Lok Sabha gives nod to Bill for greater role for DMs, ADMs in child care law

The proposed law seeks to make the district magistrate a 'synergising officer' for issues related to the protection of children

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a Bill that seeks to empower District Magistrates and Additional District Magistrates to monitor the functions of agencies responsible for the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill also empowers the DMs and ADMs to authorise orders of adoption and proposes that appeals on the orders of adoption are referred to a Divisional Commissioner.

Responding to the debate, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights examined the implementation of the Bill and found several shortcomings. The Bill seeks to ensure that action is taken without waiting “for a child to become a victim.”

She said the Bill sought to make the district magistrate a “synergising officer” for issues related to the protection of children.

The Bill aims to remove difficulties with regard to the categorisation of offences wherein the maximum sentence is more than seven years’ imprisonment.

Serious offences include offences for which the punishment under the Indian Penal Code or under any other law is imprisonment between three and seven years.

The Bill also makes background and educational qualification checks mandatory before any person is made a member of a child welfare committee (CWC).

“If you work in a child care institution, your background will be checked to detect history of sexual offences and child abuse if any,” Irani said.

She said no person will be appointed as a member unless he or she has been actively involved in health, education or children welfare activities for at least seven years or is a practising professional with a degree in child psychology or psychiatry or law or social work or sociology or human development.

The minister said the government has already started work on training police to deal with juvenile delinquents and their crimes and it will try its best to provide proper legal representation to accused children.