SRINAGAR: The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) in association with the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), J&K Government on Wednesday organised a day-long workshop on ‘Strengthening Child Protection System/Mechanism in Jammu and Kashmir’.
The event was held for the Social Welfare officers including District Child Protection Officers (District Social Welfare Officers), members of District Child Protection Units and officers from Mission Vatsalya along with officials of J&K Police including officers of District Special Juvenile Units.
Director Ministry of Women and Child Development Navendra Singh, Director Programme CARA Ministry of Women and Child Development Jagannath Pati, Chief of Child Protection UNICEF India Soledad Herrero, Director General Women and Child Development J&K Mir Tariq Ali, Mission Director Mission Vatsalya J&K Harvinder Kour, senior officers of J&K Police, Prosecuting officers, District Social Welfare officers and other concerned officials were present during the workshop.
Addressing the gathering of officers during the workshop, Joint Secretary, Ministry of WCD, Indra Mallo gave a detailed orientation on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Amendment Act, 2019 and POCSO Rules, 2020.
She also highlighted the role of different agencies and stakeholders in proper implementation of Child Rights as well as Child Protection.
In her welcome address, Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare, Sheetal Nanda said that this workshop will act as a vital platform to handhold the officers on different aspects of Child Protection Act and other related Acts and will help in effective implementation of those on ground.
The Commissioner Secretary further remarked that it should be our collective endeavour and responsibility to help the children in distress, provide them all possible assistance, bring them back to society and make them skilful so that they become self-sufficient.
Nanda underlined that we need to come together, work in coordination and maintain regular communication between all the stakeholders associated with Child protection so that the children are provided their due rights and they are able to live normal lives.
The workshop was held in different sessions with focus on the role of different agencies in Strengthening of Child Protection System and Mechanism.
In the morning session, the representative of the Ministry of WCD gave a detailed presentation on Mission Vatsalya Scheme; a scheme which addresses various aspects of Child Development.
Similarly, representative of Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) of Ministry of WCD gave a thorough presentation on Adoption Regulations 2022 while as officer of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) spoke in length about the ‘Role of NCPCR and SCPCR in Child Protection and Monitoring’.
In the afternoon session, representatives of UNICEF gave a detailed presentation on ‘Role and Intervention of UNICEF for Promoting Child Rights and Protection’.
Likewise, a representative of DSW, J&K gave a thorough presentation on ‘Strengthening of Child Protection/ Mechanism in Jammu and Kashmir’ while a representative from J&K Police spoke in length about the ‘Implementation of Child Rights/Child Protection in J&K’.
Later at the conclusion of the workshop, an open house discussion was also held during which the participants raised various queries and questions about different aspects of the Child Protection System, which were satisfactorily addressed by the officers of the Ministry of WCD.
