Not for Publication for Members Only LOK SABHA

Not for Publication For Members only

LOK SABHA ___

SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 / Chaitra 3, 1943 (Saka) ______

*MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (1) DR. SUJAY VIKHE PATIL laid a statement regarding declaration of Dimbhe-Manikdoh Water Tunnel as a National Project. (2) SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL laid a statement regarding need to widen National Highway between Raibareli and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. (3) SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA laid a statement regarding issues pertaining to development in Tribal areas of Dungarpur district in Rajasthan. (4) SHRIMATI GITABEN V. RATHVA laid a statement regarding increasing railway connectivity in Chhota Udaipur Parliamentary Constituency, Gujarat. (5) DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR laid a statement regarding need to clean the Godavari river. (6) SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN laid a statement regarding stoppage of Ahmedabad-Kewaria Jan Shatabdi express at Nadiad Railway Station.

* Laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. (7) SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI laid a statement regarding need to take necessary measures to include Kharwar-Bhogta community in the list of Scheduled Tribes. (8) SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT laid a statement regarding increasing incidents of cow smuggling in Lohardaga Parliamentary Constituency, Jharkhand. (9) DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT laid a statement regarding updating Scheduled Areas (Maharashtra) Order, 1985. (10) SHRI PARBATBHAI SAVABHAI PATEL laid a statement regarding need to run a direct train between Palanpur and Dwarka in Gujarat. (11) SHRI MANSUKHBHAI DHANJIBHAI VASAVA laid a statement regarding consturction of Rajpipla - Kevadia railway line in Gujarat. (12) SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY laid a statement regarding need to take necessary measures for welfare of Magra-Merwara region in Ajmer Parliamentary Constituency, Rajasthan. (13) SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO laid a statement regarding need to increase the amount for construction of house in rural areas under PM Awas Yojana. (14) SHRI RAGHU RAMA KRISHNA RAJU laid a statement regarding incidents of Vandalism of Hindu Temples in Andhra Pradesh. (15) SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV laid a statement regarding need to provide funds for Jigaon Dam Project. (16) SHRI MAHABALI SINGH laid a statement regarding smooth passage of vehicles through Toll Plazas. ______

THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ALLIED AND HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONS BILL, 2021 (As passed by Rajya Sabha) THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN) moving the motion for consideration of the Bill, said: After bringing in the historic reform of the National Medical Commission in 2019 to reform and streamline the sector of medical education, we now have another bigger opportunity to transform the much bigger sector of allied and healthcare professions. This Bill has the potential to create a paradigm shift in healthcare delivery of the future by recognizing the specialized skills and contributions of more than 56 types of healthcare workers, that is, the allied and healthcare professionals. This Bill aims to establish a Central Statutory Body as National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professionals. The Commission will frame policies and standards, regulate professional conduct and prescribe qualifications for all these professions. The Commission will be supported by ten broad professional Councils, each comprising one or more professions. This also provides for registration of all the allied and healthcare professionals facilitating their career growth and improving their employment potential, both within and outside India. All the professions have been coded as per the International Labour Organization's International standards for classification of occupation which also allow them for global recognition and mobility. Moreover, National Allied and Healthcare Advisory Council to advise the National Commission with representation from all the States have also been proposed to enable adequate representation from all States and Union Territories. Further, each State will be having a separate State Council with four autonomous Boards. In this regard, we have carefully considered the invaluable inputs of the Parliamentary Standing Committee Members and incorporate almost all of those in this Bill. The year 2021 has been designated as the International Year of Health and Care Workers by the World Health Organization. I feel happy and delighted that in this very year we are considering a landmark legislation that will reform and open up huge opportunities for allied and healthcare professionals. I, therefore, request all of you to support this Bill. SHRI BALUBHAU ALIAS SURESH NARAYAN DHANORKAR initiating said: I, on behalf of me and my party support the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2021. The allied and healthcare workers are as important as doctors and equipments in the healthcare sector. They have toiled hard during the corona pandemic. That is why they should be given their rightful reward and they will get it through this Bill. The brightest aspect of it is that 90 per cent of the recommendations made by the Standing Committee has been accepted. More surprisingly, there is 59 per cent shortage of radiographers and this shortage is more acute in the rural areas. The government needs to open more and more training centers to meet the shortage in the rural areas. One more amendment may be made to this Bill like the tenure of the Members of the Commission should be increased from two years to three or four years. This has figured even in the recommendations made by the Standing Committee but the same was not accepted. Moreover, this Bill is silent on how the problem of the shortage of the allied and the healthcare workers will be obviated out. I have one or two issues about my Parliamentary Constituency. I would like to request the hon. Minister that arrangements may please be made to provide the facility for Nucleic Acid Test (NAT) in Chandrapur Medical College and Hospital. With the help of Nucleic Acid Test we can get medical reports within 24 hours. This is very useful and essential for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C tests. At last, I conclude and support this Bill. DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: This Bill is to provide for regulation and maintenance of standards of education and services by allied and healthcare profession. This Bill is a pathbreaking initiative that has potential to change the future of healthcare service delivery both for people of the country and also for allied and healthcare professionals. While doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists in India are regulated through their respective regulatory body, the allied and healthcare professionals are still unstructured, unregulated. The potential of those professionals can be utilized to reduce the cost of care and to make quality of healthcare services accessible to all. This Bill provides definition of allied health professional. Likewise, the healthcare professional is also defined in this Bill. Regarding allied and healthcare professions, this Bill specifies certain categories of allied and healthcare professions as recognized categories. The Bill sets up the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions which will consist of a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and five Members and others. With regard to the functions of the Commission, the Commission will frame policies and standards, regulate professional conduct and prescribe qualifications for all these professions. The Commission will also constitute a Professional Council for every recognized category of allied and healthcare professions. The Commission may delegate any of its functions to this Council. Regarding State Councils, within six months from the passage of the Bill, the State Governments will constitute the State Allied and Healthcare Councils. Thus, this Bills is a landmark Bill to give justice to the allied and healthcare professionals. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: Through this Bill, the total medical system is now becoming patient-centric rather than being Doctor-centric. This Bill classifies 15 major professional categories including 53 professions in allied and healthcare streams. There is a need of statutory mechanism for enumeration, standardization and regularization of these professions as has been pointed out by a number of experts. It is also necessary that everybody who deals with patients has some recognition and set standards of education and competitiveness. I reiterate my demand for imparting training to nurses or attendants taking care of dementia and Alzheimer patients. In the nursing sector also that part is severely limited. The hon. Minister should take cognizance of it. Over the years many other practitioners have been established whose ability can be used to strengthen and expand access to quality based services in the rural and inaccessible areas. Many countries including Australia and the USA have a formal licensing or administrative authority approved to regulate and access these practitioners credentials and competence. Besides I want to flag a few important points. Granting only 12 slots to the State council members is disproportionate given the number of states in the country. As per the Bill every institution teaching professionals associated with healthcare will need to be accredited. This particularly creates a challenge when it comes to private institutions. In fact large scale accreditation opens up avenues of manipulation and corruption. This needs to be checked. Thirdly access should be the prime concern and finally physiotherapists have for long been demanding for an independent council which does not figure in the Bill. It simply makes no sense for one sub field of psychology viz clinical psychology to be regulated by one Ministry and the other sub fields to be regulated by another Ministry when both are the part of the same discipline. Hopefully we will have robust healthcare system somewhere down the line. DR. BEESETTI VENKATA SATYAVATHI: Amidst Covid pandemic healthcare workers emerged as corona warriors and have put in tremendous efforts to save our lives. They have managed to deliver with limited resources and infrastructure. I congratulate all of them on behalf of this House. There were many shortcomings in our healthcare systems which should now be analyzed and rectified so that the country is ready for any future medical emergency. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2021 is a step in the right direction. It is a path breaking initiative that has the potential to change the future of healthcare service delivery for the people of this country. The potential of these professionals can be utilized to reduce the cost of care and to make quality healthcare services accessible to all. The impact of the Bill would be a high-quality multi-disciplinary healthcare system on the lines of Ayushman Bharat Mission and moving away from a doctor-led model to a team-based model. It aims to strengthen the healthcare system of the country. I would like to make a mention about the experience of our State, Andhra Pradesh. The State has chalked out a plan with an outlay of Rs. 16,200 crore. By reviewing the Nadu Nedu Scheme which envisages revamping of Government hospitals and setting up of additional medical colleges, the State is now planning to have a village health clinic in every village so that during crisis like COVID-19, medical aid can be provided without any delay. Besides 15 more new medical and nursing colleges along with multi-specialty institutions have been proposed. Our party believes that it is our duty to provide for affordable treatment. Right to Health is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India. Therefore I support the Bill. DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN: In the Indian scenario only Doctors, nurses and frontline workers have been defined as health work force where as more than 50 categories of health workers are of such kind that remain under utilized and are unregulated in the health system. These categories basically includes Physiotherapy, Ophthalmic Science, Nutrition Science Laboratory and Life science, Trauma, Burn care, Surgical Anesthesia related technology and health informatics. There has been a demand for many decades to bring all these within some regulatory framework and this Bill is a significant initiative in this regard. Through this Bill we are going to recognize paramedical professionals and technologist as well as therapists as allied and healthcare professionals. There was an urgent need to make the healthcare delivery system patient centric as well as multi disciplinary. This Bill achieves these objectives. There is a huge shortfall of medical professionals and paramedical staffs in the country which needs to be increased. Alongside, I would urge upon the government to start the construction of a medical college in Gopalganj district. I would like to place on record that India has scored 61 rank in the Sustainable Development Goals 2019 and is poised to score 100 in the index by the year 2030. The passage of this Bill will help regulate and develop more than 50 allied and healthcare professions enabling us to achieve the target of good health and well being for all. With these words I support the Bill. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: It is a momentous day for all allied and healthcare workers who for so many years have been working as silent work force. To date, this sector was unregulated and henceforth this will be under regulation. I must appreciate that out of 110 recommendations made by the Standing Committee as many as 102 recommendations form part of the Bill. After the implementation of this Bill, there will be a paradigm shift moving specific tasks to specialized allied and healthcare professionals for better recognition of health workforce and improved healthcare. To my mind the government needs to enhance budgetary allocation for health care in order to bring about significant improvement in this sector. The fact remains that we lag far behind he when low income countries in terms of spending on health. As per WHO norm there should be one doctor for one thousand people but in India the ratio is 1:1,404. Not just that, 52 per cent of them are practicing in just five states. Obviously, there is a regional imbalance in terms of the availability of doctors which needs to be changed. I would like to submit that allied and health care persons can be used for employment generation for the youth of the country. 10 years down the line we can create jobs for health professionals which would mostly benefit the women folk as the women residing in the rural areas are likely to be equipped with employment in this sector. The government had a target to set up one and a half lakh health and wellness centre by the year 2022. But the real picture is that as of now merely 50,000 centres have become operational. I fail to see as to how the remaining one lakh health and wellness centres would be set up within such a limited period. SHRI RITESH PANDEY: I welcome the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare professions Bill. The onslaught of Covid pandemic has prompted the wisdom to dawn upon us that paramedics and the allied health workers‟ role is no less important when it comes to taking care of health profile of the patients. In my parliamentary constituency paramedical colleges are mushrooming like anything and I hope this Bill will act as a deterrent to their self styled functioning. The courses being offered by the institutions need to be affectively controlled and the maintenance of national register must invariably follow the Minimum Wages Act. Of course, this Bill shall go a long away in providing due recognition to the paramedics and the healthcare professionals. However, I must highlight the fact that there is no mention of internship in the Bill which needs to be looked at. I support the Bill. SHRI B.B. PATIL: I express my deep gratitude towards the healthcare professionals of the country. When the pandemic surrounded us from all sides, the healthcare workers emerged as the „Corona Warriors‟ and had put in tremendous effort to save our lives. There were many shortcomings in our healthcare system. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020 is a step in the right direction. This Bill with the objective of regulating and standardizing the education and practice of allied and healthcare professionals is an important legislation which needs to be discussed elaborately. I would also like to request the Union Government to sanction medical colleges in Telangana. I request the hon. Minister to establish a Vaccine Testing and Certification Laboratory in Hyderabad. With these few words, I support the Bill. SHRI MOHAMMED FAIZAL P.P. : We all know about the service rendered by the allied and healthcare workers during the pandemic period. During this pandemic period, there was a lot of mental pressure, tension, and anxiety among the people. Psychology is an area where we need to have special emphasis as far as present condition is concerned. In my constituency, we do not have any medical college. I have been talking about giving us MBBS seats. Lakshadweep is deprived of a medical college, but we had a comprehensive insurance coverage earlier. We depend on Kerala and Mangaluru for most of our medical support. There is a need for little more support from the Central Government for comprehensive insurance coverage. With this, I am in support of this Bill. DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: We all have understood the importance of allied healthcare professionals during the time of Corona. The Departmentally Related Standing Committee had recommended 110 recommendations out of which 102 have been accepted. This Bill is required due to lack of a regulatory body which is now being fulfilled. 56 professions including 10 major professional categories have been included in this Bill. This Bill will strengthen our healthcare system in the coming days. Our moto is not only to get the medical or paramedical students passed out, rather according recognition to their practice is the need of the hour. SHRIMATI ANUPRIYA PATEL: In India a large number of allied and healthcare professionals have been going unidentified, unregulated, and also, under-utilized for years. The reason behind the same is that we have only focused on strengthening the capabilities of few limited categories. We have seen their tremendous significance during the COVID pandemic times also. They very much constitute an important element of our healthcare system. By means of this Bill this Government is trying to create a National Commission for the allied and healthcare Professionals. This National Commission would broadly frame the guidelines and the policies. We must also understand that this Bill creates an opportunity to address the global demand which is projected to be about 50 million by the year 2030. I would like to know from the hon. Minister that this Bill should not just be a good piece of legislation. It should not be just good on paper but should be good in effect as well. DR. MANOJ RAJORIA: The manner in which our Prime Minister has controlled the situations in the country during pandemic, we should be thankful for that. Today, the resolution to open medical college in every district of the country is being fulfilled. More than 550 medical colleges have been opened in the country. I hope that not even a single district will be left in the next 2-3 years where a medical college will not be there. Hon. Prime Minister has felt the stress of the poor people and introduced Ayushman Bharat and has declared an insurance of upto Rs.5. Crores of people of this country are getting advantage of this scheme today. Our country has not only manufactured vaccines for its own citizens but has been supplying Covid 19 vaccines to more than 150 countries also. Through this Bill, those 56 professions are being recognized which are very important in health sector. This Bill gives clear definition of allied health professions. This provides for State Councils too. SHRI HASNAIN MASOODI: This legislation covers a field that was, till date, left uncovered and gives respect, recognition and responsibility to key actors of health care system. Most of the people in rural India depend upon public healthcare system but most of the hospitals at primary and secondary levels are functioning without these allied and healthcare professionals. The Government should set up at least one such institution for these allied and healthcare professionals in every district. There should be a system to recruit them. Mere legislation will not do. Jammu and Kashmir has been a conflict zone due to which there are mental health issues. The Government should pay attention towards this also. An AIIMS was announced four years back but the Awantipura AIIMS is yet to be constructed. I would like to suggest that a college for allied and healthcare professionals should be set up in every district because this is the constitutional obligation of the government. SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA: More than 50 allied and healthcare professionals which were unregulated till now had a long standing demand to regulate them. Finally, this Bill gives them recognition. We are still lagging in health sector in the world. Government wants to set up a government medical college in every district. SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL: This Bill has been brought to regulate the education and standards of service of the healthcare professionals and this is a good Bill. India is in a pitiable condition in the field of health services. There is a need to strengthen rural healthcare system. According to WHO, the doctor to population ratio should be 1:1000 but we are far from achieving this. I demand from the government that persons with the qualification of the same field should be appointed registrar and chairman of different commissions and organizations in the health sector in the States. This Bill provides that violators of this law will be fined with Rs. 50,000. There should be a provision to register criminal cases. There is a need to provide for control on arbitrarily high charges by the private hospitals. I urge the hon. Minister to start a medical college and a nursing college in my Parliamentary Constituency at the earliest. A CGHS dispensary should also be sanctioned for Nagour. SHRI E. T. MOHAMMED BASHEER: Various committees and commissions have been stipulated in this Bill. Huge powers are being vested in the Commission. Of course, powers are good for the regulatory bodies provided they are used in a proper manner. A lot of inequalities are prevailing in health sector. We are talking about universal healthcare system but until and unless we strengthen our primary health centres, we will not be able to attain that goal. The introduction of NEET was a revolutionary decision taken by the Government. I once again congratulate you for that. There should not be any kind of exploitation or commercialization in the health sector. DR. HARSH VARDHAN replying said: I thank all the hon. Members who participated in this discussion. Being a doctor I have had opportunity to be connected with medical professionals at all levels. I have very closely seen the contribution of these allied healthcare workers. There is inherent dignity in this Bill for their contribution. During the Covid period, these professionals have made huge contribution at every level. This Bill is bound to bring about a huge change in the healthcare sector. I want to acknowledge the view of all the hon. Members. There are lakhs of such workers and this Bill will ensure registration of all these professionals. As regards the doctor-population ratio, there are around 10.65 lakh allopathic doctors and more than five lakh AYUSH doctors in the country which gives us a combined doctor to population ratio of around 1:854. We acknowledge lack of such professionals and, precisely to overcome this, we have brought the Bill. The Parliamentary Standing Committee had suggested to have a common regulatory body for more than 50 allied healthcare professionals. Tenure of the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson shall be two years. They can remain there for six years in three terms of two-year each, if re-nominated. There will be ten professional councils, representing each profession within that category. Each council will have a President and members ranging between 4 and 24. The President and one member of each professional council will also be a member of the National Commission. Our Government has made a paradigm shift from elected regulator to selected regulator, where regulators are to be selected by a high-level Search-cum-Selection Committee. The Bill also has provisions for holding Commission accountable. The Bill provides for equal treatment to all the professional categories. It is also provided that before decision pertaining to any profession is taken, that profession‟s representative will be heard by the National Commission. As regards the AIIMS in Jammu, I have already appointed even the Director of that AIIMS. Everything is in process. As regards more penal provisions in the Bill, our issue is not to only punish but to use it like a reform also. It is a great satisfying day for me. I would like to thank the hon. Prime Minister because he has been supporting the health sector right from the beginning. The Bill was passed. _____

THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) AMENDMENT BILL, 2021

THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI) moving the motion for consideration of the Bill, said: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights carried out an inspection of more than 7000 child care institutions in the entire country. I would like to inform the House that about 90 per cent of these institutions are run by the Non-Government Organizations. The inspection revealed serious lapses in the administration of these institutions. Of these institutions, 29 per cent were not even registered under the Juvenile Justice Act. There were some states which had earmarked less than 20 per cent resources for the girl child. Twenty six per cent institutions did not have any child welfare officer. A sizeable number of these institutions lack bathing area for the children, toilets, drinking water facility, separate bed for a child etc. One-fourth of the institutions asserted that child welfare committee never visited them for inspection. The amendment, which I am introducing today, on behalf of the Government of India, proposes to empower the District Administration led by the District Magistrate to provide safety and protection to the children. SHRIMATI PRENEET KAUR initiating said: We all support such a Bill, but, we must consider carefully the proposals before taking any decision. The proposed amendments put the entire onus of the child‟s welfare on the District Magistrates ignoring the fact that the DMs have already been overburdened. District Magistrates are the fulcrum of the district administration across India. This amendment has been introduced with the intent to further empower DMs to act more decisively in the case of juvenile justice and child protection. The Ministry should also consider providing them suitable assistance to ensure that this important issue of Juvenile justice does not get side-tracked in the rigmarole of day-to-day work. Grievance redressal and conflict resolution powers have also been taken away from the judiciary and given to the executive. This is against the principle of separation of powers and takes away the role of the judges who are specialized authorities when dealing with matters of the law. The categorization and distinction of 'serious crimes' under proposed amendment from the category of heinous crimes under the current law was necessary. This amendment is, therefore, a step in the right direction since it brings back focus on rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents instead of retribution. I think it is very welcome that the Ministry specified what the guidelines should be for selecting the Committee and they should be held responsible. We must carefully consider both the intended and the unintended consequences of any legislation we seek to enact and also whether the existing legislations achieve its desired outcomes better than the proposed amendments. I hope that we can serve and look after our children better. SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI: This particular Bill focuses on three major heads. First, definition of serious offences; second, adoption; third, functioning of child welfare committees. This is a highly meticulous work of the Ministry. They deserve all compliments for whatever hard work that the Minister and her entire team has put in. No one child care institution was found to be hundred per cent compliant with the JJ Act, 2015 provisions. Social audit is a great tool. Social audit is a great eye-opener. This is one reason, actually the Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister thought of correcting the things which were not correct on the ground, in the interest of the children of our country. The States and the UTs have sent a report to the Ministry. I am sure the Ministry must have asked for the Reports. The Committee had been set up by the Ministry in 2016. In fact, the revelations were so disturbing that the Women and Child Development Ministry had to shut down 539 Child Care Institutes. They were flouting the laws. There are three kinds of offences that the JJ Act talks of; petty offences, serious offences and heinous crime. Punishment does not correct the system. Serious offences are those offences for which the punishment, as prescribed by the IPC or any law in force, is maximum imprisonment between three and seven years. Secondly, the serious offences, as of now, are cognizable in nature. It means that a child can be arrested without a warrant. There was a need to change this definition. The definition of serious offences, as proposed today, has been to include crimes for which the punishment is maximum imprisonment for more than seven years, however, minimum imprisonment has not been specified. A child cannot be arrested now without a warrant. The Act lays down the procedure for adoption by parents, both in India and abroad. This situation on the ground was studied by the Government. Now the proposal is that the adoption order will be certified and issued by the District Magistrate and this District Magistrate will include the Additional District Magistrate. The third and very important thing is with regard to functioning of the Child Welfare committee. The District Magistrate is supposed to review the working of CWC on quarterly basis. There is a District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) . But this is all nebulous. Now, it has been proposed in the Bill that the CWCs shall submit a report on quarterly basis to the District Magistrate. It will also submit a report on quarterly basis to the State Government concerned and the District Collector about the deceased, restored, and run-away children. This is path-breaking. I come to the last proposed change. It is very important to have the right people as Members of the Child Welfare Committee. There are certain things which cannot be compromised. This is extremely important. The Bill considers the following qualities as disqualifying criteria. This was never there. Past record of human rights violation or child rights violation, the person will be thrown out. I request each one of my esteemed colleagues present here to wholeheartedly support the Bill which has been brought today. It is in the interest of our children. *SHRIMATI VANGA GEETHA VISWANATH: We should welcome amendments to this law. When we think about care and protection of our children, it is necessary to bring required amendments. When it comes to Juvenile Homes, children are being ill treated in these Juvenile Homes and it is not confined to any particular region, this is the situation throughout the country. I request Hon. Minister to provide psychologists, at either Anganwadi centres, clusters or at Mandal level. Only then, we can ensure physical and mental health of a child. Also, in schools especially in orphanages and hostels, there should be counseling every month for the children. In every district, District Magistrate should ensure at least one class in moral values and psychology every month in every hostel. We should reform Juveniles. We should focus on two steps. One is how to stop children from indulging in Criminal Acts. Second is, how to take them out of criminal past and groom as good citizens.

* Original in Telugu SHRI ARVIND SAWANT: Why do the children deviate from the right path, we need to go to the root cause of it. A child steals. Why does he steal? When a vehicle stops at traffic signal then children come and beg there or sell books or flowers. In the age when they should be playing, they are doing all such things. Where is the protection? First of all, they need this protection. If they are provided protection then they will not become delinquent. The Government has formed a committee for this which is a good step. Qualified people should be there in that committee and they should know psychology. When a child is caught then he needs a mother, he needs mother‟s love as he is hungry for love. Government has taken a good step by mandating District Magistrate and the State Government in this regard as it is more important. This should be given a human angle and not just the academic one. The day children will not beg on the streets and will not steal that day I will believe that our children are protected in true sense. SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD: I have worked as a social and political activist for a number of years for children‟s rights and their empowerment. Wherever we see children as child labour or begging, there is need to formulate effective measures to check them. Some norms have been fixed for the appointment of the CWC members. It is a very appreciable step because fixing of norms is very essential. District Magistrates and Additional Magistrates have been empowered in this Bill in order to ensure redressal of the children‟s cases expeditiously and increase the accountability. District Magistrates already remain burdened with so many responsibilities of their district that it will not be enough just to remain dependent on them. It is a very sensitive matter relating to the children and it needs some other alternative arrangements. It is a good thing that child welfare committees are being given more powers through this Bill. This Bill will prove very effective for the bright future of the children but for that we all should also be sensitive. I support this Bill. SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE: This is a very encouraging and reassuring Bill in the larger interest of the children of this nation. About rescue homes and shelters, I think, what the hon. Minister said is absolutely true, and I appreciate her for being so transparent and honest about the situation in India. More accountability and closer working with States is going to be very critical for the Government. I think the Child Welfare Committees need strengthening. Why not make adoption and child care as a top priority of the nation? It is a very very well-drafted Bill. The begging issue is very painful. We still see our children beg when we have right to education for them. It is really a shame and it reflects the reality. We have obviously failed our children somewhere that our children have to beg today. So, I think if some programmes like this can be added to the Mantralaya, we would like to work closer with the Women and Child Welfare Ministry. SHRI MALOOK NAGAR: There is a need to facilitate and expedite the process of adoption of children. There is also a need to bring uniformity and simplify the adoption law. The facility of psychiatrists and psychologists should also be provided for children living in juvenile homes. An environment to keep them stress-free should also be provided. SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY: In the proposed Bill, there must be provisions related to ensuring Fundamental Rights of children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. We need to protect those juveniles from all angles who are vulnerable and unprotected. There is a need to review serious offences committed by the juveniles through the Juvenile Justice Boards and these Boards should have more powers to deal with such cases. There is a need to set up more Child Welfare Committees in the States as well as in the districts so as to save time and solve the cases in a time-bound manner. SHRI HASNAIN MASOODI: The first thing is that through the Bill, you are concentrating all the powers in District Magistrate. They are already empowered, overworked and have enough responsibilities. That‟s why this step is rather retrograde. Child Welfare Committee is the key actor under the Act as regards the children in need of care and protection. However, the honorarium given to the Members of this Committee is very less. With this qualification, who will prefer to come and work as Member of the CWS? The person should be expert in child psychology, but what are you paying him? Now, the world-over alternate care is the theme, not the institutional care. So, your shift and your focus should be from institutional care to non-institutional care. My suggestion would be that you strengthen the District Child Protection Unit. SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL: We should make it mandatory that be it our Child Welfare Officer or D.M., whosoever is registered, should regularly monitor these children by visiting the houses of their relatives and should examine if their upbringing is proper. As per the study, the development of the child is maximum in the age group of 3 to 6 years. Our Aanganwadi workers take care of the children of this age group. You should provide them facilities, they should be regularized and instead of paying them honorarium, they should be paid salaries. The children residing in child welfare homes should be imparted skill training and education from the very beginning. The children living alone need counseling, they also need psychiatric help, they need doctors. It should be made mandatory that counselors, doctors and psychiatrists visit them. Our D.Ms are over-worked, it would be better that our MPs are involved in these committees in some way or the other. DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR: In the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, 2021, our government has brought about reforms to make this law more effective and timely. The Indian Constitution also provides for fundamental rights for children such as right to education, right to food, right to freedom from child labour and exploitation, right to develop in a healthy manner, right to facilities. Sub-section 1of section 56 of the Juvenile Justice Act, provides that adoption law will be taken to ensure the rights of the families of orphaned or abandoned children and it is provided in this Bill. India is a signatory to the UNO's Convention on The Rights of the Child. The Juvenile Justice Act 2015 is divided into the most important two types of children categories. The first type of children who need care and protection. There are other types of children who are guilty of violating the law. The Government has the responsibility to create a system in which all the interests of children can be protected. The process of adoption has been made much easier and much more effective in this Amendment Bill. The government has made a provision to give all powers to the district magistrate as well as the additional district magistrate. The adoption process will now be very effective. The district magistrate makes enquiry into the family who is coming for adoption, thinking and status of the family. The family will be able to take up this responsibility properly or not. Only then the adoption process will be done. This will enable orphan children to get a new life, a new family and a new home. Today, about 8, 677children are available for adoption in India. The adoption and adoption process has been simplified to remove this dependency due to complex legal process. The most important aspect of this amendment bill is that the Juvenile Justice Act could take cognizance of three types of offences, firstly, minor offences, secondly, gross offences and thirdly, heinous crimes. We have to connect the conscious and wakeful citizens with orphan ashrams only then educated and sacramented children shall be prepared and the will contribute to different sections of the society. The children in the children's homes, who belong to remote states, should be properly identified and sent to their state. SHRI ANUBHAV MOHANTY: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 intends to empower District Magistrates and Additional District Magistrates to authorize orders of adoption, proposes that appeals on the orders of adoption may be referred to the Divisional Commissioner, and to strengthen Child Welfare Committees by incorporating provisions relating to educational qualification for the members and for stipulating eligibility conditions for selection of the committee. The Bill makes the District Magistrate the grievance redressal authority for the Child Welfare Committees. No legal case filed against any person, him or her, who will be involved in this committee. Now, the Act also permits a juvenile between 16 and 18 years to be tried as an adult for serious offences. The convention of Rights of child mandates that life sentence should not be given to those below 18 years of age. Therefore, there is no need to subject juveniles to adult judicial system as it also goes against Articles 14 and 15. Another blatant violation of the principle of natural justice is found in section 15 of the Act. This section presumes the child to be guilty from the beginning regardless of whether he or she actually committed the crime or not. Right to Child Welfare should not be given to J.J. Board. Parental alienation is a child protection issue under section 75 of the JJ Act. Shared parenting must be honored. SHRI E.T. MOHAMMAD BASHEER: Sir, thank you very much for allowing me to make my observations on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021. In this amendment Bill, you have added additional criteria for the appointment of CWC members. In the parent Act, there was no provision for appeal on the order made by the Child Welfare Committee finding that a person is not a child in need for care and protection. This Bill removes this provision and paves way for ensuring justice. Till now, district courts were empowered to give adoption. Now, this Act takes away the power from the district courts in the matter of adoption and entrusts it with the District Magistrate. Similarly, in this Bill, clauses 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 are taking away the powers of the district courts and empowering the District Magistrate regarding similar issues. Those clauses may be deleted. SHREE HANUMAN BENIWAL: Juvenile Justice (Child Care and Protection) amendment bill, 2021 mandates equal rights for the children vis-a- vis directs for taking appropriate measures for protection of the children. This bill further empowers the District Magistrate and Additional District Magistrate, along with it shall streamline the process of childcare protection. Whether the child welfare committee can direct the police or not, as earlier it could do that. Through this bill, the objective of completing the adoption process at the district level itself is mentioned. Subsection (i) of Section 56 of the Act provides that as per the Act and clauses of the rules and regulations under it, measure of adoption with a view to ensure the rights of family of the orphan, destitute children etc. Section 63 of the above Act provides that the adoption order passed by the court in the matter of adoption is considered final, but it takes longer time to dispose of such cases in the court.The minister mentioned about Child Care Institute. The government and non government agencies arrange for the budget from government and other modes for the child protection, but don't spend it rightly. The cases of missing children and the negligence practiced in tracing them after lodging the case is worrisome. The rising cases of child trafficking are also worrisome. My suggestion is that the House needs to seriously consider to stop the child beggary. I would like to attract the attention of the House towards a quote of the judgement of January 2021 of Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. Any incident will be considered to be in the category of sexual offence only if there is skin to skin contact. Court said that in such incidents mere forceful touch shall not be considered a sexual offence. PROF. RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI: According to UNICEF data, more than three crores children in this country are deprived of many facilities due to crime and are living apart from their homes and they are abandoned and are orphaned and living in different places for various reasons. A total of four lakh fifty thousand children are living in the Children Protection Home of the country and most of the children are wandering here and there around the streets. More than six crore children have been found involved in child labour. The founding fathers of our country have given the Right to Equality to children. In this connection, we are associated with many international institutions in the world, like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, the Hague Convention. Under the National Children Policy, programmes like 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', 'Fit India' and 'Khelo India' have been implemented for all round development of children. Crores of children have been covered under the concept of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'. Under the new Juvenile Justice Act, penalties have been categorized on the basis of the nature of offences committed which were pending for the last several years.The Adoption of children is an important part of the Juvenile Justice Act. Around three crore and fifty lakh people in the country are facing infertility problems. The adoption process of children should be institutionalized and simplified. The District Magistrate and Additional District Magistrate may be empowered to decide on adoption issues of children. There are two kinds of children living in the Children Protection Home. Under the first category, children related to crime are covered under the Juvenile Justice Act and under the second category, there are abandoned and missing children. There are similar arrangements for both categories of children. Those children can not go out and they are not allowed to play. Children are compelled to live more than the capacity in such Children Protection Homes. SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA: The Amendment Bill provides punishment for committing heinous crimes by children between 16 and 18 years of age. It is a laudable step. The new Amendment Bill provides equal punishment for this age group which is given to an adult offender on committing an offence. In this era of internet, social media, Facebook, Instagram, today's children have matured before time. The Constitution of India ensures the rights of adolescent girls under article 15, 21, 21A, 23, 24, 39E, 39F. The government should provide all possible care and support to adolescent girls. A concrete Act, healthy environment and process of easy and speedy adoption should be ensured for adolescent girls. In case of adoption of adolescent girls, the District Magistrate level officer should be allowed to take a decision so that they can be rehabilitated properly. The members of the Child welfare Committee should be experts in the special field so that the interest of adolescent girls is paramount while taking decisions. I urge upon the hon. minister to give Right to Education to the children begging on the signal. SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI: I express my sincere gratitude to the Hon'ble Prime Minister and the respected Minister for bringing this Amendment Bill. This Bill has been brought to make three amendments. It has tried to put an end to complex process of adoption. Today, children of the age group of 16to 18years commit heinous crimes. Everyone is shaken by the kind of heinous crimes taking place. The provision for punishing children of the age of 16 to 18 years is a very good decision. Psychologist should visit the juvenile homes time to time as it is very important to know what is going on in the minds of juveniles. If the child labourers are kept in juvenile homes, we should consider skill development training to them. So, they can earn their livelihood. SHRIMATI SANGEETA AZAD: I would like to know from the minister the provisions in the bills for the children who aresuffering with mental illness and commits such heinous crimes. Child Development Protection Officers (CDPO) are appointed for the protection of the rights of children and women. In such circumstances, the appointment of District Magistrate as the nodal officer of the concerned district will not be a correct move. It would be more relevant to increase the responsibilities of the CDPOs. The process of adoption should be made easy further, so that the whole process can be completed within two months. The steps should be taken to improve the quality of catering and maintenance in children homes. DR. SANGHAMITRA MAURYA: The Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill, 2021 is intended to amend process of adoption of children in the Juvenile Justice Amendment Act, 2015. It serves as a safety net for vulnerable children in institutional and non-institutional institutions. It clarifies a favourable approach for disposal of cases in the best interests of children. In this Bill, 'District Court' is being replaced by 'District Magistrate', which is commendable. SHRI SANGAM LAL GUPTA: The new provision made in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 to give the powers to the District Magistrate by the Center and States to ensure the protection of children in every district in a better way, is definitely a practical provision because the complicated legal adoption process was creating difficulties in providing justice to the children in a timely manner. Now, these cases will be heard by the Additional District Magistrate and District Magistrate, so we will surely be able to provide cheap, accessible and speedy justice to the children. In this Bill, proposals to make an appeal regarding adoption order to the Appellate Commissioner, and to make the Child Welfare Committees more effective are certainly commendable. DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act has been in existence since 2015. This Bill is empowering the District Magistrates including the Additional District Magistrates to coordinate and implement the function of all the agencies involved with the Juvenile Justice Act who will be able to authorize order of adoption which will greatly reduce the duration of the adoption process and streaming it and strengthen the Child Welfare Committee. It will help in categorizing the offences in relation to the quantum of sentences of imprisonment in case of serious offences and help in removing the difficulties faced in the interpretation of the Juvenile Justice Act. SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA: In the context of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, I would like to say that child labour should be well defined. Today 80 percent of the people in villages are engaged in agriculture, small businesses, animal husbandry etc. and our young boys and girls are also engaged in these activities. We are talking about „Aatma Nirbhar Bharat‟ and I think that we should not dissociate our children from these traditional domestic works, but at the same time we should also focus on their proper development and education. We should define child labour taking into account all these things. I would also like to say that we should be cautious towards organizations engaged in the field of Child Care Homes. We should prescribe strict rules for these organizations. Several people start a number of projects in the name of social service. But our children are exploited in these projects, which is very serious. We have to change our mindset towards girls. KUNWAR DANISH ALI: I rise to speak in support of the Bill. Through You I would like to say that the laws, particularly related to children, are not being implemented properly. When this Government came, it talked about giving two crore jobs and if that would have been done, the number of children of unemployed persons, who beg on the streets, would have come down. My point is that more attention should be given to its implementation. DR. SATYA PAL SINGH: This Bill takes care of all the aspects as how our children can become good human beings and how we can ensure that they do not become criminals, and how we can groom them properly because ,they are assets for us. The sensitivity and the clarity with which the Hon'ble Minister has set the preamble of this bill, I welcome and heartily congratulate him for this. When the First Education policy was formulated, Professor D. S. Kothari had written something about it and I quote “Gravity of the intellectuals of India is inclined towards west”. It is not for our country. In 2020, when Hon‟ble Prime Minister of India brought the New Education Policy, it was mentioned therein for the first time that until our Indian culture, which we call the Indian Knowledge System, is not given a place in our curriculum, our children cannot develop properly. For this, we will have to inculcate good values in them and these are not just inherited by opening a school, or building a Children's Homes or building a Reform Homes. We have to put much more efforts in this regard. Some of these Homes are working decently but most of them are indulging either in money making or religios conversion activities. Their accountability need to be fixed. If no improvement is seen in the children kept in some of those Reform Homes, their amount of grant that is around Rs. 50 lakh should be curtailed. The parents should also be made accountable for the wrong behavior of their children, because the parents who adopt the good values, follow the good path, their children will never be distracted. We really need such type of education today. If you want to groom your children well and don‟t want to make them criminals, then you should read Satyartha Prakash, the Samullas-2 and the Samullas-3 t. The parents should provide yoga training to their children. I would definitely like to make a request regarding age. Some European countries such as Canada, U.K. and America have reduced the Juvenile age, but in our country it is 16 years and it needs to be re-looked in to. SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI replying said: “This House was witness to consensus politically on a piece of legislation that seeks to better protect our children today. So far as the budgetary allocation for the protection of children is concerned, I would like to inform that it was Rs. 60 crore in the year 2009-10, Rs. 270 crore in 2011-12, Rs. 300 crore in 2013-14 entire for the country and in Modi Government, it has been increased to Rs.1500 crore in 2020-21. It is said that DMs are overloaded, and hence, protection of children cannot become the priority of any DM. At present, it is the responsibility of District Magistrates to review the functioning of the Child Welfare Committees. Hence, it is not that the work of the Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board will be stopped and the whole work load is going to shoulder to the DM. A Child Welfare Committee has to clear the process of adoption of up to 2 years child. The stipulated time for completion of this work is 60 days whereas this process takes around 150 days currently. If the clearance and paper work of the child above 2 years is required, the Child Welfare Committee has 120 days for clearance but they take 265 days for this. The Child Welfare Committee has 60 days stipulated time for the completion of paper work in regard to the children who are surrendered in the system, but it takes 130 days for the same presently. If it is included once in the prioritization list of the DMs that they are now hereby legally ordained to not only review but to ensure implementation, then it will certainly help in completing the task within stipulated time. The NCPCR, The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights as well as concerned State Commissions are discussing over the collaboration among various institutions in the capital of the country. The cell namely SAMVAAD has been set up in NIMHANS. In the last 6 months NIMHANS has worked in collaboration with the Government of India in terms of mental health in 28 states across the country. So far as the providing of mental health support to Aaganwadi level is concerned, we will ensure that we work in collaboration with NIMHANS and all Aaganwadis. We not only held special meetings not only with the DMs of Aspirational Districts, but also invited DMs of those districts where crime rate against women and children are very high. The Officers from Bureau of Police Research Development, NALSA and NIMHANS were present in that discussion. We have also commenced working on how to sensitize the police of Bureau of Police force of Research and Development and to train the police keeping in view the crimes against children as well as women crimes. If you want to work in a childcare institution, your background will be checked and if you have been found guilty of child abuse or violation of Human Rights in the past, you will not be allowed to work. The government has already notified it under POCSO rules. It is compulsory to check the background of people working in educational institutions. The Ministry of Home affairs has prepared a data base of sex offenders. Track-the-child portal is also available to indicate the number of missing children but all child welfare committees and JJ boards do not register children on such a portal. For the first time we are making it compulsory, through section 32(2) to provide information in a specified centralized portal if any child from a district is found to be in distress, abandoned, or a victim of bonded labour. Regarding the programs related to children in the media, I would like to say that NCPCR members are in the I&B committee and they have given a guideline to I&B itself. BCC is a group of industry, in which NCPCR and NCW are members. Even the government has also passed a strict law regarding POCSO and child pornography. The Ministry of Home affairs has provided the information that after passage of that Act around 160 people have been arrested for child pornography and charge sheeted in 119 cases in the country. As far as the adoption of fostering is concerned, coordination among district sponsorship of foster-care-approval committees and childcare institutions is very much required. The legislation which we are going to pass today, will bestow all powers to establish linkage in the hands of the district magistrate. The guidelines on foster care have been provided under section 44. The CARA under section 68 is mandated to replace the regulation of adoptions. It has been said that the conditions were much better for children before abolition of section 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. But I would like to say that it is only after the abolition of Section 370 that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been able to coordinate with 14 Ministries for the protection of children. Beside after the abolition of Section 370, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has organized an orientation program for child welfare committees and District-Child- Protection-Units. The question has been raised that accountability should be fixed for the people who deprive the children from toilet and water facilities in Homes. This legislation is to ascertain accountability so that those who break the law will be taken to task by this legislation to the law. There is a concern regarding the role of the judiciary. In this regard, I would like to say that courts are available for any citizen in this country to go in appeal. I must also state that there is absolutely no change in processes when it comes to heinous crimes. We have given emphasis on implementation of law. We have closed down 436 non- registered child care institutions with the help of state governments so far. As on date, 7275 institutions have been registered. 1023 fast-track-courts have been established in the country under Nirbhaya fund under which 330 courts exclusively deal only with POCSO related cases to children. These have been established in 25 states. So far 40 thousand cases have been disposed of by such courts as on this month of January. The Bill was passed.

UTPAL KUMAR SINGH Secretary General

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