Homeless Children

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) is the primary law for children in the country. As per Section 2 (14) (vi) of the JJ Act, a child who does not have parents and no one is willing to take care of, or whose parents have abandoned or surrendered him is included as a “child in need of care and protection.” The Act provides a security net of service delivery structures including measures for institutional and non-institutional care to ensure comprehensive well-being of children in distress situations. The Ministry is implementing a centrally sponsored Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme for supporting the children in difficult circumstances. Under the scheme institutional care is provided through Child Care Institutes (CCIs), as a rehabilitative measure. The programmes and activities in Homes inter-alia include age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. Under the non-institutional care component, support is extended for adoption, foster care and sponsorship. Further CPS also provides for “After care” services after the age of 18 years to help sustain them during the transition from institutional to independent life.The data for homeless children is not maintained centrally by the Ministry. The primary responsibility of execution of the Act and implementation of Scheme lies with the States/UTs. “Mission Vatsalya” subsuming CPS Scheme, has been announced in Union Budget 2021-22, with a Budget of Rs.900 crore allocated for current financial year.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.