Ministry of Women and Child Development is nodal Ministry for administration of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015
The Ministry of women and Child Development is the nodal Ministry for the administration of 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 and is implemented by the States and UTs. The Act creates statutory structures at the State and District levels which include State Child Protection Society, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), District Child Protection Units. It also provides for establishment of Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
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). 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). Further, as per Section 106 of the JJ Act 2015, the primary responsibility for the implementation of the Act lies with the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations.
Inspection Committees are mandated under section 54 of JJ Act, 2015 to visit such facilities housing children. District Magistrate is the nodal authority in the district for children in need of care and protection and to take action on the findings of the report submitted by the Inspection Committees. 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.
Under Mission Vatsalya, 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.
Section 41 of the JJ Act, 2015 empowers States and UT Governments to cancel or withhold registration of Child Care Institutions which fail to provide rehabilitation and reintegration services as specified in section 53 of the Act.
The Ministry has issued various guidelines and advisories from time to time for strengthening implementation of Mission Vatsalya by the States and UTs. The Ministry also regularly engages with the States and UTs with regards to implementation of the scheme. It has been holding zonal conferences and sensitization/ dissemination workshops since launch of Mission Vatsalya Scheme to promote and implement the scheme effectively.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri Thakur in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.
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