Child-friendly Police Station: Key Facts

December 2, 2020

“Child-friendly” police station was recently established in Pune as per the guidelines provided by the National Commissioner for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). This police station will work towards character building among children and will also create perception that police are not enemies but friends of people. It aims to prevent juvenile crimes and ensure children reforms.

Key features

The child friendly police station will provide preventive approach at rehabilitating children in need.
It has a room designed for children who can come to the police station to report cases.
The main objective of the child friendly police station is to create an environment that will enable children to report cases and crimes without fear.
The initiative also aims to eliminate gratitude eyes against the police among the public.
It will help the children who have committed offences. This is because child friendly police station will ensure that the repeated offenders in the nearby communities are not engaged in criminal activities. On the other hand, these offenders will help the police in prevention of crime.
The Hope For Children Foundation is to train the police on child friendly mechanism.
Child friendly police station has been established complying the Juvenile justice act.

Juvenile Justice Act

Juvenile justice act makes it mandatory to set up Juvenile justice boards in every district.
Under the act the Central Adoption Resource Authority was granted the status of statutory body.
The act makes it mandatory for the Child Care Institutions run by Non-Governmental organisations or state governments to register under the act.

Juvenile Justice Board

It is a judiciary body to which the children accused of a crime are brought. It is a separate court for the juveniles. It comprises of a Judicial Magistrate and two social workers.

Child welfare committee

Under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice act, the state government should set up these committees at district level. The child welfare committee has the power to dispose cases for the protection, rehabilitation of the children.

Recent amendments to Juvenile justice act

The Act was recently amended to provide an organised system for adoption of an orphan or an abandoned child. According to the act, the minors in the age group between 15 and 18 years are to be treated as adults in the case of heinous crimes.