nThe Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) have jointly begun a three-day training programme for Child Welfare Committees (CWC), Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and District Child Protection Officers (DCPO).
Addressing the event on Wednesday, Delhi Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said that each stakeholder should understand the purpose of the work that the JJBs and CWCs are mandated to do which will help in ensuring justice to every child.
Gautam in his inaugural address assured of unwavering support of the Government in ensuring that justice is delivered to every child. Justice Madan. B. Lokur (Retired Judge, Supreme Court of India) delivered the keynote address and reinforced the principles governing the Juvenile Justice Act and encouraged the CWCs/JJBs to focus on substantive justice.
CWCs, constituted under Juvenile Justice Act 2015, are the bench of magistrates at the district level responsible for rescue, rehabilitation and integration of children such as those victims of sexual violence, early marriage, trafficking, crimes, substance abuse, and begging, bonded labour amongst others and therefore CWCs are the first line of defense for these children.
Juvenile Justice Boards, constituted under Juvenile Justice Act 2015, are the judicial institutions which conduct inquiries into matters where children have come in conflict with the law and accordingly undertake reformatory measures for their rehabilitation.
Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) is the statutory body entrusted with the responsibility for monitoring of the law to ensure its effective implementation and therefore has collaborated with the Department of Women & Child Development for the training which assumes significance in the light of the roles of CWCs and JJBs.
Anurag Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR pointed to large gaps between the expectations drawn from the rights, and the reality. He focused on how the institutions need to redesign their processes to make them truly child centric.
He further articulated details of the training programme which will have another 3 days refresher course in March. The training focuses on building nuanced positions of the law along with discussion on important Supreme/High Court judgements, and practical skills such as record management, leveraging technology, drafting concise and detailed orders, and preparation of individual child care plans.
Right at the outset of the training, Dr. Rashmi Singh, Director (WCD) emphasized the importance of convergence across stakeholders and linkages with different government schemes and explained the detailed process through which the new members of JJBs and CWCs are appointed. Ms. Madhu K Garg, Secretary (WCD) laid out her vision of making Delhi a child friendly space and as an example for other cities and states to follow.
It must be noted that several of the appointments to Child Welfare Committees and JJB have been recently done and therefore the majority of the officials are new.