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Heavy workload hits CWC performance
With as many as 10 hearings and cases to see every day and a long list of task to be handled and no database, the newly formed Child Welfare Committee in the city with four members and a chairperson, has a large list of teething troubles.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
The Child Welfare Committee sees an average of 10 cases almost every day and the hearing happens between 11 am and 5 pm. Tamil Nadu State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Nirmala MP, says that the commission has been saddled with a burdening list of duties.
“Their list of duties also includes finding sponsors for abandoned children or children who need care, apart from following up cases. There is a huge doubt about the capability of the members to handle all of these — this is applicable to CWCs across the state”
She adds that the worry is about the lack of seamless transition between every committee that has a term of three years. There is also the added responsibility of being in-charge for the transfer of children from other states to their respective hometown in case of unsafe migration or trafficking.
The only linkage with the other CWCs is through a Government website with the contacts of other CWC members.
However, there is no database for the committee, a member of the committee on the condition of anonymity said and added that the a database for all the stakeholders like DCPOs, CWC members and the Police and Social Defence to access case details is being created.
P Manorama, former chairperson of the CWC in the city said that one cannot expect much from the committee, “There are so many issues related to children that can be difficult for the committee to handle.
The most important part is the coordination not just with the District Child Protection Officer but also with adoption agencies.”
Components of CWC
- The Juvenile Justice Act, calls for a five-member committee with a chairperson
- The chairperson should be well-versed in child welfare issues with at least one woman in the team
- The CWC has the same powers as a metropolitan magistrate or a judicial magistrate of thefirst class
- A child can be brought before the committee by a police, any public servant, CHILDLINE personnel, any social worker or public spirited citizen, or by the child himself/herself
- The purpose of the CWC is to determine the best interest of the child and find the child a safe home and environment
- A final order must be given within four months of the admission of the child before the CWC
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