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The Delhi High Court today said that it was ‘highly dismayed’ with GNCTD for not implementing the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act with regard to providing foster care for children in need of care and protection who had lost their parents due to Covid 19.

The division bench comprising Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh made the observation on a report prepared by Bachpan Bachao Andolan which disclosed gaps in the implementation of the provisions which cast duty on the State to make provisions for children in need of care and protection.  

Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur appearing for Bachpan Bachao Andolan pointed out that despite the JJ Act being enacted in the year 2015, till date provisions regarding foster care for children in need of protection have not been into actual play because the requisite guidelines have not been framed and no steps have been taken to identify foster home for such children.

Adv Kaur submitted that a lot of children have been orphaned in the pandemic and a lot of families have lost children who would want to take care of children but due to lack of action taken in terms of section 24 under the Act, there is no mechanism for foster care.

At this the Court said “We are dismayed that even though the act came into force in 2015, and the GNCTD had the resources to put the mandate in force, very little has been done in this respect. It appears that only when the court has turned its head towards this issue that a slight feverish step is taken.”

Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra appearing for GNCTD gave an assurance that the steps that the state is undertaking would culminate into actual actions at ground level.

The Court has directed the Secretaries of the Department of Child Welfare and Women Development and Social welfare to ensure compliance and the Court made it clear that if the provisions of the Act are not complied with, consequences shall follow.

Advocate Kaur further brought to the Court’s notice the issue relating to street children for whom there is no plan in place to take care of such children. She submitted that open shelters where these children could come to use toilets and for purposes of night shelter should be there. She further submitted that basic facilities of mask and primary health facilities were not being provided to these children.

 On this aspect Mehra submitted that the concerned Department will hold a meeting on 5th June where details of holding campaign for providing facilities to children will be discussed.  

Since Adv Kaur drew the Court’s attention on the scarcity of information regarding children who had lost their parents, the Court has directed the concerned departments of GNCTD to call all the residents welfare association, schools, police, hospitals, revenue department of GNCTD to provide information with respect to children who have lost parents to covid.

The Court has further directed the GNCTD to utilize the larges force of Anganwadi workers   to collect information on children who have lost their parents to covid and provide the information to Child Welfare Committees who shall act in accordance with the provisions of the JJ Act.