Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely ‘Mission Vatsalya’, through the State/ UT Governments on pre-defined cost sharing basis between the Central and the State Governments to deliver various services for children in difficult circumstances which include both institutional care and non-institutional care services. The scheme provides services to the Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) as well as Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) for their rehabilitation and social re-integration into the mainstream of the society. 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.

Mission Vatsalya envisages a robust ecosystem through the network of State and Local Governments to ensure the safety and security of children in the country. These Local Bodies are required to reach out to children, engage with communities and encourage them to take ownership of the wellbeing of Children in their areas.

Mission Vatsalya also envisages assigning of the functions of child welfare and protection issues to the existing committees of the Panchayati Raj Institution/ Gram Panchayat/ Urban Local Body which deal with the issues of social justice/ welfare of children.

The details of the villages that have successfully established Village Level Child Protection Committees (VLCPCs) are not maintained centrally. Further, no assessments have been conducted under Mission Vatsalya scheme to evaluate the impact of child protection initiatives implemented by VLCPCs on reducing cases of child marriage, trafficking and school dropouts

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. 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.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri Thakur in Lok Sabha in reply to a question today.

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