Juvenile
Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Bill 2015 passed by Parliament
Flagship
programme Beti Bachao Beto Padhao and One –Stop Centres launched
33% reservation
of women in police force, Special Mahila Police Volunteers, Gender Champions
and mobile phone panic buttons to prevent crimes against women
Khoya Paya
portal, landmark MoU with Railways and expansion of Childline to
track/restore/rehabilitate missing children
Sweeping
Adoption reforms to make the process easy, transparent and quick
The
Union Ministry of Women and Child Development this year made rapid strides to
address the issues of women and child development. Special emphasis of the new
measures remained addressing the issue of crimes against women, measures for
protecting children especially girl child, adoption reforms,
tracking/rehabilitating/restoring missing children, empowerment of women and
good governance.
Juvenile
Justice ( Care & Protection of Children) Bill 2015 :
In
a landmark achievement, the above Bill has been passed by the Rajya Sabha on 22nd
December, 2015. This Bill now stands passed in the Parliament since the Lok
Sabha passed it on 7thMay this year. The JJ Bill, 2015 will now
become an Act with the Presidential approval.
This
law will strengthen provisions for both children in need of care and protection
and children in conflict with law. Under Section 15, special provisions have
been made to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age
group of 16-18 years.
The
Juvenile Justice Board has been given the option to transfer cases of heinous
offences by such children to a Children’s Court (Court of Session) after
conducting preliminary assessment. The provisions provide for placing children
in a ‘place of safety’ both during and after the trial till they attain the age
of 21 years after which an evaluation of the child shall be conducted by the
Children’s Court. After the evaluation, the child is either released on
probation and if the child is not reformed then the child will be sent to a
jail for remaining term.
The
enactment of this law is expected to act as a deterrent for child offenders
committing heinous offences such as rape and murder and will protect the rights
of victim.
To
streamline adoption procedures for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children,
the existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has been given the
status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more
effectively. Processes have been streamlined with timelines for both
in-country and inter-country adoption including declaring a child legally free
for adoption.
Several
new offences committed against children, which are so far not adequately
covered under any other law, have also been made part of this law. These
include: sale and procurement of children for any purpose including illegal
adoption, corporal punishment in child care institutions, use of child by
militant groups, offences against disabled children and, kidnapping and
abduction of children.
Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao:
The
adverse and declining child sex ratio (CSR) across the States is a major cause
of concern for the Government as it has fallen from 927 in 2001 to 918in 2011. The
WCD Ministry has taken a major step to arrest this trend by launching its
flagship programme Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) this year. The
programme was launched by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at Panipat in
Haryana on 22nd January, 2015. WCD Ministry is working closely with
the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Health and Family Welfare to
design and implement the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) initiative. BBBP seeks
to improve the declining trend of Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in 100 selected
districts in every State/ UT from the current level of 918 by preventing
gender- biased sex selection and ensuring survival, protection and education of
the girl child.
An
exhaustive National Media Campaign for advocacy and mind set change with
a 360 degree approach was rolled out in January, 2015. Pan India awareness
programmes have been organized including radio (in
Hindi & regional languages), TV, SMS campaigns, Mobile Exhibition Vans in
96 BBBP Districts, field publicity with the support of Song and Drama Division
(4309 Programmes) and Directorate of Field Publicity (114 Programmes) of
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.During the year 2014-15
and 2015-16, Rs. 48.10 crore was spent for the advocacy campaign. The campaign
for 2015-16 would include online digital media, Radio and TV campaign, Cinema
Halls, IVR based 139 (the universal railway enquiry number), community engagement
through Song & Drama Division of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
The Minister
of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has written to
Members of Parliament (MPs) for integration of BBBP under Adarsh Gram Yojana
for improving Child Sex Ratio in the village(s) selected. Digital India week
exhibition of best practice under BBBP, Mobile application on BBBP, widespread
use of social and online media by BBBP like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube,
website, MyGov, Vikaspedia etc., are other initiatives taken up vigorously by
the Ministry.
Multi-sectoral
District Action Plans have been operationalized in all states. District
Collectors are leading the initiative and several best practices are seen. An
increasing trend is visible in at least 50% of the BBBP districts for the
period from January-March 2015 in comparison to the baseline values of Sex
Ratio at Birth in 2013-14 (as per HMIS). Capacity building and Training has
been imparted to Master Trainers to further strengthen capacities of District
officials and frontline workers on the issue. Several organizations have come
forward to forge partnershipand engage on the issue.
Village
Facilitation &Convergence Service:
Village
Facilitation &Convergence Service is a new initiative aimed to linking
women in need with the schemes/programs being implemented by Central/State
Government impacting the lives of women such as BBBP, Sabla, Jan Dhan Yojana,
Swach Bharat etc. This is being implemented initially in 100 Gender critical
districts listed under BBBP.
One Stop
Centres:
The
Ministry has launched the Scheme for setting up One Stop Centres to facilitate
access to an integrated range of services including medical, legal, and
psychological support to women affected by violence to be funded through
Nirbhaya Fund. The One Stop Centres will be integrated with 181 and other
existing helplines. The Centre will be established in every State/UT on a pilot
basis. In the first phase, 36 One Stop Centres will be established One in each
State/UT. So far 30 One Stop Centres have been sanctioned, out of which ten
have become fully functional.
Nirbhaya
Fund Utilisation:
Proposals
of more than Rs 600 cr have been appraised and recommended under the Nirbhaya
Fund. These include:
i)
One Stop Centre with total project cost of Rs. 18.58 crore
ii)
Universalisation of Women Helpline with Rs. 69.49 crore of
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD).
Proposals of Ministry of Home Affairs include:
i)
Creation of Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) for supporting
the States/UT Administrations for implementation of Victim Compensation Scheme
of Rs. 200.00 Crore.
ii)
Creation of Investigative Units for Crime against Women (IUCAW) in
all police districts of the country of Rs. 324.00 Crore.
Funds amounting to Rs. 10.71 crore
have been released in respect of One Stop Centres and an amount of Rs. 13.92
crore has been sanctioned for Women Helpline. Ministry of Home Affairs is
processing the proposals as per instructions issued by the Ministry of Finance,
Department of Economic Affairs under Nirbhaya Fund for disbursement of funds
Women
Helpline:
A
schematic proposal to enable the universalization of a Helpline specifically
for women with a common number 181 across the country has been approved.
This Helpline will be linked with One Stop Centres being established by the
Ministry of Women & Child Development. So far 21 states have been extended
financial assistance & operationalised this Helpline.
Sexual Harassment
of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013:
The
Ministry has released a Handbook on the Act for ready reference of all. It is
also available on www.wcd.nic.in.
The Handbook is meant for all workplaces, institutions, organisations to
provide basic understanding of sexual harassment at places of work. It is also
designed to offer Internal Complaints Committee/s and Local Complaints
Committee/s established under the Act with simple, user friendly information on
sexual harassment; what is expected of the Complaints Committee to redress a
complaint and what the inquiry process and outcome should be. The Handbook has
been prepared in consultation with stakeholders and experts.
WCD
Ministry has recommended Mandatory disclosure of constitution of Internal
Complaints Committee by Companies in their annual report under the Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace Act. The Ministries/Departments in Government
of India have also been advised to ensure the compliance of the Act. The
Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian
Society, Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCI), and National Association of
Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) have been requested to ensure
effective implementation of the Act amongst their members in private sector
entities.
33%
Reservation of Women in Police:
This
initiative has been taken up to strengthen gender sensitivity in police force
so as to improve the overall police responsiveness to gender sensitive cases.
So far 7 states and all Union Territories have joined this initiative and have
started recruiting additional women police officers. Most of the other States
have agreed to start working on this.
Special
Mahila Police Volunteer Programme:
Guidelines
for operationalization of Mahila Police Volunteers have been developed by WCD
Ministry and sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs for adoption. MPVs will act
as a link between police and community and facilitate women in distress. The
MPVs shall report the incidence of violence against women, domestic violence
and dowry harassment. They shall be given an Identity Card to authorize their
identity and engagement with public. The contribution of the MPVs will be
rewarded annually.
Engendering
Young Boys and Girls in Educational Institutions through Gender Champions:
To
sensitize young boys and girls on gender equality issues, the scheme of Gender
Champions has been introduced from the school level itself. The initiative has
been conceptualized to be implemented through Educational institutions for
sensitizing young boys and girls and for creating awareness on laws, legislations,
legal rights and life skills education. Gender Champions would be identified in
each class from 8th upwards and Gender Champions Club will be institutionalized
in Educational institutions. The Gender Champion Guidelines developed by WCD
Ministry are being operationalized in collaboration with M/o Human Resource
Development. Department of Higher Education has already taken up the initiative
with University Grant Commission (UGC). UGC vide a notification dated 3rd
August, 2015 has requested Colleges and Universities to implement Gender
Champions., this programme has been started for all educational institutions
where selected boys and girls will be recognized as Gender Champions. The
objective is to catch them young and ingrain gender equality during their
formative years.
Recognition
and Awards for Women Achievers:
The
Ministry of Women & Child Development has placed at the forefront of its
efforts to recognize and reward the achievements of women to make a difference
of life, aspirations and opportunities available to women. New awards have been
instituted to recognise exceptional and selfless work done by women, at
district and State levels (throughout the country). These awards will be
decided at State/ UT level. These awards will be presented on International
Women's Day.
For
the first time, in collaboration with Facebook, Ministry of Women and Child
Development is running a contest to select 100 women achievers through public
nominations and voting. Women who have contributed in improving their community
and making an impact on people around them shall be felicitated by the
Ministry.
The
Ministry has also collaborated with media to highlight women achievers. One
such year long programme ‘Abke Baras Mohey Bitiya hee Dijo’ is
being telecast jointly by Focus TV, ETV and Doordarshan.
SABLA:
This
scheme has been specially designed for providing life skills, supplementary
nutrition and basic health check-up facilities for the out of school adolescent
girls. Currently, this scheme is running in 210 districts in the country which
is being expanded to cover all districts of the country in the next financial
year. SABLA aims at all round development of adolescent girls of 11-18 years
by making them self-reliant. SABLA has benefitted 98.98 Lakh adolescent girls.
Revised
Guidelines for STEP:
The
guidelines for Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
have been revised and application format simplified. Funding for beneficiary
has been increased. The scheme aims to provide skills that give employability
to women and provide competencies that enable them to become self
-employed/entrepreneurs.
Rashtriya
Mahila Kosh:
For
effective implementation of RMK, Rate of Interest (ROI) of RMK loans has been
revised downward. ROI chargeable to end-beneficiaries by NGOs have been reduced
to 10% from 14% this year. With a view to make loaning guidelines of RMK more
effective and customer friendly, the lending guidelines have been further revised
and simplified in this year.
Women of
India Exhibitions:
In
order to link crafts-women directly to the market, a new initiative titled
“Women of India” has been started. Two thematic exhibitions-cum-sale have
already been organized successfully in Delhi. One such unique exhibition with
the theme ‘Women and organic Products’ was organised this year at ‘Dilli Haat,
INA in New Delhi. In the exhibition, over 600 women artisans /entrepreneurs
from Leh to Kanyakumari and from Kohima to Kutch participated with their
organic products, including large varieties of rice, black rice, rajma, pulses,
spices, honey, tea and lemon tea, organic mushroom, Bee wax, handicrafts,
ethnic foods, pickles and preserves, vegetables and fruits, fabrics, dyes,
dresses, cosmetics, organic liquid pesticides and fungicides etc. The scheme is
now being expanded to other states. This scheme is also being taken up through
e-Commerce platform which will be launched shortly.
Regulation
of Matrimonial Websites:
Responding to a number of complaints of stalking and harassment of
women who register on matrimonial websites, it has been decided to put in place
a regulatory framework in order to check this menace. The matrimonial websites
have come on board for this and have agreed to jointly develop a code of
conduct which will be implemented through self-regulation.
Panic Button
on Mobile Phones:
To
provide security to women in emergency situations, facility of a physical panic
button has been agreed to by the mobile phones manufacturers and service
providers. Mandatory regulations for this will be issued in collaboration with
Department of Information Technology. In the meantime, mobile phones companies
are working on technological solution for the existing as well future mobile
phones. This will be launched by March 2016.
Extension of
Maternity Leave :
In order to
enable a women employee to exclusively breast feed for six months after child
birth, the Ministry is working for extending the maternity leave period to
seven months. The Ministry of Labour has decided to extend this from three
months to 6.5 months for which an amendment of the relevant labour laws is
under preparation.
Shelter Home
for widows in Vrindavan:
A large
facility has been approved for the widows in Vrindavan who currently are living
in near destitute conditions. Construction is starting in January 2016.
Mandatory
Mention of Widows Name on Death Certificates:
In order to
ensure that a widow is facilitated to get all her entitlements after the death
of her husbands, the Ministry is working with the office of Registrar General
of India as well as the State Governments to ensure that the name of the widow
is compulsorily mentioned in the death certificates of their husbands.
National
Policy on Women:
A new
National Policy on Women is under formulation. The High Level Committee set up
for this purpose has already submitted its Report after extensive national and
regional stakeholder’s consultations. The Policy will be notified by March
2016.
Steps taken
on Missing Children:
Several
measures have been taken up for tracking, rehabilitating/restoring lost,
missing and trafficked children.
i)
Khoya Paya:
The Ministry
of Women and Child Development, with the assistance of Department of
Electronics and Information Technology(DeitY), has launched a web portal
Khoya-Paya this year for reporting and searching missing children. The web
portal ‘Khoya-Paya’ will have information of missing and sighted children. So
far approximately 2700 users have registered on the portal and around 1500 have
downloaded mobile application for usage through their mobile phones. Around
1500 cases of missing/sighted children have been reported and 140 cases of
missing children have been closed on the portal.
ii) MOU
with Railways:
Ministry of
Women and Child Development and Ministry of Railways have framed path-breaking
Special Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be implemented by Railwaysfor runaway,
abandoned, kidnapped, trafficked children via medium of railways. Child
Helpline Centres at 20 major Railway Stations for rehabilitation and rescue of
such children have been established. The Railway Stations will have NGOs/Child
Help Groups/Childline Units working with them who will work towards restoration
of children to their parents/guardians or their rehabilitation in the absence
of the former. Posters are being put out in railway coaches and railway
stations to entail citizen participation in spotting and reporting missing/lost
children. Regular Public announcements will be made at railway stations for
information of public as well as children.
iii) Expanding
Childline
Childline is
a nation-wide initiative for rescuing and assisting children in distress
conditions. In the last 18 months, Childline has been extended to 386 cities.
It is proposed to extend this to 500 cities by the middle of next year.
Adoption
Reforms:
In
adoption reforms, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has notified the
revised ‘Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015’ which
have come into force with effect from August, 1, 2015. The revised
guidelines coupled with the new IT enabled adoption system – CARINGS,
provide a transparent process of adoption under which all the child care
institutions of the country have been brought into an integrated system. The
Guidelines were brought into effect to make the entire adoption process hassle
free by minimizing delays at various levels. The provisions include declaring
orphan, abandoned and surrendered children legally free for adoption by Child
Welfare Committee(CWC) in a time bound manner, enabling online registration of
PAPs for referral and matching, conducting Home Study Reports of the PAPs
within a period of one month, mandating District Child Protection Unit(DCPU) to
expedite placement of all adoptable children including setting up of linkage
between Specialised Adoption Agency(SAA) and Child Care Institution(CCI) to
reach all adoptable children etc.
For hassle-free adoption, CARINGS will contain a Centralized Data Bank of adoptable
children and PAPs. Clear cut timelines for domestic and inter-country adoption
have been laid down to ensure early deinstitutionalization of such children. A toll-free
adoption helpline no. 1800-111-311, has been initiated by CARA for helping
domestic prospective adoptive parents, Indian adoption agencies and general
public in adoption related matters.
Adoption
data (In-country and Inter-country) from April ,2012 to March,2015
|
Year
|
In-Country
|
Inter-Country
|
Total
|
|
2012 - 2013 (April,12 to Mar,13)
|
4694
|
308
|
5002
|
|
2013-2014 (April, 13 to Mar, 14)
|
3924
|
430
|
4354
|
|
2014-2015 (April, 14 to Mar, 15)
|
3988
|
374
|
4362
|
Source
: M/o WCD
Gender wise In-country adoption data
|
Year
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
|
April 2012-Mar 2013
|
1848
|
2846
|
4694
|
|
April 2013-Mar 2014
|
1631
|
2293
|
3924
|
|
April 2014-Mar 2015
|
1688
|
2300
|
3988
|
Source
: M/o WCD
Foster Care
Guidelines:
A
new system of providing foster care to children has been put in placedand new
guidelines have been issued. This permits children to be looked after by
individual families as foster parents thereby providing a much better standard
of care and protection than what these children get in the child care
institutions.
Aadhar Cards
for Children in Child Care Institutions:
This
initiative has been started in collaboration with UIDAI to provide Aadhar cards
to all children in every child care institution so that they have permanent
identity for future. This will help them to access various Government services
after they grow up.
Mandatory
Registration of all Child Care Institutions:
The
State Governments have been ordered to bring every child care institution into
the scope of registration so that minimum standards of care and protection can
be provided to children. The process of identifying un-registered institutions
has already started in most of the States. This will also bring many more
children into the scope of adoption and they will be able to get family for
themselves.
Rapid Survey
on Children Data:
The
Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC) was commissioned by the Ministry of Women and
Child Development (MWCD) in 29 States during 2013-14. The provisional national
fact sheet on the survey was released by the Government on 2nd July 2015 and is
available on the website of Ministry of Women and Child Development.
As
per the Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC), 2013-14, commissioned by Ministry of
Women and Child Development, there is a reduction in underweight children under
5 years of age from 42.5% in NFHS-3(2005-06) to 29.4%, in RSoC. Similarly, the proportion of severely
underweight children is 9.5% as per RSoC as compared to 15.8% of NFHS-3.
National
Nutrition Mission:
A new Mission
to tackle the problem of malnutrition is being launched by March 2016 so that
supplementary nutrition can be provided in a targeted manner with real-time IT
based monitoring at ground level. Necessary software for this has already been
put in place and a detailed proposal has been submitted for approval of
Cabinet. The Mission has been uniquely designed with participation of national
and multi-national entities providing assistance in various forms. Meeting the
commitment made by the Government, as expressed by the Finance Minister in his
Budget Speech in June, 2014, a new National Nutrition Mission has been prepared
and will be launched shortly. It will put in place a comprehensive set of
measures and activities that will address pivotal and complex issues of
malnutrition and focus on outcome monitoring, training and capacity building.
Expanding
Anganwadi Infrastructure:
In
another initiative, two lakh AWC buildings are planned to be constructed in
2,534 most backward Blocks of 8 World Bank assisted ICDS Systems Strengthening
& Nutrition Improvement Program (ISSNIP) States [Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh] besides Assam, Odisha & Telangana in convergence with Ministry of
Rural Development under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS) @ 50,000 AWC buildings per year during the next four years. Construction
of AWC buildings has been included as an approved activity under the MGNREG
Act. ‘Guidelines for construction of Anganwadi Centres’ under MGNREGS have
been issued jointly by the Ministries of Women and Child Development and Rural
Development, on 13th August, 2015.Under systematic convergence of ICDS Scheme
with MGNREGS, 28,619 sites have been identified till 20th November,
2015 in IPPE Blocks/High Burden Districts of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan,Telangana and Uttar Pradesh in
first phase.
Private
sector companies have also joined this initiative under their CSR activities in
setting up the ‘Next Generation Anganwadis’. These anganwadis are proposed to
be run as a shared space in which 50% of the time will be devoted to children’s
education and the remaining half will support women’s skill development. The
model Anganwadis will be equipped with solar power, television for e-learning,
hygienic toilets and pure drinking water supply.
The
total number of operational Anganwadi Centres in the country stood at 13,47,890
as on 30th September, 2015.
Junk Food
Guidelines:
Ministry of Women and Child Development constituted a working
group under the Chairmanship of Director, NIN, Hyderabad which examined the
regulatory framework of junk food in 23 countries across the world and made its
recommendations. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has forwarded the
recommendation/report of the working group to the Ministry of HRD for suitably
notifying and implementing the same in schools. It has also written to M/o
Health and Family Welfare for including the same in the guidelines made by Food
Safety Standard Authority of India(FSSAI). It has suggested a comprehensive
definition of junk food in the context of children and has suggested that all
food items falling in the definition of junk food should be banned in the
school canteens. It has also suggested that vendors/street vendors should not
be permitted to sell these foods during school timings in a vicinity of 200
meters from any school. They further suggested that shops and restaurants
selling food within 200 meters of a school should not be permitted to sell
these foods to children in school uniforms. They have also suggested that a
list of desirable food items to be offered in the school canteen.
Film on Good
Touch Bad Touch – KOMAL:
A National Award winning animation film KOMAL has been
produced to educate young children on sexual misconduct. The school
organizations have been directed to have this film shown to all children in all
schools.
Film on
Maternal and Neo-natal Care
This film has been produced specifically for showing in
maternity wards of hospitals so as to educate new mothers on care of new born
babies so that the neo-natal mortality is reduced.
Implementation
of e-Office :
The
Ministry has implemented the paperless e-office system in order to improve
efficiency, and effectiveness of Government responses.
Nearly 12000 files have been digitized, service books, record room files have
been digitised. This has resulted in drastic reduction in purchase of stationery
items savings for the Govt. exchequer, improved quality and time for processing
cases, apart from increased transparency and accountability.
*****
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