Indian Constitution is all-encompassing, it has provisions for all. In fact the Indian Constitution is said to be one of the most sought after, when it comes to enactments, provisions and mandates.

India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1992; it is under this that the provisions for entitlement of child rights and their enactment started coming into picture.

Initially, India had the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 as a provision for enforcement of child rights.

The Juvenile Justice Act was passed in 1986, the act provided for a special approach towards the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency and provides a framework for the protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children in the purview of the juvenile justice system.

A review of the evaluation of the above Act indicated that a much greater attention was required and a distinction had to be drawn between the treatment of children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. Thus was born the new policy- the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

The act has specific provisions for child in conflict with law, like setting up of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB), observation homes, and special homes for all juveniles in conflict with law.

For child in need of care and protection, there has to be set up Child Welfare Committees in every district, children homes have to be established, social auditing as a tool for evaluation of the functioning of the Juvenile Justice System in association with independent organizations has to be conducted regularly.

There has to be specially trained police unit to deal with children under both the categories, children in need of care and protection as well as children in conflict with law, it is to be called Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU).

The Act has very specific provisions for children in both the categories and even further it disseminates the status of children in many sub-categories so that the implementation is clear and there is no space left for any doubt.

This is as far as the provisions go; the implementation is the main problem area of all the provisions under law.

There are various loopholes or problem areas that can be identified in the current situation of entitlement of child rights in our country.

It has been 10 long years since the new Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act was passed and even now the main provisions mentioned in the Act are not in place.

The first and foremost  requirement which is for every state to form its own rules for the JJ Act or to adopt the model rules set by the Centre, has not materialized, till date. Not more than 10 states have framed own rules or adopted the model rules. It is interesting that the Centre has so far framed the model rules twice.

As per the Act, there has to be a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in every district to adjudicate and dispose cases of juveniles in conflict with law. It is still on paper only. Only some metro cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata have been able to set it up. The kind of setback it gives to the whole process of rehabilitation and reformation of juveniles in conflict with law is not, by any means, measurable. The districts that have it don’t follow the infrastructural norms laid down very clearly in the Act. It clearly mentions that the premises where the board holds its sittings shall be child-friendly, shall not look like a court room in any manner and there shall be no witness boxes. But, in some places where they don’t have a separate place for the sittings of the board, the authorities have allotted some hours a week in the same district court, which in no way meets the requirement of the premises laid down in the Act.

Similarly, the Act has given the duty of setting up a Child Welfare Committee CWC) in every district, to the respective State Governments. This CWC has to exercise power and discharge duties in relation to cases regarding child in need of care and protection under the Act. The Committee has to have one Chairperson and four other members, of whom atleast one should be woman and one an expert on child-related matters.

As per the Act, CWC shall have the final authority to dispose off the cases for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of the children as well as to provide for their basic needs and protection of human rights.

There are 9 very specific categories under which a Child in need of care and protection is defined. Various categories like a child who is likely to be sexually abused or abused for illegal acts, who has a parent or guardian who is unfit to exercise control over the child, who is a victim of any armed conflict, civil commotion or natural calamity, etc. As soon as a child found in any of the categories decribed as per the Act is found he/she hasto be produced before the CWC and it has the authority to take further action. CWC also has the sole authority to declare any abandoned child found legally free for adoption.

It is therefore clear that CWC has been given exclusive powers and vital importance for the enforcement of child rights, but unfortunately our authorities are yet to realize the importance of such a body. Sadly there are very less number of CWCs functioning than desired or aimed for.

As far as the observation homes and special homes are concerned there is acute shortage of them all over the country. There are cases where there is no segregation being done in observation home for boys (OHB) and children homes. Also, housing all juveniles from age 6-18 years in one home results in sexual abuse and exploitation of the younger lot by the young adults of 17-18 years of age.

The children homes, special homes and observation homes are running in shabby conditions, many RTIs filed have revealed the poor status in which the authorities are running these homes meant for the children’s rehabilitation and their behavioral reformation in cases of conflict with law.

Also, a scam running into crores and involving top-notch government officials was revealed through some RTIs. It came to light how these officials were giving fake quotations of utility items for the homes and misappropriating the funds allocated for these children and inmates of the homes. The corruption and malfunctioning was to such a level that in some cases girls’ garments had been shown in the quotations for boys’ homes. All these facts reveal how indifferent and utterly careless the officials are to the needs of the children of are to be housed in these homes.

All the above and more provisions like the SJPU, Juvenile Justice Fund and many more mandates are not in place and altogether project a very sad state.

A small mandate like not handcuffing of juveniles in conflict with law is not being followed. This mandate which doesn’t require any big infrastructure or any other resources just will and sensitivity is flouted without any fear in almost all over the country.

It is rather disappointing to see that almost two decades have passed since India ratified the UNCRC and a decade has gone away since the all-encompassing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act was passed. The status of children still remains helpless and hopeless.

It’s very disheartening to see that the small children of India, who are the future of the nation, have no secure future of their own.
Child rights’ implementation depends on the personal compassion and sensitivity of the authorities in charge and every effort made to strengthen the policy measure for the children should be encouraged and supported.

Still, its not all over and out, there still are mild silver linings in these dark clouds too.

The Supreme Court direction to constitute a juvenile justice committee has been followed, but only in Delhi. Under the leadership of justice B Lokur, the Delhi committee ensured that CWC and JJB are full-time operational and a monitoring mechanism has been put in place. Such committees can play a large role in enforcing the provisions of the Act and monitoring the entitlement process.

Media, another important stakeholder in the entire process has been playing a very vital role for the past few years. Many stories regarding the status of children’s homes run by Govt of Delhi, like Asha Kiran- home for mentally challenged children, have been done and thus was brought to light a lot of wrong that was being done. It is important to note that media still plays an important role in the society as somewhere everyone is scared to come to light especially the public figures. Mass media can highlight the problems and push the higher authorities to rectify them more easily than other stakeholders. A lot of pressure can be build by the right kind of involvement of the media.

As far as the NGOs working for the cause are concerned, there are very less number of organizations working for as there is no major funding by the Government.

The issues highlighted are governance issues and its lack of political will and compassion for the voiceless community of children that makes it even harder to put rules in place and implement them. It is clear that the beneficiary section in question here is the one who can neither vote nor demand their own rights and thus are trampled at every point.

Yes, there are positive developments but negatives more often than not outnumber the positive ones and thus it takes us a step backward. With the collective effort of all the stakeholders involved the authorities can be put to task and the larger goals can be achieved. There shall be a society where innocent lives will not be a mere pawn in the game for gathering more money, power and fame.