Delay in constituting Child Welfare Committees in T.N. districts leaves existing ones burdened

Delay in constituting CWCs in TN causes concern; new selection process being worked on. CWCs burdened with additional charge of multiple districts, impacting child protection & delivery of services. State-level selection committee to oversee appointments in accordance with JJ Act model rules.

A prolonged delay in constituting Child Welfare Committees(CWCs) in some districts in Tamil Nadu has caused concern among child rights activists as well as officials. While a few of these areas are newly formed districts and haven’t yet had a committee to take over, the other districts still have positions vacant following the end of the previous committee’s tenure. 

At present, Chennai Central, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Myladuthurai, Ranipet. Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, and Tirupattur are among the districts which don’t have their own committees, and cases from these districts are being handled by existing CWCs from neighbouring districts.

  “There has been a delay in the selection process here and we have been handling cases of one other neighbouring district here. By having additional charges, problems crop up when we have to travel long distances, and we often don’t have enough time to focus on the caseload of two districts,” the chairperson of a committee handling two districts said. 

Another CWC member said that when they were given charge of multiple districts, their travel expenses were not reimbursed. “It is only after we go there that we are given a vehicle to go on field visits. We need to be involved in a range of cases from child marriages, to incidences of child abuse, and even runaway children, and we are often unable to travel immediately between districts,” he said.

  Questioning the delay in appointments, a child rights activist said the CWC at Vellore was engaging with cases from Ranipet, Thirupattur and till recently, Krishnagiri as well. “When these committees are burdened with cases from additional districts, the impact on child protection and the delivery of any sort of protection services is immense. When the human resource infrastructure is lacking, it leaves much to be desired,” she said. She further pointed out that there were an inadequate number of Probation Officers, who like the CWCs, were being given additional charge and were unable to function effectively. 

While five districts that don’t have committees are newly formed districts, A. Devaneyan, Child Rights Activist said that the decision to centralise the selection process and appointments added to the delay.

While a panel comprising the Collector, Judge, and Superintendent of Police from a district would oversee the selection process there, along with the Directorate of Social Defence, a High Court ruling has now asked for a State-level committee to oversee the appointments instead in accordance with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules.