Haryana, January 1 : Haryana Government has notified all Government Hospitals, Community Health Centres and Primary Health Centres for providing medical facilities and three Shelter Homes for providing shelters to the needy women under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act-2005 and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
While disclosing this today, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Mrs. Geeta Bhukkal said that as per provision of these Acts, the State Government had appointed 20 Protection-cum-Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (PPOs) at district level and a post of Consultant was sanctioned at State Headquarters for monitoring the implementation of the Acts.
Interviews for filling up of post of Consultant and three posts of PPOs had already been conducted. Twenty six Service Providers like Haryana State Social Welfare Board, District Red Cross Societies, District Child Welfare Councils had been selected for providing necessary assistance to the aggrieved persons in the state. Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, has been involved to provide their expert opinion in reference to curb the menace of domestic violence in the state. A sum of Rs. 61.79 lakh had already been spent upto December, 2011.
Mrs. Bhukkal said that the State had created a Juvenile Justice Fund for providing facilities to the juveniles under Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). Under the scheme, children in need of care and protection and juveniles in conflict with law were covered. The Centrally sponsored scheme had a provision of Rs. 15.44 crore including the State share of Rs. 1.44 crore in the year 2011-12. The programme has been rolled out through Haryana State Child Protection Society which has already been registered. At the district level the District Child Protection Society and District Child Protection Committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner for implementing the scheme.
A State Project Support Unit had been set up at the state headquarters. The children in need of care and protection were being provided institutional as well as non-institutional care under the scheme. For providing non institutional care, State Adoption Resource Agency was being set up under which the Specialized Adoption Agencies in each district would be set up. Whereas provision has been made for providing more institutional arrangements for children in need of care and protection the existing institutions were being strengthened and streamlined, she added.
The Minister said that the State Government had constructed new buildings of Observation Homes at Ambala and Hisar at a cost of Rs. 4.95 crore. The new building of State After Care Home at Sonepat was under construction. The State had also notified a State Advisory Committee under Juvenile Justice Act for implementing the provisions of the Act. The Juvenile Justice Boards had been constituted in all the districts except Palwal where the constitution of the Juvenile Justice Board was in the pipeline. Child Welfare Committees had been constituted in all the districts for attending to the needs of the children in need of care and protection.