Parliament Question: Mission Vatsalya

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2229 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 MISSION VATSALYA 2229. SHRI NARHARI AMIN: DR. PARMAR JASHVANTSINH SALAMSINH: SHRI DEEPAK PRAKASH: SHRI ASHOKRAO SHANKARRAO CHAVAN: SHRI RYAGA KRISHNAIAH: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) measures taken to promote family-based non-institutional care as a preferred alternative to institutionalization of children under Mission Vatsalya; (b) how many Vatsalya Sadans (Integrated Home Complexes) have been established so far and the State-wise/UT-wise status thereof; (c) the progress made in integration and effective utilization of the Track Child Portal and Mission Vatsalya Portal for tracing missing children and improving case management; and (d) whether the Mission Vatsalya has strengthened the institutional framework of Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) across districts in the country? ANSWER MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI) (a) This Ministry is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely ‘Mission Vatsalya’, through the State and UT Governments to deliver various services for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) as well as Children in Conflict with Law (CCL). These services include Institutional Care and Non-Institutional Care. Mission Vatsalya promotes family based non-institutional care of children in difficult circumstances based on the principle of institutionalization of children as a measure of last resort. Under non-institutional care, support is provided to the children through Sponsorship, Foster Care, Adoption and After Care. The scheme provides Rs.4000/- per month to children eligible for non-institutional care (Sponsorship/ Foster Care/ Aftercare). (b) Till date, this Ministry has approved a total of 69 Vatsalya Sadans across country based on the proposals received from States and UT governments under Mission Vatsalya. State and UT wise details of these Vatsalya Sadans are at Annexure.(c) This Ministry has developed an integrated unified Mission Vatsalya Portal in consultation and coordination with States and UTs. The TrackChild portal for Missing/Found Children, Khoya-Paya application for Missing/Sighted Children and CARINGS portal for adoption have been integrated with this unified Mission Vatsalya Portal. The TrackChild portal is implemented with support and involvement of various stakeholders namely Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments and UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. Standard operating procedure have been issued in this regard. Advisories have also been issued to all States and UTs including Director General of Police of all States & UTs and other stakeholders regarding implementation of TrackChild. It is also integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems (CCTNS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs which allows interoperability in terms of matching of F.I.Rs of missing children with data base of TrackChild to trace and match missing children by the State and UT police concerned. Further, through Khoya Paya module any citizen can report about any missing or sighted children. Further, This Ministry has directed all State and UT Governments to appoint designated nodal officers for Missing children at State Level and District levels. The details of these nodal officers have been uploaded on Mission Vatsalya portal. Ministry of Home Affairs has also appointed a nodal officer to coordinate with nodal officers from States and UTs on Mission Vatsalya and for collection of data from States and UTs regarding missing children. (d) The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal Ministry for implementing 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. It defines standards of care and protection to secure the best interest of child. Under the JJ Act 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection, keeping their best interest in mind. They are also mandated to monitor the functioning of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs). Similarly, the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) are empowered to take decisions regarding the welfare of children in conflict with law (Sections 04-09). At the national and state level, the JJ Act provides the National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights to monitor the implementation of the Act (Section 109). The Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards perform functions and Roles as laid down in Juvenile Justice Act and Rules. Mission Vatsalya provides infrastructure and financial support to the States and UTs for facilitating setting up of CWCs and JJBs in every district and to ensure their effective functioning. *****ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF THE RAJYA SABHA UN- STARRED QUESTION NO.2229 FOR ANSWER ON 11.03.2026 BY SHRI NARHARI AMIN, DR. PARMAR JASHVANTSINH SALAMSINH, SHRI DEEPAK PRAKASH, SHRI ASHOKRAO SHANKARRAO CHAVAN AND SHRI RYAGA KRISHNAIAH REGARDING MISSION VATSALYA number of vatsalya sadans (integrated home complexes) approved state-wise and union territory-wise (till date) S. No. Name of States/UTs Number of Vatsalya Sadan 1 Andhra Pradesh 1 2 Arunachal Pradesh 2 3 Assam 3 4 Chhattisgarh 6 5 Jammu and Kashmir 8 6 Jharkhand 5 7 Karnataka 2 8 Kerala 2 9 Madhya Pradesh 4 10 Maharashtra 12 11 Odisha 12 12 Punjab 4 13 Sikkim 1 14 Telangana 2 15 Tripura 3 16 Uttar Pradesh 1 17 Puducherry 1 *****