Article

Broken System Broken Lives

Children without parental support reach shelter homes in hope to find a haven. Although the government has been uptight about strengthening children’s welfare policies, stories of horrific exploitation of hapless minors in shelter homes are increasing across the country, leaving the nation stunned.

Where is the flaw?

The absence of parental care poses a critical threat to the safety, security, development, and overall well-being of children. Tragically, millions of children around the world are denied this fundamental necessity due to diverse circumstances. An estimate says that over 140 million children globally are experiencing the loss of one or both parents. Among South Asian nations, India has the highest number of orphaned and vulnerable children.

India has 29 million orphaned children, as estimated by the World’s Children Report, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2016.

According to a study conducted by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) in 2016, the government was able to assist 3,70,227 children who were in need of care and protection and 7,422 children who were in conflict with the law. This support was provided across 9,589 Child Care Institutions (CCIs). In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, MWCD mentioned that in 2022–23, 57,940 children received support through CCIs and 62,675 through non-institutional care.

The flaw

Back in 2018, Bihar’s Muzaffarpur city was in the limelight due to the horrendous incident of sexual abuse that took place in a government-funded children’s shelter home. After the case was unearthed by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), it revealed the main culprits involved were the shelter home staff and the director of the shelter home, Brajesh Thakur, the then-local politician now sentenced to
life imprisonment.

This case had a profound impact on the conscience of the country. It even reached the Supreme Court, which immediately directed the CBI to further investigate the case. This also led the Ministry of Women and Child Development to expedite the inspection of children’s homes all across the country. It was expected of the states to conduct social audits, just to find out if there were any incidents of abuse, but no state except for Delhi conducted an independent social audit, and the purpose of that audit failed to meet its goal as the state government has yet to implement or act on the findings of the report.

Till today, Bihar is probably the only state that has carried out a social audit by an independent agency and followed up on the findings.

This incident highlighted the need for reforms in the child welfare system in India and the importance of greater accountability and transparency in the functioning of NGOs and government institutions that provide services to vulnerable children.

The Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act in India defines a child care institution as a facility that provides care and protection to the children who need such services. This includes children’s homes, open shelters, observation homes, special homes, places of safety, specialised adoption agencies, and other fit facilities recognised under this Act. The JJ Act also mandates that any such institution must be registered regardless of whether it is run by a state government or an NGO, and yet there are still many child care institutions that are not registered.

According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), until July 2018, there were 5,850 registered and more than 1,300 unregistered CCIs in the country, and 3,68,267 children were living in these institutions.

Local authorities

In 2022, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) implemented Mission Vatsalya, a centrally sponsored scheme that aims to provide welfare and rehabilitation services to children in difficult circumstances. One of their key objectives is to make municipal bodies within the urban municipal ward participate in the sustained assessment of the issues deserving attention in the child care facilities, the implementation of appropriate interventions, and regular monitoring to develop a robust social safety net for children.

However, the civic bodies need to be more active. Incidents such as Muzaffarpur go unnoticed due to the lack of regular inspections and monitoring systems. The local community must be actively involved in these homes and shelters to provide another level of continuous monitoring. No shelter should operate without a licence. A charter of basic facilities and requirements must be developed and implemented as part of the licence.

Furthermore, thorough background checks on staff must be mandatory. Counsellors, doctors, and nurses should have routine access over and above regular inspections, and the local administration must be held accountable for the proper running of these homes.

Providing training to ULB staff, police officers, and social workers on child protection laws, identification of abuse, reporting procedures, and trauma-informed care can also make some difference.