Child welfare panel, juvenile board to be restructured in Amritsar soon

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney has announced that for the protection and care of children between the ages of 0 and 18 and for children caught in legal disputes in the district, the Child Welfare Committee and a Juvenile Justice Board will be reconstituted in the district. These agencies are formed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which have the authority to take appropriate decisions keeping in mind the future of children and protection of the rights of children caught in any legal dispute with the state or any other entity.

The tenure of the Child Welfare Committee and the Juvenile Justice Board is three years, which ended a few months back. While the district had Child Protection Unit and a Special Juvenile Unit in police functioning, the Juvenile Justice Board will now need to be restructured with new appointments.

The DC informed that new eligible members are to be appointed for the Juvenile Justice Board and a Chairperson and four members for the Child Welfare Committee. The Juvenile justice board in each district usually has three appointed members, out of which one has to be a registered social worker or child rights activist. Currently, the board is in suspended state.

These appointments will be made in accordance with Sections 4 and 27 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. In 2018, 22 districts of Punjab constituted Juvenile Justice Boards, aligned with a state level Juvenile Justice Monitoring Committee comprising high courts judges. These boards are supported under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The state has the primary responsibility of constituting and functioning of these boards.