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New Delhi:
The juvenile justice system has been ineffective in safeguarding
the rights of around 500,000 street-dwelling children in the
capital, representatives of the child welfare committees (CWCs)
and police said Saturday.
Lamenting that the condition of such children had not improved
despite implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000, Neera Malik, CWC chairperson at
west Delhi's Nirmal Chhaya complex, said: "23 years ago, there
were 45,000 children on the capital's streets. Now, there are as
many as 5 lakh and their condition has not improved at all.
"...The main problem that we have to face in rehabilitation of the
children that come to the CWC is the lack of political will
towards addressing the root causes for the plight of these
children, such as lack of employment facilities for the parents
and education facilities for children in their home areas."
Malik was speaking at a workshop organised by child rights
organisations -- the Childhood Enhancement Through Training and
Action (Chetna) and the Consortium for Street Children -- to
examine the successes and failures of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The landmark act provides a framework for the protection,
treatment and rehabilitation of children under juvenile justice
system and is considered a very progressive legislation but its
implementation remains a concern.
"Most of the street children usually come from dysfunctional or
abusive families. In such cases, just sending them back home, is
not a solution without addressing the family issues," said Kamla
Lekhwani, CWC chairperson at north Delhi's Rohini.
Lekhwani said such children often returned to the streets, and
malpractices such as substance abuse and theft also made their
rehabilitation difficult.
"Returning to the streets, these children often turn to
malpractices such as theft and substance abuse. Especially, the
abuse of whitener fluid, is rampant in these children," she added.
CWC chairperson from south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar, Raj Mangal Prasad
said: "Most of these centers do not have the any drug
rehabilitation capacities. They usually turn down the street
children claiming that they have bad influence on other children
living there."
Senior officials from the Delhi Police were also present at the
discussion and put forward their own perspectives on the issue.
"The basic issue that drives children out of their homes is
deprivation, and since the facilities at the NGOs and children's'
homes are usually better than those at their homes, the children
often leave home again and return to such institutions," Shibesh
Singh, deputy commissioner of police-3rd battalion, said,
emphasising the need for restoration of the street children to
their families.
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