Vacancies in key posts delay proceedings in juvenile cases

The posts for the Chairperson for Tamil Nadu State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has been lying vacant while most of the children’s homes are understaffed. In addition, there is a need to focus on reformation in borstal homes, with a team of correctional personnel working in tandem, to create a behavioural change among the juvenile inmates. As per data from Prison Statistics India 2015, Tamil Nadu has 12 borstal schools for juveniles in conflict with law. The state has the highest capacity for keeping 692 inmates followed by Punjab (500), Karnataka (200) and Maharashtra (105). While the physical infrastructure is in place, there is an urgent need for trained personnel, said child rights experts.   

Dr P Madhava Soma Sundaram, Professor and Head of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, who has been in-charge of implementing the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 across the country, said Tamil Nadu has all the physical infrastructure in place. However, what is lacking is the quality of personnel hired to work with children in conflict with law. “There is a need for a correctional personnel team in all borstal homes. This team should include a psychologist, social worker and criminologist working together with the child, monitoring them right from the entry into the borstal to a few years after they are released,” said Dr Sundaram. Over the years, the budget allocated to the upkeep of these homes too have gone down by 10-12%. This has resulted in a serious lack of infrastructure in children’s homes. 

The vacancies – from top level to the bottom – has also hindered the speedy disposal of cases. NCRB data revealed that out of 3,254 cases, 1,759 are pending disposal. This has been largely due to vacancies existing for long periods of time. The existing personnel are forced to burden additional responsibilities, leading to a drop in their productivity levels. Child rights activist Narayanan A, who has filed many petitions regarding the vacancies, said, “A superintendent of a children’s home is also made a probation officer (which is a field job). Until the vacancies are filled with trained personnel, there is no justice done to the children in conflict with law,” he said.

Six inmates of the Government Observation Home for girls in Kellys who attempted to flee where caught by police and brought back to the home on Tuesday.  The police said, the six girls aged between 14 and 17 jumped the main gate of the home and tried to get away at 3 am. The girls walked scaled the main gate and walked till Kelly’s signal when a person on the road noticed them and informed the police.  The police control room relayed the information to the  Secretariat Colony station. SSI Babu Sudharsan and Head Constable Raghunathan arrived at the spot and intercepted the girls. They were handed over to the warden of the home by 4 am.