Lucknow, Saturday, on 25 March, 2023 One Day State Level Conference on the “Status and Functioning of Statutory Bodies under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Way Forward with Special Focus on Children in Need of Care and Protection” has been Inaugurated by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pritinker Diwaker, Chief Justice designate, High Court, Allahabad at Judicial Training & Research Institute, U.P., Lucknow.
This State Level Conference was organized under the aegis of Hon’ble Juvenile Justice Committee, Allahabad High Court.
Conference was inaugurated by Hon’ble the Chief Justice designate, in the august presence of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyayay, Judge, Allahabad High Court, Lucknow, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abdul Moin, Judge, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow and Member, High Court Juvenile Justice Committee , Hon’ble Mr. Justice Subhash Vidhyarthi Judge, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow, Smt. Anamika Singh, IAS, Secretary, Dept. of Women and Child Development, Govt. of U.P. & Mr. Zakari Adam Chief of Field Office , UNICEF and Principal Secretary, (Judicial) & LR Govt. of UP.
The Percipients of this conference were District Judges, District Magistrates/Addl. District Magistrates, Officers from Special Juvenile Police Unit, District Probation Officers, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committees (CWC), and Officers from Women & Child Development.
Experts in the field of Child Protection namely Advocate Anant Asthana, Ms. Nimisha Srivastava and Ms. Leena from Udayan Care delivered their talk. This conference covered around 450 stakeholders across the state. Different Sessions relating to implementation of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 were conducted in assistance with experts and Judges.
While inaugurating the conference by virtual mode Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pritinker Diwaker Hon’ble Chief Justice Designate, High Court of Allahabad. His Lordship appealed the stakeholders that they should pay special attention towards children and give them time while dealing with their matters. He said that the statute has entrusted us to guide and shape the future of children and we need to change our behaviour towards them. It is important to provide open spaces for them to play and channelize their energies in positive manner. He also shared his experiences while working with SLSA, Chattisgarh and U.P. SLSA and said that he observed lack of love towards children. He also said that children are very vulnerable, therefore, there must be a check over their access to mobiles and internet.
The Guest of Honour, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyayay, Chairman, Committee for JTRI, emphasized that two phrases that comes to his mind while dealing with Children in need of care and protection are empathy and the best interest of the child that should be taken care of. His Lordship said that keeping in mind the provisions of the JJ Act one can streamline and make the environment much better with child friendly approach. He emphasised on the needs of the child which should be taken care of with utmost sensitivity and care.
Addressing the participants Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abul Moin, Member, High Court Juvenile Justice Committee, said that as policy makers and implementers, it is our collective responsibility to provide an environment in which children feel that they are nurtured and cared for, where they feel secure and are ensured that they are going to receive the proper care, supervision and required facilities.
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Subhash Vidhyarthi, emphasised on the sensitivity of the matters related to children. He said that many a times, in the due course of the procedures given under the law, the voice of children is suppressed. He emphasised on the individual roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders which is not less than that of a guardian.
Ms. Anamika Singh, Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development mentioned about the endeavours being made by the Department for the children in need of Care and Protection. She also mentioned data regarding the beneficiaries of the Mukhaya Mantari Bal Sewa Yojna and other such Government schemes. She mentioned that Mukhmantri Sumangala Yojna which covered around 4.8 lakh beneficiariesin the State of U.P.
Mr. Zakari Adam, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, expressed his pleasure about the proactiveness of the Committee for touching various areas of the JJ system for ensuring effective implementation of the Act. He said that the Children being vulnerable experience various forms of violence, exploitation and abuse.Every child who comes in contact with the juvenile justice system is a child in difficult circumstances who has fallen out of the protective net at some point and has been out of an opportunity of a safe and secure childhood.
In the beginning of inaugural Session Sri Vinod Singh Rawat, Director, JTRI,, welcomed Hon’ble the Chief Justice, Hon’ble Judges, dignitaries and participants in the Conference.
In the end of inaugural session, Vote of thanks was given by Dr. Satyawan Singh, Registrar (Judicial)(Establishment) of High Court, Lucknow.
