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Child welfare tops Maneka's agenda

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi is determined to amend the Juvenile Act and make it more child-friendly.

"The National Institute of Social Defence has been training officials associated with the juvenile justice system to enable them to work in the interest of children," Gandhi emphasised in a press conference on Tuesday. She pointed out that the new law would be in conformity with the United Nations convention on child welfare.

Coming in the wake of her earlier projects for older citizens and the disabled who have had commendable impact, the revised act will prioritise child protection. In order to ensure that there are no slip-ups, the minister has sought the cooperation of the allied systems comprising police, health-care and welfare, judiciary, education, transport, labour, media and the corporate sector.

"We hope through training and awareness, the constable on the street will not beat up a street child but reach out to him," Gandhi pointed out, while launching the national initiative for child protection. She said Childline, a helpline for children, was operating in 14 cities across the country and had responded to almost 3,00,000 calls for medical attention, shelter and protection.

She, however, underlined that Childline often confronted problems while interacting with the allied systems.

Lack of timely assistance from the police often resulted in children being abused by employers. The abused children were often turned away and not rehabilitated, the minister pointed out.

Childline's aim is to help a child on the street or a victim of abuse. The telephone number - 1098 - operates day and night. Police and identified Non-government Organisations provide help.

Gandhi hoped the Juvenile Act, 1986 would be amended in the monsoon session of Parliament (commencing last week of July), in the light of the UN convention on the rights of child abuse, which India ratified in 1992. The rights of the child included right to survival, protection, development and participation.

She pointed out that the NISD had "systemised training and development modules for training functionaries of the juvenile system to make them work in the best interests of children rather than in the best interests of themselves."

In order to surmount some common problems, the ministry has initiated training for allied systems and integrated child protection issues into the curriculum, besides liasing for better access to services. It has constituted a national core group and was getting the support of state governments, she said.

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