MINUTES OF THE 41 st PAB MEETING UNDER ICPS - KARNATAKA The forty-first meeting of the Project Approval Board (PAB) for ICPS was held under the Chairpersonship of Secretary WCD, on 28 th June, 2012 to consider the financial proposal for release of grants for 2012-13 to the State of Karnataka. List of participants is placed at Annex ‘A’. 2. At the outset, Chairperson welcomed all officers present and invited Director, Department of WCD, Karnataka/ Member Secretary, KSICP Society, to present the perspective and plan of the State with regard to Child Protection, progress so far and their financial proposal under ICPS. A copy of the presentation is placed at Annex ‘B’. A visit had been made by a Central team from the 19 th to the 22 nd of June, 2012, to look at the qualitative aspects of Scheme implementation in the State and key issues were shared with the State during discussions on each component. A copy of issues identified can be seen at Annex ‘C’. 3. Statutory Structures: The State informed that Statutory Structures, namely Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Board and Special Juvenile Police Units (CWC, JJBs and SJPUs) were in place and functional in all districts. Bangalore district has two CWCs, urban and rural and SJPUs have been set up in 40 police districts. A training module has been finalised for JJ functionaries. The State shared that a three member Committee has been set up under Chief Justice in response to a PIL filed regarding high pendency in JJBs. It emerged that pendency was very high in Bengaluru city. The JJBs in the State are headed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate which is not in line with the JJ Act as he is responsible for reviewing pendency. PAB advised the State that matters such as pendency and restoration/transfer of children to families, need to be accorded the highest priority and number of sittings may be increased where required. PAB also advised the State to use technology/video conferencing for speeding up inquiries and restoration of children. The State was advised to follow due process for transfer of children, as detailed in the GOI SOP on transfer, to ensure their safety. The State assured that it would look into the mechanisms available in the State to review pendency and train personnel on transfer. 4. It was informed that E - just, an automation system (database on children within the JJ system) based on the Juvenile Justice Act has been developed and is in use in 3 districts. Cases coming up in JJBs and CWCs are tracked through this. Separately, a missing children’s bureau is also being run in coordination with Don Bosco (Home Link initiative) and the police. 4549 missing complaints have been registered so far of which 2018 children have been traced. The system will be rolled out soon in other districts as well.
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MINUTES OF THE 41st PAB MEETING UNDER ICPS - KARNATAKA The forty-first meeting of the Project Approval Board (PAB) for ICPS was held under the Chairpersonship of Secretary WCD, on 28th June, 2012 to consider the financial proposal for release of grants for 2012-13 to the State of Karnataka. List of participants is placed at Annex ‘A’. 2. At the outset, Chairperson welcomed all officers present and invited Director, Department of WCD, Karnataka/ Member Secretary, KSICP Society, to present the perspective and plan of the State with regard to Child Protection, progress so far and their financial proposal under ICPS. A copy of the presentation is placed at Annex ‘B’. A visit had been made by a Central team from the 19th to the 22nd of June, 2012, to look at the qualitative aspects of Scheme implementation in the State and key issues were shared with the State during discussions on each component. A copy of issues identified can be seen at Annex ‘C’.
3. Statutory Structures: The State informed that Statutory Structures, namely Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Board and Special Juvenile Police Units (CWC, JJBs and SJPUs) were in place and functional in all districts. Bangalore district has two CWCs, urban and rural and SJPUs have been set up in 40 police districts. A training module has been finalised for JJ functionaries. The State shared that a three member Committee has been set up under Chief Justice in response to a PIL filed regarding high pendency in JJBs. It emerged that pendency was very high in Bengaluru city. The JJBs in the State are headed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate which is not in line with the JJ Act as he is responsible for reviewing pendency. PAB advised the State that matters such as pendency and restoration/transfer of children to families, need to be accorded the highest priority and number of sittings may be increased where required. PAB also advised the State to use technology/video conferencing for speeding up inquiries and restoration of children. The State was advised to follow due process for transfer of children, as detailed in the GOI SOP on transfer, to ensure their safety. The State assured that it would look into the mechanisms available in the State to review pendency and train personnel on transfer.
4. It was informed that E - just, an automation system (database on children within the JJ system) based on the Juvenile Justice Act has been developed and is in use in 3 districts. Cases coming up in JJBs and CWCs are tracked through this. Separately, a missing children’s bureau is also being run in coordination with Don Bosco (Home Link initiative) and the police. 4549 missing complaints have been registered so far of which 2018 children have been traced. The system will be rolled out soon in other districts as well.
The software related to the profile and individual care plans of children is still being developed. PAB advised the State that data available should be dovetailed with the Central database once the central Child tracking system is in place. The NIC team would be conducting a training of officials in Karnataka on the Child Tracking system, in the first week of July. The State reported that registration of Child Care institutions under the JJ Act is being given priority. 500 applications have been received of which 150 institutions have already been registered. 5. Service Delivery Structures: The State informed that Service delivery structures i.e. SCPS, SARA, have been established and almost all staff has been recruited for the same. Staff has been appointed and trained in 20 District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) and will be appointed in 10 remaining districts by end of July. PAB was informed that a Child Protection Unit supported by UNICEF has been functioning as the State Project Support Unit till date. UNICEF support is to end in December 2012 and thus financial support was sought from the Ministry for 3 months only for SPSU. 6. District need Assessment and Action plans: Districts Child Protection Plans have been developed for three districts with the help of UNICEF after a need assessment and the State informed that they would be conducting a similar exercise in all other districts based on the need assessment format developed by GOI. 7. Institutional Care: State has sought support for the 43 Children’s Homes and 6 Observation Homes (GO) and 11 NGO run Children Homes, which are already supported. However, of these 2 Observation Homes in Bellary and Shimoga and one NGO run Children’s Home do not have any beneficiaries and therefore PAB decided not to support them this year. Further, the State has proposed for 11 additional Children’s Homes and Observation Homes each. Of these, 4 Observation Homes and 6 Children’s Homes either do not have beneficiaries or the Homes have not started functioning. PAB informed the State that rationale/justification and reassessment would be necessary before these could be approved. PAB noted that many Homes are underutilised and thus rationalization is required. NIPCCD, Bangalore had undertaken a study last year, to help the State to rationalize the requirement of Homes. However, PAB noted that there are many Homes where capacity utilization is still very low. PAB advised the State to think in terms of an integrated complex, wherein services for children from different categories, can be segregated within the same complex, instead of building separate Homes in separate locations. This
complex could also include services for women and old age homes, and beneficiaries of these services could be developed as caregivers/mentors for the young ones. Also, the State was advised to focus on establishing a quality rehabilitation programme within all facilities, based on guidelines provided in the Scheme and JJ Act. PAB advised that there should be emphasis on training of personnel and building linkages for a referral or voluntary and mentoring programme, for provision of services such as counseling and life skills education in homes/shelters. It was suggested that SHG women could be involved in child care services. Follow up on children released on bail should also be undertaken. The State also sought permission to increase salaries of PT /Craft teacher from their own budget and was encouraged to do so. The State informed that, Inspection Committees in all districts and Management Committees for each home have been set up. The State informed that 16 inspections have been conducted so far and that children affected by drug abuse or suffering from mental illness are being transferred to the Bengaluru CWC and referred to NIMHANS for appropriate care and treatment. 8. Non - Institutional Care: The State informed the PAB that streamlining of inter-country adoption and strengthening domestic adoption through appropriate mechanisms was in process. State Adoption Advisory Committee, SAAs, ARCs etc. were in place and regular training of functionaries was being conducted in collaboration with CARA. However, it was informed by CARA representative that many Specialized Adoption Agencies (SAAs) are not entering data on CARINGS which should be ensured. PAB advised the State to ensure that better coordination is established so that destitute adoptable children can be linked with willing Prospective Adoptive Parents. Further, the State informed that a Sponsorship programme for needy children and for HIV affected children was ongoing. They were in turn informed that a Sponsorship & Foster Care fund and an After care fund would be made available for the State, at the district level, under ICPS as well, however the programmes were to be implemented as per the Ministry’s guidelines. 9. Open Shelters: Of the 23 Open Shelters that were proposed earlier by the State, funds for 14 have already been released. The State had not released any grants to these Open Shelters as they were being developed and trained. The State was informed that grants for the remaining nine for which sanction was approved would be released soon. The State sought approval for 4 new Open Shelters. However as Open Shelters is a new component, it was felt that existing shelters should be operationalised with quality standards before setting up any additional ones. PAB advised the State to look at existing models in Delhi such as those run by Butterflies and Salaam Balak Trust, to get a clear picture of what was needed. On request by the State, one more Open Shelter was approved in principle (YMCA), provided the approval of PSC is communicated to the Ministry.
10. Innovative Project: Under this head, two initiatives are proposed to be expanded in the State: (1) The Rakshinee initiative, a campaign against children being used for begging, which has already resulted in 138 Children and 123 infants with mothers, being rescued and rehabilitated by CWC and (2) CCRU (Collaborative Child Response Unit) set up in 2 Hospitals to provide services for children affected by sexual abuse. Training on the multi-disciplinary approach involved in running such a unit had already been conducted for 4 hospitals and NGO staff. Both Initiatives were appreciated for their design and intent. The State also informed that the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has addressed 502 cases in 2011-12. To counter Child Marriage in the State, a State Core Committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of Justice Shivraj Patil, which has submitted a report and Action Plan to Prohibit Child Marriage. As per the recommendation of the said committee, a Child marriage special cell has been created on 16/11/2011 in the Department. Additionally, Anti-trafficking Vigilance Committees have been set up at the Zila Parishad, Taluka and Gram Panchayat level. 11. Decisions taken by the Board: 11.1 SCPS, SARA:
PAB approved recurring grants for the entire year (April 2012- March 2013) except for staff salary which would be approved as per date of appointment.
Rs. 10 lakhs each to be provided for both innovative projects proposed.
11.2 SPSU: Recurring grant for three months from January – March 2013. Non recurring grant already released in 2009-10. 11.3 DCPU: PAB approved recurring grant according to the staff appointment i.e. for 11 months in 11 DCPUs, 10 months in 6 DCPUs and 9 months in remaining 13 DCPUs except fund for Repatriating children, Sponsorship, Foster Care Fund and After Care for complete year in all Districts. 11.4 Institutional Care: PAB granted following approvals:-
5 additional Children’s Homes and & 7 additional Observation Homes to be provided from date of sanction. (List B)
Recurring grant for 57 Homes (47 GO and 10 NGO) which were being supported earlier also (List A)
11.5 Open Shelters: Grants were approved for 9 (List C) Open Shelters (in addition to 14 for which grants have already been released this year) as requested by the State. 1 new Open Shelter run by YMCA, approved in principle subject to the State confirming approval of PSC.
11.6 SAA: PAB approved recurring grant for 16 existing NGO and 6 Govt run SAAs only. (List D) 11.7 CWCs and JJBs: Grants to be provided for 31 existing CWCs and 29 JJBs for the entire financial year. The meeting ended with a Vote of Thanks to the Chair.
ANNEX ‘A” List of Participants: 1. Ms. Neela Gangadharan, Secretary, (WCD) – Chairperson 2. Ms. Preeti Madan. Jt. Secretary, (WCD) 3. Mrs. Sarita Mittal, JS & FA, (WCD) 4. Ms. P. Hemalatha, Director, Dept. of WCD, Govt. of Karnataka 5. Ms. Kalyani Chadha, Director, (CW-II) (WCD) 6. Dr. Dinesh Paul, Director, NIPCCD 7. Dr. Jaganath Pati, Joint Director, CARA 8. Ms. Narmada Anand, Joint Director ICPS, Dept. of WCD, Govt. of Karnataka