Search...

Home
Home

TEST NEWS

ters in Kashmir Have

er Been This Severe

ters After the Floods

ve Families Stranded in
hmir

ovation in Education
ps Reach out to Many
e Children

CEO Speaks at the UN

eral Assembly on Child
hts Issues

raining the Habit of

ular Hand Washing in
e Sajda and Her
mmunity
d More...

About Us
Latest News

What we do
Donate/Support Us
Welcome relief for children of Jammu & Kashmir

Resource

Media/News

Welcome relief for children of Jammu & Kashmir

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Juvenile Justice Act provides welcome relief for children in J&K, avers Save the Children

Donate Now
Corporate Support

This is a welcome relief for children in J&K, averred Save the Children, even as it praised the J&K
government, following the passing of the Juvenile Justice Act in the state yesterday, which puts it at
par with the National Act for ensuring reform of juveniles rather than detention. The J&K Legislative
Assembly has passed the J&K Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2013 with a minor
amendment. It voted unanimously to raise the bar of juvenile age to 18 years from the present 16
years. Under the new law, J&K would now officially recognize an 18-year-old teenager as a minor.
Twenty five years of conflict in J&K has caused severe disruption to the education and protection of
children and the children and the communities have lived in an atmosphere of fear and trauma. The
overall protective environment is weak -- leaving children even more vulnerable to exploitation and
violence. In 2012, India completed two decades of ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child (UNCRC). Many legislations, policies, programs have been evolved during this period to
ensure that all children have the right to live in a protective environment. The government of J&K has
taken various initiatives to ensure that the children are protected from abuse, exploitation, violence.
The Juvenile Justice Act was enacted in J&K, 1997. All the features of the Act have been introduced at
the Centre (and thereby in other states in 2000 and amended in 2006). Now, on 28 March 2013, a
historical decision has been taken by the state government by amending the JJ Act and bringing it at
par with the National Act.
We congratulate the state government and are happy that the efforts of our team in J&K have paid off
-- and that children in the state will now be treated on par with children across India in terms of
juvenile justice, says Thomas Chandy, Save the Childrens CEO. Chandy informed that Save the
Children has been actively advocating for the Bill through close cooperation with the state government,
its ministers, MLAs, Media and civil society members. To help create more awareness and a consensus
on the issue, Save the Children had consistently advocated over the last four years for amendment of
the JJ act.
As per J&K Juvenile Justice Act 1997, children below the age of 16 years were treated as juveniles in
the state, while in other states -- by virtue of the Central Juvenile Justice Act 2000 -- the cut off age of
minors is 18. While the Government of India had amended national juvenile justice law to make it
consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the state law had remained in violation of
the convention.
Summary of steps taken by Save the Children in J&K:
1. Training of all district social welfare officers.
2. Save the Children and social welfare department worked on a comparative analysis of national and
state acts and presented the findings to the state government.
3. Advocated with Chief Minister, concerned ministers, MLAs and government officials.
4. Training provided to police personnel and NGOs.
5. Worked closely with the Media on this issue.
Save the Children has been working in J&K for over 30 years and currently works in 15
states in India for childrens rights -- to ensure that every child has a happy and healthy
childhood.

CONNECT WITH US

Join Save the Children on

Facebook
Follow Save the Children
Twitter

Add Save the Children in

circle on Google Plus

IN THE NEWS

Home

About Us

Contact Us

Donate

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

|
Site Map

Official Site - Save the Children, India

FacebookTwitterMore
FacebookTwitterGoogle+