PUDUCHERRY: The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of Puducherry has come up with a policy for the rescue and rehabilitation of street children. The policy promotes direct participation by the District Child Protection Unit, non-governmental organisations, volunteers, Childline, and other stakeholders in identifying hotspot areas.
Based on previous learning and experiences, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in discussion with Save the Children, a non-governmental organisation, has developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to rescue and rehabilitate street children.
The policy defines street children as those living without support, children who ran away from their families and living on the streets or living with a family, and children who go back to their families after work. The framework of the SOP will include minimum standards of care and protection of the children, access to foster care, and sponsorship as per requirement.
The Department of Women and Child Development will be the nodal agency and will ensure all the district collectors’ effective implementation of the SOP. The responsibility will be given to the urban local bodies, municipalities, and commune panchayats to identify hotspots and to ensure proper data collection.
Regarding the vulnerability status of the children, the policy has laid down eleven criteria related to safety and security, the status of education, state of hunger, and malnutrition among others.
The policy allows the Child Welfare Committee to take legal action against parents for making their children beg on the roads. The CWC can also request a police investigation to prevent trafficking and illegal adoption if the custodians of the child are not found to be biological parents.