ITANAGAR, 7 Oct: The women & child development (WCD) department organized an ‘online state consultation meeting’ on the Arunachal Pradesh Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2020 on Thursday.
Chaired by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights member Rosy Taba, the online meeting was attended by representatives of all the line departments, the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR), the Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority, the law & justice department, the labour & employment department, the police headquarters, the rural development department, Juvenile Justice Boards, Child Welfare Committees, district child protection units, special juvenile police units, Childline and child care institutions.
WCD Director TP Loyi apprised the participants of the Juvenile Justice Act and Rules, from its enactment in 2000 to the subsequent amendments.
CDPO (HQ) Kago Asha Lod spoke about the status of the implementation of child protection services in the state, while advocate M Mili presented the key features of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016, and the Arunachal Pradesh Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2020.
Various issues pertaining to child rights, such as counselling for children in conflict with the law (CICL), setting up of child-friendly courts, substance abuse by children, separate rehabilitation centres for CICL, providing timely compensation to victims under the Victim Compensation Scheme, etc, were discussed during the meeting.
APSCPCR member Niri Chongrowju informed about the activities being conducted by the state child rights commission.
Taba advised the WCD department to sensitize all the stakeholders to the rules and guidelines relating to child protection. She also advised the state government to “increase the child budget for proper implementation of all the schemes and policies relating to child protection.”
WCD Special Secretary Bhanu Prabha also spoke.
