**Executive Summary**
The Ministry of Women and Child Development administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, to ensure the safety and well-being of children. The Mission Vatsalya scheme provides services for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children in need of care and protection, including child beggars. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has developed Standard Operating Procedures to address child begging, labor, and abuse.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act):**
* Primary legislation for ensuring the safety, security, dignity, and well-being of children.
* Provides for the protection of Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) through care, protection, development, treatment, and social reintegration.
* Defines standards of care and protection to secure the best interests of the child.
* Section 2(14)(ii) defines a child found working in contravention of labour laws, begging, or living on the street as a "Child in Need of Care and Protection."
* Sections 27-30 empower Child Welfare Committees to make decisions concerning CNCP.
* States/UTs hold primary responsibility for the execution of the JJ Act.
* **Mission Vatsalya Scheme:**
* Administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
* Provides services to CNCP and CCL categories of children, including institutional and non-institutional care.
* Aims for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children, specifically including child beggars.
* Child Care Institutions (CCIs) under the scheme offer age-appropriate education, vocational training, recreation, healthcare, and counselling.
* Non-institutional support includes sponsorship, foster care, and aftercare.
* Offers emergency outreach services through Child Helpline 1098, integrated with the Ministry of Home Affairs' ERSS-112.
* **Monitoring and Oversight:**
* National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights monitor the implementation of the JJ Act.
* NCPCR has developed and shared Standard Operating Procedures on “Children in Street Situations (CiSS) 2.0” with States and UTs to address child begging, labor, and abuse.
* **Related Schemes:**
* Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements the "SMILE - Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise" scheme.
* The SMILE scheme includes a sub-scheme for the comprehensive rehabilitation of persons engaged in begging, including children, providing necessities, medical facilities, counselling, and skill development.
**Impact Analysis**
* **Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL):**
* **Impact:** These children are entitled to services for their safety, security, dignity, and well-being, including care, protection, development, treatment, and social reintegration. They receive institutional and non-institutional care, education, vocational training, and emergency support.
* **Action Required:** Not directly stated, but these children are the beneficiaries of the JJ Act and Mission Vatsalya.
* **States/UTs:**
* **Impact:** They are primarily responsible for the execution of the JJ Act, 2015.
* **Action Required:** To implement the JJ Act and the Mission Vatsalya scheme, and to adopt the Standard Operating Procedures on "Children in Street Situations (CiSS) 2.0."
* **Child Welfare Committees:**
* **Impact:** Empowered to make decisions regarding CNCP children in their best interest.
* **Action Required:** To exercise their decision-making authority as per Sections 27-30 of the JJ Act.
* **National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights:**
* **Impact:** Authorized to monitor the implementation of the JJ Act.
* **Action Required:** To actively monitor the implementation of the JJ Act and ensure the adoption and adherence to the CiSS 2.0 Standard Operating Procedures.
Key Entities Referenced
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015: The primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children, including provisions for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL).
Mission Vatsalya scheme: A scheme that provides services to CNCP and CCL categories of children for their rehabilitation and social re-integration, including institutional and non-institutional care, and emergency outreach services.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights: The body authorized at the national level to monitor the implementation of the JJ Act, 2015.
Ministry of Women and Child Development: The ministry that administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Mission Vatsalya scheme.
SMILE - Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise: A Central Sector Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which includes a sub-scheme for the comprehensive rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of begging, including children.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Ministry of Women and Child Development
administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2015
Mission Vatsalya scheme provides services to children
including child beggars for their rehabilitation and social re-
integration into the mainstream of the society
Posted On: 13 MAR 2026 4:14PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of Women and Child Development administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection
of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015), which is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security,
dignity and well-being of children. The Act provides for protection of Children in Need of Care and
Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) by catering to their basic needs through
care, protection, development, treatment and social re-integration. It defines standards of care and
protection to secure the best interest of the child.
Section 2(14)(ii) of the JJ Act, 2015 provides that a child who is found working in contravention of
labour laws for the time being in force or is found begging, or living on the street is included as a
“Child in Need of Care and Protection”. Sections 27-30 of the JJ Act, 2015 empowers the Child
Welfare Committees to take decisions with regard to the CNCP category of children, keeping their best
interest in mind. The primary responsibility and execution of the JJ Act, 2015 lies with the States/UTs.
The Mission Vatsalya Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, services are provided
to the CNCP and CCL category of children which include both institutional care and non-institutional
care services. The scheme provides services to children including child beggars for their rehabilitation
and social re-integration into the mainstream of the society. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs)
established under the Mission Vatsalya scheme support, inter-alia, age-appropriate education, access to
vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. Support under non-institutional care is
provided by way of sponsorship, foster care and after care to children in need of care and protection.
The scheme also provides for emergency outreach services namely Child Helpline 1098 (24x7x365) for
children in difficult circumstances which is integrated with Emergency Response Support System-112
(ERSS-112) Helpline of Ministry of Home Affairs.
Besides this, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights at national level and State
Commissions for Protection of Child Rights at State level are authorised to monitor the implementation
of the JJ Act.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has developed and shared with the States and UTs,
Standard Operating Procedure on “Children in Street Situations (CiSS) 2.0” in the identified districts to
ensure zero tolerance on Child begging/ Child labour/ Child abuse.Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements a Central Sector Scheme “SMILE - Support for
Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”, which includes sub-scheme for the
‘Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’ including children engaged in
the act of begging. The scheme provides for necessities like food, shelter homes, medical facilities,
counselling, rehabilitation, basic documentation, skill development, economic linkages including
education to the children/ children of persons found to be engaged in begging.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Annpurna
Devi in Lok Sabha in reply to a question today.
****
SS
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