A High Level Committee under the chairpersonship of Justice (Retd.) Rajindar Sachar had, inter alia, made recommendation for setting up of an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) to address the grievances of deprived groups. Government had set up an Expert Group to examine and determine, inter alia, the structure and functions of an EOC. Based on the Expert Group Report, recommendations of Group of Ministers constituted for this purpose and comments/ inputs received from various stakeholders, a draft Equal Opportunity Commission Bill for setting up of EOC is under consideration of the Government.
As a follow-up action on the Sachar Committee recommendations, the mandate to set up National Data Bank was given to the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. A National Data Bank web page has been created on the website of Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, which at present contains 97 tables on population, education, health and labour & Employment.
Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development, National Skill Development Coordination Board and the Office of Adviser to PM on Skill Development have been subsumed into the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA). The NSDA is an autonomous body located in the Ministry of Finance. One of the major functions assigned to the NSDA is to ensure that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and the marginalized groups like Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), minorities, women and differently-abled persons are taken care of. So far as the erstwhile National Skill Development Coordination Board is concerned, the basic function was to coordinate the skill development activities in the country. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has been set up as a not for profit company, under the M/o Finance, primarily to catalyse private sector initiatives in skill development. Individual Ministries are implementing schemes targeted at different social groups including the minorities.
| Schemes for Welfare of Minority Youth |
It is a fact that several minority welfare schemes have been started by Government for the welfare of youth of minority community in the recent past. The new schemes started during 2013-14 for the welfare of minority youth include -
- Skill Development Programmes: Ministry of Minority Affairs has launched “Seekho aur Kamao (Learn and Earn)”, a new 100% Central Sector Scheme for Skill Development of minorities. The scheme aims at upgrading the skills of the minority youths in various modern/traditional vocations depending upon their educational qualification, present economic trends and the market potential, which can earn them a suitable employment or make them suitably skilled to go for self employment. The scheme puts a condition on project implementing agencies (PIAs) to ensure minimum 75% employment of trained youths, out of which 50% should be in organized sector. The target for 2013-14 is to skill 7,500 beneficiaries with an allocation of Rs. 17 crore. A pilot project for 500 minority youths has already been launched in collaboration with IL&FS Skill Development Corporation at 5 (five) locations namely, Delhi, Kolkata (West Bengal), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Barnala (Punjab) and Shillong (Meghalaya). Ministry has already taken action for empanelment of PIAs. NMDFC has also signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) on imparting “Driver’s Training to youths belonging to Minority Communities”. The drivers training programme has already been launched in Karnataka during November 2013.
Further, Multi-sectoral Development Plan (MsDP) has also been restructured to the effect that at least 10% of the allocation given to the States, would be earmarked for the skill training related activities of minority youth. The target is to skill 60,000 beneficiaries with an allocation of Rs. 125 crore. During 2013-14, project proposals of Rs. 22.98 crore for skill trainings of 17876 persons have been approved.
- Padho Pardes, the scheme of interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies for minority students: The objective of the scheme is to award interest subsidy to meritorious students of economically weaker sections of minority communities so as to provide them better opportunities for higher education abroad and enhance their employability. The subsidy is granted on the interest payable for the moratorium period of education loans for overseas studies to pursue approved courses of studies at Masters, M. Phil and Ph.D levels. The scheme is linked with the Educational Loan scheme of Indian Banks Association (IBA). Total family income from all sources of the eligible candidate shall not exceed Rs. 6.00 lakh per annum. Scheme has been formulated and Expression of Interest (EOI) has been invited from 8 Nationalized Banks to act as nodel bank, through Limited Tender.
- New Component under Coaching & Allied Scheme – During 2013-14, a new component under this scheme has been added on pilot basis for focused preparation of minority students at class XI and XII with Science stream. The rate of financial support for a selected student under this component is upto Rs.1,00,000/- (one lakh) per annum. Three Institutes have been selected one each from Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal.
- Scheme for Support for Minority Students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), State Public Service Commissions etc. - The objective of the Scheme is to provide financial support to the minority candidates clearing Preliminary examinations conducted by UPSC, SSC and State Public Service Commissions to adequately equip them to compete for selection in Civil Services in the Union and State Governments and to increase representation of the minorities in these services. Financial support is given to candidates clearing Preliminary examinations of Group A and B (Gazetted and non-Gazetted posts). The rate of financial assistance is Rs. 50,000/- forGazetted post and Rs. 25,000/- for non-Gazetted post, for minority candidates having family income not exceeding Rs. 4.50 lakh per annum. Applications from eligible candidates have already been invited.
| Rehabilitation of Mentally Retarded Persons |
The primary responsibility for programmes for rehabilitation and care of persons with disabilities lies with the State Governments as per entry No. 9 in the “State List.” The Central Government supplements the efforts of the States in their rehabilitation, including mentally retarded children and adults. Under the Central Sector Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS), financial assistance is provided to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), on the recommendation of the concerned State Governments, for providing various services to such persons with disabilities including Special schools/residential schools/Vocational Training/Half Way Homes etc. Further, the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, mental retardation & multiple disabilities, is undertaking rehabilitation of mentally retarded adults through four State Governments namely-Haryana, Tripura, Chhattisgarh & Uttarakhand. The details of schemes being implemented by the National Trust are as under:
(i) National Trust is implementing a lifelong shelter & care scheme namely Group Home And Rehabilitation Activities Under National Trust Act For Disabled Adult (GHARAUNDA) in coordination with the 4 State Governments and 8 Registered Organizations in the country.
(ii) The Gharaunda centre established in collaboration with Govt. of Chhattisgarh is functional, while the Centres, in other 3 States, are at different stages of being established.
(iii) National Trust is also implementing a short and long term residential care scheme named Samarth for orphan children and others in collaboration with Registered Organisations of National Trust. Under this, 119 centers have been set up in the country.
An amount of Rs. 1.00 crore has been allocated by the National Trust for this purpose and out of which Rs. 30 lakh was released to the Government of Tripura in the year2011-12.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development had introduced Swadhar scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances in Sepetember, 2002, in which mentally challenged women are also included. This scheme is implemented mainly through non-government organizations to provide training for the economic rehabilitation of women staying in Swadhar Homes.
The Government has since formulated a new scheme namely ‘Swadhar Greh’ merging existing Swadhar and Short Stay Home schemes with enhanced financial norms.
Breakthrough for the blind
India under the Narendra Modi government has become the first country in the world to ratify the Marrakesh Convention that codifies exemptions to copyrights to benefit blind and vision-impaired readers. The government should now build on this momentum and enact the comprehensive and path-breaking law, now before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, that could transform the lives of millions of people with various disabilities. This is imperative also because seven long years have elapsed since New Delhi ratified (it was one of the earliest to do so) the United Nations Convention for the Disabled. The current treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization removes legal restrictions on the conversion of published works into any one among a range of alternative formats which the blind and vision-impaired may access. Ratifying countries are required to enact domestic laws to overcome their own copyright limitations to further this objective. The treaty also eases hurdles for cross-country exchange of books in different formats so as to overcome the cost of duplication. This is a genuine concern, as non-governmental organisations are by and large the principal service-providers for the disabled. India amended its copyright law in 2012 broadly on the lines of the Marrakesh Treaty. Hence, the most direct benefit from its ratification of the latter would be the access to literature that is converted overseas. WIPO has just launched the Accessible Books Consortium to provide technical support for the production of suitable formats and to create a global database of such transcriptions and to encourage publishers to participate in this initiative.
All of the above potentially add up to vast improvements on the present situation where published works are out of the reach of an overwhelming majority of the blind. The exception to this rule is the extremely limited availability of educational material. The worst-affected are people in developing countries, which are home to 90 per cent of the world’s blind population, according to the World Health Organization. Moreover, barely 15 countries world-wide have copyright exemptions as per a WIPO finding, and these are mostly in the advanced economies. The full potential of this convention will be realised ultimately when large numbers of blind people have full access to quality education, which is still a distant dream. The treaty will not enter into force internationally unless it is ratified by at least 20 countries. The lack of backing from the United States from the beginning of the negotiations could prove to be a handicap in canvassing wider support. The world has indeed come a long way since WIPO began to contemplate copyright exemptions some three decades ago.
NCW for changes in juvenile Act
National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma said on Wednesday the Commission would back amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act to ensure punishment in rape cases.
In a media interaction organised by the Indian Women’s Press Corps, Ms. Sharma reiterated that times were changing and as 45 per cent of the registered rape cases were perpetrated by juveniles, amendments were necessary. The National Commission of Protection of Child Rights and child rights groups had opposed a recent statement by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi that juveniles committing rape should be tried as adults.
Ms. Sharma said even in the Delhi gang rape case, the most brutal of the four convicts was a juvenile and regretted that two juveniles convicted in Mumbai’s Shakti Mills rape case were sent to a correctional home..
Towards a comprehensive Juvenile Justice law
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (JJ Act) has been amended twice: in 2006 and in 2011. More demands to amend the Act have been in the reckoning. There was, for instance, a public outcry demanding more stringent punishment for the prime accused, a juvenile, in the Delhi gang rape case of 2012. Besides crimes committed by juveniles, violence against them is also emerging as an important issue which needs to be redressed by strengthening the existing provisions. Protracted inter-country adoption procedures in the existing JJ Act need urgent legislative resolution. While personal laws allow specific communities to adopt, other persons can become guardians only under an archaic Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. A secular gender-neutral adoption law for all people is required.
Case studies
In Stephanie Joan Becker v. State (2013), a single 53-year-old lady was permitted to adopt a 10-year-old girl orphan by relaxing the guidelines of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). Likewise, in Shabnam Hashmi v. Union of India(2014), the apex court that upheld the right to adopt and to be adopted as a fundamental right, also held that every person, irrespective of the religion he/she professes, is entitled to adopt. The judgment in Jan Balaz v. Anand Municipality (2010) is under challenge in the Supreme Court. Twin German children born through surrogacy were granted an exit permit on the Court’s directions to CARA to permit their adoption by German parents.
The apex court in a public interest litigation decided on March 28, 2014, in Dr. Subramanian Swamy and others v. Raju and others , refused to read down the provisions of the JJ Act, 2000, in order to account for the mental and intellectual competence of a juvenile offender and refused to interfere with the age of a juvenile accused, in cases where juveniles were found guilty of heinous crimes. It was held by the Court that the provisions of the Act are in compliance with Constitutional directives and international conventions. The Court further stated that the classification of juveniles as a special class stood the test of Article 14 of the Constitution, and that the Court should restrict itself to the legitimacy and not certainty of the law.
Broad amendments
In this backdrop, the Government of India is now contemplating re-enacting a new JJ Act, 2014, for which a review committee has been constituted under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The baton has been passed on to Parliament to enact a new law.
The JJ Bill, 2014, seeks to enact a law by consolidating and amending the law relating to children who are in need of care and protection. It seeks to cater to their developmental needs through proper care, protection and treatment by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposal of matters, and for rehabilitation through processes provided and institutions established under the proposed new enactment.
The Women and Child Development Ministry has posted on its website a proposed draft of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, suggesting broad amendments. The draft states that the increase in reported incidents of abuse of children needs urgent legislative action; that there are inadequate facilities, quality of care and rehabilitation measures in private and government-run children homes; delays in various processes under the JJ Act; delays in inter-country adoption process under CARA; and inadequate provisions to deal with offences against children, among others.
The draft incorporates the principles of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption (1993) which was absent in the original JJ Act, 2000. The new JJ Bill, 2014, provides for application of the proposed Act in: cases involving detention, prosecution or penalty of imprisonment; matters relating to apprehension, production before court, disposal orders and restoration, procedures and decisions related to adoption of children, and rehabilitation and reintegration of children who are in conflict with law or, as the case may be, in need of care and protection under other such law.
The word ‘juvenile’ has been replaced with the word ‘child’ and the expression ‘juvenile in conflict with the law’ has been changed to ‘child in conflict with law.’ While in the JJ Act, 2000, juveniles in conflict with the law are defined as the ‘accused’, the draft Bill identifies a ‘child in conflict with law’ to be one who has been found by the Juvenile Justice Board to have actually committed an offence. It also defines an ‘abandoned child’ as well as ‘aftercare’. Chapter two is the most noteworthy characteristic of the proposed Bill, providing for ‘Fundamental Principles for Care, Protection, Rehabilitation and Justice for Children’. It incorporates internationally accepted principles of presumption of innocence, dignity and worth, family responsibility, non-stigmatising semantics, privacy and confidentiality, repatriation and restoration, equality and non-discrimination, and diversion and natural justice, among others. Institutionalisation is suggested as a measure of last resort — juveniles are to institutionalised only if no other family-based care option is possible or available.
New procedure
A new procedure for handling children in conflict with law has been proposed. A revamped Child Welfare Committee has been identified, empowered and given statutory functions. Mandatory registration of childcare institutions has been provided. Observation, shelter and special homes may be established by State governments.
CARA has been made a statutory body vested with functions of in-country and inter-country adoptions. Section 58 of the draft Bill lays down special emphasis on inter-country adoptions, stating that all applications for adoption shall be filed before a Principal Magistrate of the concerned jurisdiction where the registered adoption agency is located.
However, the proposed provision for adoption orders to be passed by the Principal Magistrate on the first date of hearing itself, or within a period of two weeks, failing which it will be construed by the higher authority of the Principal Magistrate, “as dereliction of duty”, does not seem to be practical for actual implementation. Judicial proceedings have to be regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure and no fast-track procedure that bypasses rules of evidence can be proposed in contravention of law. Likewise, transgenders need adoption rights. The JJ Bill must encompass these issues.
The proposed Bill also prohibits the media from disclosing the identity of children or propagating any such information which would lead to identifying them. All reports relating to children are to be treated as confidential. Corporal punishment and ragging, cruelty to children, employment of children for begging, adoption without proper procedure, and sale or procurement of children for any purpose are all acts that are punishable under the draft Bill.
The draft Bill therefore provides a comprehensive mechanism to deal with children in conflict with law as well as children who are in need of care and protection. However, only a stringent implementation can provide a meaningful disposition to make it a true letter of law.
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