YUPIA, Sep 18: The Papum Pare district child protection unit, along with the Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA) held a webinar for training members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), and other stakeholders on Saturday.
The webinar covered topics such as the Legal Services Authority Act and the Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011; the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the roles, duties and functions of the CWC, the JJB and other stakeholders; child protection and provisions for rehabilitation under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and Rules, 2016; the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012; and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
Addressing the participants, APSLSA Member Secretary Jaweplu Chai presented a concise overview of the Legal Services Authority Act and Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011.
On her topic of ‘Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the roles, duties and functions of CWCs, JJB and other stakeholders’, APSLSA legal aid counsel Nani Modi spoke on the two distinct categories of ‘children’ recognized by law – children in need of care and protection, and juveniles in conflict with the law. “This is an important distinction, both in the matter of law and rehabilitation, as each requires a completely different approach when dealing with such sensitive cases,” Modi said.
APSLSA consultant Marie Riba shared a short video titled ‘Child protection and provisions for rehabilitation under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Rules, 2016’, and brought to light “the morally grey area that the system of juvenile law has to deal with.” She presented case studies that showed how difficult it can be to navigate cases when it comes to juveniles. Riba also shared some valuable tips on how to deal with juveniles brought before the court who may be proving resistant to the help being provided to them.
Riba also discussed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012, laying out the sensitive nature of the cases involved, and informing the attendees how best to asses and deal with situations pertaining to particular cases.
Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society secretary-general Kani Nada Maling presented an overview of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 2015, and spoke on the objectives, regulation and procedures under the act, which is built to safeguard children from being exploited in factories or other business establishments.
Maling also spoke about the “immense difficulty and challenges faced when enforcing such law in a society that sees child labour as nothing out of the ordinary.” She also warned about the ways people try to circumvent the law in order to keep children under unlawful employment.
APSLSA OSD Dani Bello also spoke.
