The Karnataka Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (KCPCR) has recommended setting up a state-level Juvenile Justice Committee on the lines of a similar panel formed by the Delhi government.
The KCPCR chairperson Nina P Nayak submitted the recommendation to the high court when a public interest petition on the treatment of children in juvenile homes in the state came up for hearing on Wednesday.
Nayak said that the committee should be constituted on the lines of the Juvenile Justice Committee in Delhi, which consists of four sitting judges of the Delhi high court.
She said that the committee should comprise the secretaries for education as well as the department of women and child development, director-general of police, project director of Integrated Child Protection System (ICPS), director of department of health and family welfare, a mental health expert, as well as a representative each of child helplines and NGOs working for child rights.
The committee can develop protocols for protection of children, among other things.
The KCPCR also recommended constitution of similar district-level panels headed by district judges. The KCPCR chairperson, who has inspected juvenile homes in the state, said that at the homes children were often treated as offenders. “The children have complained about physical and verbal abuse by staff. The homes, where children are locked and made to work, resemble prisons and detention centres. Children are not allowed to go to the toilet at night. The homes are known for lack of cleanliness and basic facilities, including mattresses and soaps.
There is also a shortage of staff,” she said.
NGOs such as Concerned for Working Children and the Asian Centre for Human Rights have asked the government to revoke the order prohibiting child welfare committees from visiting juvenile homes without prior intimation.
“This should be considered by the government,” the KCPCR chairperson said.
The division bench adjourned the hearing of the case to June 20.
