HOW JUVENILE

The state registered a 51 per cent increase incrimes against children in just a year, reveals NCRB data. But does anybodycare?

* The district Child Working Committees (CWC), the final authority to dispose of cases related to protection and rehabilitation of children, are short of members.

* Existing CWC members do not meet regularly

* Even the selection panel that chooses members of CWC has not been formed yet

Crimes against children in the state have surged by 51 per cent in just a year as per the 2013 data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau. These include child abuse, child labour and exploitation to name a few. In 2012, there were 1,327 such cases. However, in 2013, as many as 2,000 cases were registered across Gujarat. Several of these cases, which violate child rights and require victim’s protection go to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) formed in each district of the state. The committee is the final authority to dispose of cases for the care, protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children and to provide them their basic needs and rights.

Sadly, in Gujarat, these CWCs, which have to be reconstructed every three years, neither have the required member strength nor do they conduct regular sittings. Worse, even the selection panel that is supposed to choose members for CWC has yet not been formed since 2011 when the Juvenile Justice Act was amended.

VIOLATION OF RULES

While every CWC is required to have five members including the chairperson, Ahmedabad CWC has only three. Lack of adequate members affects the disposal of cases, says Manisha Patel, who has been the chairperson of Ahmedabad CWC for the past seven years.

“Two years ago, I had written a letter to the state government, asking them to select CWC members. If all five members are present for the sitting, they can do better judgment of the cases and coordinate better with the state government. If CWCs do not have required number of members, then it does affect the processing of the case,” she said, adding, “Lack of enough members is a problem CWCs across the state have been facing.”

WHAT DOES CWC DO

According to the amendment made by Gujarat government to the JJ Act in 2011, a selection panel headed by a retired judge will choose the five members of the CWC. However, since this panel itself has not been formed, neither have the CWCs been reconstructed nor the vacancies filled up in the past four years, sources said.

According to the Act, each CWC should have one female member. The chairperson is required to have five years of experience and the members, three years, in child rights activities. “The JJ Act was amended in 2011 to make CWCs free from any kind of political interference. But nothing has been done regarding it,” said Krishna Pal Malik, associate professor in law at Nirma University.

HOW CASES SUFFER
In the absence of the selection panel, though there are 26 CWCs across the state, these do not follow the rules and regulations. As many as 22 CWCs make do with only two to three members and even these do not conduct sittings regularly, according to sources. 
“The committee is supposed to hear the cases twice a week. But sadly, even the existing members do not conduct sittings regularly,” said Dilip Mer from Childline. Child rights activists complain that instead of weekly sittings to hear cases related to child right protection, the members organise bi-monthly meetings.

“Less number of members affects the quick processing of the cases. The situation is really bad in other districts,” said Nirupa Shah, who is associated with an NGO that works with CWC.

PASSING THE BUCK
Stating the reason for shortfall of members in CWCs, Indrajit Chauhan, program manager of State Project Support Unit of CWC said, “In a few districts, the numbers are less than required because the members have retired. We are in the process of recruiting new people.”

Asked how many cases are still pending with the CWC, he said, “I do not have the aggregate data yet. You may talk to the deputy director of Social Defence.”

However, Dina Patel, Deputy Director of Social Defence, said, “I do not have the information regarding pending cases readily available. I can give you the data after a week. A proposal seeking formation of the selection committee was sent long ago to Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.”

When contacted, MS Dagur, Principal Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment, said, “I am on leave. For any information, contact Mr Sanjay Prasad.” However, Prasad, former principal secretary for Social Justice and Empowerment did not receive the calls made by Mirror.