The Supreme Court on Monday directed all states governments and Union Territories (UTs) to implement the SOPs prepared by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for the care and protection of homeless children.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai said the steps taken so far have not been satisfactory and rescuing children should not be a temporary exercise. “It should be ensured that these children are rehabilitated,” the SC said.
“As it is clear that the other States/UTs have not raised any objection or sought any modification of the suggestions made by NCPCR, we direct all the states/UTs to implement the guidelines circulated by NCPCR and take steps to rescue and rehabilitate the children apart from the later stages which are clear from Bal Swaraj Portal. A status report shall be filed by the states/UTs within a period of two weeks from today (Monday)," the bench said while posting the matter for hearing in the second week of May.
The NCPCR has developed a standard pperating procedure 2.0 for care and protection of children in street situations to create a convergence among the various functionaries, institutions/agencies, the Central schemes and policies and to ensure a more holistic approach to providing care, protection, and restoration of children in street situation.
During the hearing, the apex court was informed that Tamil Nadu and Delhi have already formulated the scheme for rescuing and rehabilitating street children.
