MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)
(a): The State/UT-wise number of Child Welfare Committees constituted under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 across the country is at Annexure-I.
(b): Yes, Madam. During the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 several issues had arisen such as increasing incidents of abuse of children in institutions, families and communities; inadequate facilities, quality of care and rehabilitation measures in Homes; delays in various processes under the Act, such as decisions by Child Welfare Committees (CWC) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) leading to high pendency of cases; disruption of adoption and delays in adoption due to faulty and incomplete processing; lack of clarity regarding roles, responsibilities and accountability of CWC and JJB; to address the heinous offences committed by children in the age group of 16 to 18 years; and inadequate provisions to counter offences against children such as corporal punishment, sale of children for adoption purposes, ragging etc. To address gaps in the implementation of the Act, the Ministry conducted consultations to amend the Act to make it more effective. An amended Bill was thereafter drafted and was sent to the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law & Justice for vetting. The Legislative Department suggested that since the number of amendments proposed in the existing Act were large in number, the existing Act should be repealed instead of being amended.
(c) & (d): No, Madam. Some stakeholders have suggested for amendments in the existing Act instead of repealing it. However, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has decided to repeal and re-enact the existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 on the advice of Legislative Department, Ministry of Law & Justice.
(e): No, Madam. Does not arise.
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