Mission Vatsalya scheme supports 2,450 child care institutes: Centre

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Centrally sponsored Mission Vatsalya scheme has supported 2,450 child care institutions (CCIs) during FY 2023-24 for providing institutional care services to children, said Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur, in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Under the Mission, 1,21,861 children were supported for non-institutional care, while 62,594 children were given institutional care. The CCIs provide age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, and counseling. The scheme was launched in 2021 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) to support children in need of care and protection (CNCP) and children in conflict with law (CCL)."The objective of Mission Vatsalya is to ensure that the best interests of children are always taken care of while designing the projects/ programmes," Thakur said, adding that it also aims to establish "essential services, emergency outreach services for children and include strengthening of institutional and non-institutional care services". The MoS said that there are 762 district child protection units, 781 child welfare committees, and 774 juvenile justice boards in the country.

Thakur said that 3,580 children were adopted in-country and 449 children were adopted inter-country during FY 2023-24. Further, Thakur also informed that more than 81.64 lakh women were assisted through the women's helpline till October 31. "Women helpline aims to provide 24x7x365 emergency and non-emergency response through telephonic short-code 181 to women, both in public and private spaces," the MoS said. The Women Helpline (WHL) scheme has been implemented since April 1, 2015. Meanwhile, over 10 lakh women are assisted by 802 One Stop Centres (OSC), Mission Shakti. The OSC, operational across the country, provides integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence and those in distress, both in private and public spaces. It also provides services like medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance, and psycho-social counseling to needy women. "Out of the approved 878 One Stop Centres (OSCs), 802 OSCs are operational across the country, and over 10.12 lakh women have been assisted till October 31," Thakur said.