/Found Children, and  Khoya-Paya  application  for  Missing/Sighted  Children  have  been  integrated  with  this unified  Mission  Vatsalya  Portal.  The  TrackChild  portal  is  implemented  with  support  and involvement of various stakeholders namely Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State  Governments  and  UT  Administrations,  Child  Welfare  Committees,  Juvenile  Justice Boards,  National  Legal  Services  Authority,  etc.  Standard  operating  procedure  have  been issued in this regard. Advisories have also been issued to all States and UTs including Director General of Police of all States & UTs and other stakeholders regarding implementation of TrackChild. It is also integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems (CCTNS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs which allows interoperability in terms of matching of F.I.Rs of missing children with data base of TrackChild to trace and match missing children by the State and UT police concerned. Further, through Khoya Paya module any citizen can report about any missing or sighted children.

Further, This Ministry has directed all State and UT Governments to appoint designated nodal officers for Missing children at State Level and District levels. The details of these nodal officers have been uploaded on Mission Vatsalya portal.

(d): Under the JJ Act 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) 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 function of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs). Similarly, the Juvenile Justice Boards are empowered to take decisions  regarding  the  welfare  of  children  in  conflict  with  law  (Sections  04-09).  At  the national and state level, the JJ Act provides the National/State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights to monitor the implementation of the Act (Section 109).

The  Ministry  regularly  follows  up  with  the  State  and  Union  Territory  Governments  and various advisories have been issued so as to ensure the effective implementation of Mission Vatsalya Scheme.

(e)  &  (f): Section  143  of  BNS  defines  trafficking  as  recruiting,  transporting,  harbouring, transferring, or receiving a person for exploitation using various coercive means. The section outlines  severe  punishments  for  trafficking,  with  higher  penalties  for  trafficking  multiple persons  or  children.  Further,  Section  144  of  BNS,  2023,  deals  with  the  exploitation  of trafficked persons, including sexual exploitation. The section outlines different punishments for  exploiting  trafficked  children  and  adults  including  women,  with  distinct  terms  of imprisonment and fines. Section 95 of BNS related to hiring, employing or engaging a child etc.to commit an offence, Section 99 of BNS related to buying a child for the purposes of prostitution are also relevant in the context of human trafficking. Additionally, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 also recognizes trafficking as a cognizable and nonbailable offence.

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  the  "State'  subjects  under  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the Constitution of India. The responsibility for preventing and countering the crime of human trafficking, therefore, primarily vests with respective States and Union Territories, who are competent to deal with such offences under extant provisions of law.

However, the Government of India supplements the efforts of the States and Union Territories by providing them guidelines on preventing and countering the crime of human trafficking, in the form of various advisories issued from time to time. Some of the initiatives of the Central Government are as under:

- i. The Government has provided financial assistance to all States and Union Territories, for upgrading/ setting up Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) covering all Districts of the States and UTs. Currently, 827 AHTUs are functional including 807 in States and UTs, 15 in Border Security Forces (BSF) and 5 in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). SSB has also established dedicated helpline number 1903.
- ii. The Ministry of Home Affairs also provides financial assistance to the States and UTs in  holding  'State  level  conferences'  and  Judicial  Colloquiums',  which  are  aimed  at sensitizing the Police/ Law officers of the States and UTs about the latest initiatives/ developments relevant in addressing the issue of human trafficking in a focused and efficient manner.
- iii. A national level communication platform - Crime Multi Agency Centre (Cri MAC) was launched by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on March 12, 2020 for online sharing of information  on  crime  &  criminals  on  24x7  basis  among  various  Law  Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and ensure seamless flow of information between them. It facilitates dissemination  of  information  about  significant  crimes  including  human  trafficking cases across the country on a real time basis and enables inter-State coordination.
4. (iv)       The Government has mandated the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate cases of human trafficking having inter-state, national and international ramifications.
- v. 14,653  Women Help Desks (WHDs) have been  established in  Police  Stations  with financial assistance under Nirbhaya Fund focus on making the Police Stations more women friendly and approachable.
- vi. Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO), an online analytical tool, has been launched to monitor and track police investigations in sexual offences as per Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018 (now included in BNSS). It enables a regular review by the States and UTs concerned to monitor the progress of case investigation.
- vii. National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) is a database available exclusively to police. It was Launched on 20.09.2018 to facilitate investigation & tracking of sexual offenders, which allows Investigating Officers to track habitual sex offenders along with initiating preventive measures against sexual offences.
- viii. National Database of Human Trafficking Offenders (NDHTO), facilitates the LEAs to search  the  trafficker's  portfolio  which  provides  crime  history,  personal  details, movement, court actions, appeals, visitors, etc. Trafficker's data search provides details for prevention/detection and investigation of such crimes.

The Government of India is committed to enhancing inter-agency collaboration at the national and international levels and strengthening public awareness campaigns to prevent trafficking.   The  NIA,  in  conjunction  with  the  new  criminal  laws  and  the  Immoral  Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA), coupled with the initiatives of the Ministry of Women and Child Development constitute a more robust framework for handling trafficking offences.

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