Of the 88 homes meant to be built for the juvenile offenders as well juveniles in need of care and protection, only 10 have been made by the government so far.
This was revealed at the recent second round table conference jointly organized by the Juvenile Justice Committee of Supreme Court of India, Juvenile Justice Committee of J&K High court, J&K government and UNICEF.
The chairperson of the Selection–cum-Oversight committee of the Juvenile Justice Act Justice Hasnain Masoodi spoke about projects that have to be created as per the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, but the work for their creation is yet to begin.
“The JJ Act provides there have to be 22 observation homes – meant for the juveniles in conflict with law – but only two homes have been created so far,” Masoodi said.
The Act also calls for the creation of Special Homes meant for child offenders. The government may establish and maintain either by itself or under an agreement with voluntary organizations, special homes in every district or a group of districts or each division of the State for reception and rehabilitation of juveniles in conflict with law under the Act.
But of the required 22 special homes, none, till this date, have been created.
Also, the government has failed, Masoodi said, in creating State Advisory Board (SAB), State Commission for the Protection of the Child Rights (SCPCR).
Almost all countries have a Juvenile Justice System to deal with its young offenders. In J&K, the Act was implemented last year after the government implemented the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) – vehicle for the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act.
In 2013, Jammu and Kashmir signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to implement the ICPS with the government of India, although the scheme was launched by the ministry of women and child development in 2009.
But more than four years after signing the MoU, no efforts were made to implement the scheme on ground, although the government of India had released funds for its implementation.
Juvenile Justice Board (JJBs) and Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) were created in all the 22 districts of the Jammu and Kashmir after the JJ Act was implemented, but the government is yet to create the mandatory observation homes, special homes, children homes and after care centres.