Only 288 child centres get Juvenile Justice clearance by Kerala government

KOZHIKODE: As the final date for applying under the mandatory Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection) 2015 has been over, only 51 percent of the childcare institutes (CCI) in the state - 586 of 1,147 - have applied.

After the preliminary screening, only 288 got clearance, including 40 run by the state government.

“The initial inquiry on the received applications is going on in district-level. If satisfied, they will get a temporary working license for six months. Approval was given to 288 CCIs in this manner,” said an officer at ICPS (Integrated Child Protection Scheme).

Nearly 30,000 children are at the private CCIs which function as per the Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act 1960.

The Supreme Court had made it clear that all the CCIs in the country should register with the JJ Act by 2017. Each institute that comes under the Act would have a board comprising government officials, experts in the field of child rights and the parents.

Malappuram district child protection officer (DCPO) Samir Machingal said that 70 percent of the CCIs in Malappuram had applied. “Of the 28 institutes which are non-responding, eight had made a submission before the chief minister that they cannot run as per the Act,” he said.

Section-41 of the JJ Act empowers the government to slap non-registered CCIs with a year's imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh as a penalty.