Children are considered to be weak and vulnerable, and they are innocent asn can easily be exploited, and taken for granted. They are highly dependant on another parents, like parents or the guardians and they are not matured enough, hence it is of vital importance to consider them as a special category in the society and given them extra protection. It is necessary to promote and protect children rights. It is given clearly under article 15(3) which states that special provisions can be provided to women and children. A child is the future of the nation, only their welfare and development can shape the future of the nation. It becomes necessary that a child is raised properly keeping in mind all the child’s interests and it should be encouraged by the care takers. Their physical and emotional needs have to be taken care. Proper care and protection has to be given to them no matter what, even if they are in conflict with law (where a child has committed a crime), this even includes education till the age of 14, all this has to be done as they are incapable of taken care of themself, and the growth of the nation depends on today’s children, they are supreme assets. It is duty of the state and government to protect children which is clearly stated under the article 39(f), the state is responsible of its children.
The UN General Assembly, in the year 1989 has adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and India has become a signatory to it in the year 1992. As India has become a signatory to the above international legislation, India has brought a new legislation named as the Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 in accordance with it. However, this law has been replaced by the new Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and its objectives are to give protection, care and rehabilitation, to comply with the international laws, to perform their duty towards the society. This act applies to all children in need of care and protection, and the children who are in conflict with law, children on both the categories are given different levels of protection as considered necessary, we will be looking from both the perspectives.
A child is said to be in conflict with law when he had committed either a petty, serious or heinous offence and has not completed the age of 18 during the commission of the offence (defined under S.2(13) of JJ Act) . Such a child must be submitted before the Juvenile Justice Board for further enquiry. It is assumed that a child has committed an offence due to lack of proper care and protection, hence the board decides what type of care has to be given till the child attains the age of 18, maybe placed in Observation or special homes for their safety and protection. It is assumed that the child was unable to understand their actions, hence they will be under the government’s custody till they are deemed fit to move around in the society, which is usually when they attain 18 years of age. There are certain functions and responsibilities that the Board needs to follow during the trial of the child.
The second category of child is a child in need of care and protection has been clearly defined under S.2(14) of the JJ Act, 2015, it gives various conditions like where a child is forced to beg, or is employed in a hazardous factory, orphans, etc where a child can be considered that he needs special care and protection and there is a duty on the state to take care of them. There are different committees and homes which take care of the children under both categories to provide them rehabilitation and they are, Child Welfare Committees (CWC), Child Care Institutions like open shelter, children’s home, fit facility, observation home, special homes and Specialised Adoption Agency(SAA). All the above stated institutions and committees have been defined under the JJ Act, the act also gives the responsibilities and roles of each.
To sum up, we can say that children play an important role for the development of the nation, hence they should be given proper care and protection, as the mental and physical health of the child determines the health of the nation. There have been efforts put by the government to decrease the rates of child labour, explotation, offences against them, sexual offences against them (POCSO Act, 2012) and other such actions. There will be a day where every child in the nation will receive the proper care and protection, when there is zero rate of child labour and protection, and there won’t be a child in distress. I’m sure these goals can be achieved through collective participation by the government and the people in the society. There is quote which has been said by the famous Nelson Mandela, ” History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children”. Therefore a good present will lead to a good future.
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