Homeless Street Children in The Country
The Ministry of Women and Child Development implements a centrally sponsored Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme (erstwhile Integrated Child Protection 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 Institutions (CCIs), as a rehabilitative measure. The programmes and activities in CCIs inter-alia include age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counseling 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 details of CCIs supported under CPS along with the number of children residing in them as informed by the States/UTs is Annexed.
The 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.
This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.