National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), has developed and launched a portal namely GHAR – GO Home and Re-Unite (Portal for Restoration and Repatriation of Child). The GHAR portal has been developed to digitally monitor and track the restoration and repatriation of children according to the protocol. The following are the salient features of the portal :
- Digital tracking and monitoring of children who are in the Juvenile Justice system and have to be repatriated to another Country/State/District.
- Digital transfer of cases of children to the concerned Juvenile Justice Board/Child Welfare Committee of the State. It will help in speedy repatriation of children.
- Where there is a requirement of a translator/interpreter/expert, request will be made to the concerned State Government.
- Child Welfare Committees and District Child Protection Officers can ensure proper restoration and rehabilitation of children by digitally monitoring the progress of the case of the child.
- A checklist format will be provided in the forms so that the children who are being hard to repatriate or children who are not getting their entitled compensation or other monetary benefits can be identified.
- List of Government implemented schemes will be provided, so that at the time of restoration the Child Welfare Committees can link the child with the schemes to strengthen the family and ensure that child remains with his/her family.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is administering the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) (as amended in 2021) and Rules thereunder, for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children. The Act provides for protection of children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with law by catering to their basic needs through care, protection, development, treatment and social re-integration.
Under the JJ Act, 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection for the best interest of the children. They are also mandated to monitor the functioning of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs). Similarly, under section 106 of JJ Act, 2015, every State Government has to constitute a District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) for every district to take up matters relating to children to ensure the implementation of JJ Act, 2015 and rules thereunder. To ensure effective coordination in the Child Safety, Protection and Development; District Magistrates have been made the head of DCPUs. DMs have been empowered to review the functioning of DCPUs and CWCs at regular intervals to ensure prompt decisions as per provisions of JJ Act and Rules are taken by these bodies, keeping in mind best interests of Children.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Women & Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.