MINUTES OF THE 46thPROJECT APPROVAL BOARD (PAB) MEETING UNDER THE INTEGRATED CHILD PROTECTION SCHEME (ICPS) – ANDHRA PRADESH The forty-sixth meeting of the PAB for ICPS was held under the Chairpersonship of Secretary WCD, on 11th July, 2012 to consider the financial proposal for release of grants for 2012-13 to the State of Andhra Pradesh. List of participants is placed at Annex ‘A’. 2. The Chairperson invited Principal Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, to present the progress so far regarding putting Child Protection measures in place and their financial proposal under ICPS. 3. PAB was informed that Rs. 20.38crores had been released to the State Government for 2011-12, in November, 2011. However as per Statement of Expenditure, submitted by the State for 2011-12, Rs. 15.80 crores has remained unspent. PAB asked the State to confirm if the committed liabilities have been reflected in the SOE. Further, the SoE does not show any expenditure from State’s share of grants against some components. The State explained that the SOE submitted was not correct and did not properly reflect salaries or committed liabilities. Staff under the Scheme had joined only in the middle of last year and also funds for the year were not released to the State Child Protection Society (SCPS) until March, 2012, resulting in delayed spending. In addition there has been a spillover of funds released earlier. The State will submit a revised SOE as soon as possible so that this year’s grant can be released without delay. 4. Service Delivery Structures: PAB expressed concern that no expenditure has been shown against the Service Delivery Structures in 2011-12 even though the Staff is in place. The State reiterated that the SoE needs to be reworked as it does not correctly reflect the actual expenditure. Grant in Aid for Innovative project: The State has not provided any details of project under ‘Grant in Aid for Innovative Projects’ for which a sum of Rs. 20 lakhs has been solicited by them. Regarding this the PAB directed the State to submit all details so that the proposed project could be examined in the Ministry for release of grants. Sponsorship, Foster Care and After Care Fund: The State has sought these funds for each district. It was decided that grant may be provided to the State for Sponsorship and After Care only, as guidelines for both these components have been finalized. PAB also directed the State to implement the programme with strict adherence to the guidelines. 5. Statutory Structures: RegardingChild Welfare Committees (CWCs) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), PAB was informed thatthoughthesehave been set up in all 23 Districts in the State and Members have been trained, the State has not uploaded any information regarding the functioning of these structures on the Ministry’s website. Also, whereas CWCs are functioning well in terms of pendency of cases, pendency in JJBs continues to be high and the quality of training provided to these bodies is not good. The State was advised to organize a second round of training in coordination with NIPCCD’s Regional Centre in Bangalore and use modules developed by NIPCCD for the same. In addition PAB was also informed that though construction grant had been provided to the State for all JJBs and CWCs in (13 CWCs and JJBs in 2010-11 and 10 CWCs and JJBs in 2011-12), the State has requested for rent again for all JJBs and CWCs in 2012-13. The State was asked to clarify the position regarding this. It was informed that construction is still to be completed and thus rent would be required. The State informed that computers are in place in all Homes where CWCs and JJBs are conducting their sittings and data entry has begun in phases. 6. Institutional Care: The issue of registration of all Homes under Section 34 (3) of the JJ Act was discussed. The State informed that a Government Order had been issued according to which all homes licensed under the Women and Children Licensing Act, have been automatically considered to be registered under the JJ Act. However, the State will now undertake an exercise to ascertain if the provisions of the JJ Act are being adhered to by all these Homes. PAB advised the State to involve the District Collectors in identification of unregistered Child Care Institutions. The State’s proposal for institutional care was discussed including inter alia: Maintenance grants for 21 Homes run by the Juvenile Welfare Department (JWD) and 81 Homes run by the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) earlier funded under ICPS and 3 additional Children’s Homes under JWD. Upgradation of 23 Homes (1 Home in each district) and construction of buildings for 7 Homes, presently in rented premises, administered by WCD Upgradation of 10 Homes run by the JWD. The State informed that all these Homes are registered under the JJ Act. However, these Homes are being run by different departments and have varying standards of care. The State also shared that process to bring all Homes under the control of DWCD, or rationalize or enhance standards within them will be shortly initiated, as advised in the last PAB meeting. State was asked to expedite this exercise especially as many of the Homes are also underutilised. PAB was informed that upgradation grants were given for 6 of the Homes run by JWD in 2010-11. It was decided by PAB that upgradation grant would be provided for 10 Homes of JWD, as sought by the State, provided details of upgradation planned for each home and PWD estimates for the same are submitted to the Ministry, along with details of upgradation work already done in the six Homes for which grant was provided in 2010-11. The need for additional Boys Children’s Homes in Vijayawada, Ananthpur and Nizamabad was discussed. The state exaplained that the existing Homes in these locations are for girls only and, therefore, boys homes are essential. These Homes were approved, however, no construction grants would be sanctioned. Homes run by WCD: While approving the maintenance grant as proposed by the State for the 81 homes already being supported under ICPS, PAB asked the State to crosscheck the number of beneficiaries as there appear to be some discrepancies, and revert back with an updated occupancy position. PAB was informed that the State had been given grants for upgradation of 20 Homes under WCD, in 2010-11, however, after the PAB for 2011-12, they requested for re-appropriation of the entire funds for complete upgradation of only 9 (nine)of these Homes. PAB advised that re-appropriation at this stage is not possible. However, the State could solicit support for additional amount spent on upgradation of these 9 Homes by providing details of the same. In principle approval was accorded for upgradation grants sought by State for 23 Homes under WCD subject to submission of Home-wise details of work and PWD estimates. Regarding grant for construction of buildings for 7 Homes, the State was directed to provide details including completion report of construction grant given for 7 other Homes last year, PWD estimates for proposed construction this year and land availability. 7. Model Home: PAB was informed that the State has submitted a revised proposalwith an enhanced budgetfor a Model Home at Vishakhapatnam, which is proposed as a cluster, consisting of a Children’s Home for Boys, an Observation Home for Boys and a Special Home for Boys. However, the State has not submitted item wise details explaining the reasons for the enhanced budget. The State explained that the increase is consequential to changes in design as recommended by the Ministry’s team of experts, according to which, Observation/Special Homes have had to be separated from Children’s Home. The number of children proposed to be housed has also gone up to 200 from the 170 planned earlier. PAB directed that sanction of grants for construction may be limited to 25% above of the norms under ICPS. Any additional requirement may be met from the State’s own sources such as MP/MLA funds. While giving in principle approval for the cluster, PAB also directed the State to submit details as required. 8. Non - Institutional Care: PAB was informed that though there have been around 500 adoptions and reporting on adoption has improved over the past two years, however, of the 23 SAAs supported under ICPS in the State, four agencies are still not entering information on CARINGS. Also, the data being entered by the other adoption agencies is not real time data from the local level but is instead information collated at State level. PAB also drew the attention of the State to the need for constant updating of details of the profile of children, including those with special needs. It was informed that training on CARINGS and non-institutional care for the State has been scheduled in the first week of August by CARA and PAB directed the State to ensure that all stakeholders attend the training. PAB noted that the SoE submitted does not show any expenditure from last year’s recurring grant for the 23 SAAs. The issue is likely to be clarified in the revised SoE to be submitted by State Government. 9. Open Shelters: It was informed that of the 17 Open Shelters supported under ICPS, in the State last year, only ten Open Shelters are functional now. The State informed PAB that the selection process has been completed to identify organizations for establishment of 15 more Open Shelters as the intent is to have one such project in every district in the State.