On November 30, 2023, the Ministry of Women and Child Development notified the “Scheme for Care and Support to Victims under Section 4 & 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012”. The objective is to provide integrated support and assistance to minor pregnant girl child victims “under one roof” and facilitate immediate emergency and non-emergency access to services for long-term rehabilitation.
While ostensibly seeking to serve “every minor pregnant girl child victim”, the only definite categories are now those who continue, by choice or default, with their pregnancies and those who were not permitted by the court to undergo a medical termination of pregnancy (MTP).
The scheme remains silent on whether the benefits will continue to be provided if the victim of a reported case opts for an MTP or has a miscarriage. So also with a girl who may have attained 18 years subsequent to the case being reported and the pregnancy confirmed, or if her personal circumstances change in the course of time which may be up to 23 years of age and till when benefits of Mission Vatsalya (“a road map to achieve development and child protection priorities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals”) can be accorded. It would be disappointing if this scheme meant for a very vulnerable group discriminates and actually leaves them short-changed.
Victims under the POCSO Act, including those who are pregnant, do not automatically qualify as Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP). Benefits can be extended to them without categorising them as CNCP if the family or guardian is able to provide necessary care and protection. However, as indicated in the scheme, to avail its benefits, all pregnant girls will need to be considered as CNCP. This is contrary to Rule 4(4), POCSO Rules and Section 2(14), Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) and will entail in their unnecessary production before the CWC and the observance of all other attendant procedures under these legislations.
Finally, given the ignominiously high position India occupies in the ranking of child marriages and teenage pregnancies, the burden on the exchequer, proposed by the scheme, is going to be multifold. To avail the scheme, each child who fulfils the new criteria — every reported case booked under the POCSO Act, 2012 of a pregnant girl under 18 years — would be given an initial payment of ₹6,000 and a monthly payment of ₹4,000 as stipulated in Mission Vatsalya up to the age of 21 years with possible extension of up to 23 years.
It is imperative for the Ministry of Women and Child Development to rectify the scheme, bearing in mind the provisions of the various prevailing legislations, rules, guidelines and protocols with which it will integrate and intersect. Data which can substantiate many of the aspects put forth will further give it the backing of solid evidence.
