New Delhi [India]: A total of 4,268 inspections have been completed on ‘MASI’ (Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection) portal by 32 states and Union Terrirories (UTs) as on July 24 this year, the Central government informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani informed the House in a written reply to the query of a member who asked about the status of the use of the real-time portal to monitor child care homes and that how it would inform budgetary changes in case of infrastructural lapses. The app is linked to the monitoring portal where automatic reports are generated. ‘MASI’ enables unified inspections by Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), State Inspection Committees, District Inspection Committees, Members of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) as laid down under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
It serves as a single platform for inspections of all the Child Care Institutions (CCIs) across the country by any of the above stated authorities. Regular follow-up is done before and after the completion of cycle of inspection.
As informed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Irani said the commission has developed an application called ‘MASI’ for real time monitoring of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs) and their inspection mechanism across the country.
“The effective and efficient functioning of the mechanism for inspection of CCIs provided under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021) and synchronous monitoring of the system is the rationale behind developing this comprehensive application,” said the Minister.
“The complete reports are automatically generated on the Portal as soon as the questionnaire is filled and submitted by the authority,” said the Minister.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, makes it mandatory to establish at least one Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in each district as the authority to dispose of cases for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of children in need of care and protection and to provide for their basic needs and protection of human rights.
The composition and functioning of the CWC is in accordance with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Rules thereof. Mission Vatsalya Scheme provides infrastructure and financial support to the states and UTs for facilitating setting up of CWC in every district and to ensure their effective functioning.
As per Irani, the CWC performs functions and roles as laid down in Juvenile Justice Act, 2015/ Rules as amended from time to time.
As per Mission Vatsalya Scheme Guideline, she further said, financial support of Rs 9,25,800 is provided for setting up of two rooms of 300 sq. ft. for the CWC in the Children Home Vatsalya Sadan (an Integrated Home Complex of CCIs (Children Home, Observation Home, Special Home, Place of Safety) along with offices for JJB and CWC within single premises for implementation of the JJ Act) for which grants for construction are sanctioned under the Scheme where an existing Children Home has the required space available within the premises, the same is provided to the CWC.
However, Irani said, while replying to the query of Kartikeya Sharma, in district where there is no Children Home or the existing Children Home has no space for the CWC, funds are provided under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme for renting suitable premises for the CWC.
“CWC holds its sittings in one room while the other room is used as a waiting area for Children and their families,” she added.
