Parliament Question: Child Care Institutions

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3323 ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026 CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS

3323. SHRI K RADHAKRISHNAN:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) the number of registered Child Care Institutions functioning in the country, State-wise;

(b) whether the Government has conducted inspections of these institutions during the last three years, if so, the details of any violations detected therein;

(c) the details of the action taken against institutions found violating the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015; and

(d) the details of the measures being taken to strengthen monitoring and ensure the safety, rehabilitation and welfare of children residing in such institutions ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (d): The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal Ministry for the administration of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) which is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children and is implemented by all the States and Union Territories. The Act creates statutory structures at the State and District levels which include State Child Protection Society, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, District Child Protection Units. It also provides for establishment of Child Care Institutions (CCIs).

Under the JJ Act 2015, the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection including orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children. They are also mandated to monitor the functioning of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs). Similarly, the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) are empowered to take decisions regarding the welfare of children in conflict with law. The Act defines standards of care and protection to secure the best interest of children living in CCIs and aims to provide family environment through non-institutional care services which includes sponsorship, foster care and aftercare.

This Ministry is implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely ‘Mission Vatsalya’ through the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations on pre-defined cost sharing basis between the Centre and the State Governments to deliver various services forchildren in difficult circumstances, which include both institutional and non-institutional care services.

Under Section 54 of the JJ Act, 2015, the State Governments and UT Administrations appoint Inspection Committees to assess the basic facilities and infrastructure of the Institutions for maintaining their standards. Also, Sections 32 to 34 of JJ Act, 2015 mention the procedure for mandatory reporting including offence for non-reporting and penalty.

The JJ Act, 2015 and Rules made thereunder provide for inspection of Child Care Institutions by State Level Inspection Committee and District Level Inspection Committee. The District Level Inspection Committee is constituted by the District Magistrate with Additional District Magistrate as Chairperson. The District Level Inspection Committee inspects all CCIs in the district and submits the report of the findings to the District Magistrate or the State Government for improvement and development of CCIs in accordance with the provisions of the JJ Act, 2015 and Rules made thereunder. The District Magistrate being the focal point in the district for implementation of the Act, takes follow up action on the report of inspection committees and ensure that corrective measures are taken in a time bound manner.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has developed an integrated unified Mission Vatsalya Portal in consultation and coordination with States and UTs. The TrackChild portal for Missing/Found Children, and Khoya-Paya application for Missing/Sighted Children have been integrated with this unified Mission Vatsalya Portal. The TrackChild module of the Mission Vatsalya portal is implemented with support and involvement of various stakeholders namely Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments and UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. Standard operating procedure have been issued in this regard. Advisories have also been issued to all States and UTs including Director General of Police of all States & UTs and other stakeholders regarding implementation of the portal. It is also integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems (CCTNS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs which allows interoperability in terms of matching of FIRs of missing children with data base of Mission Vatsalya Portal to trace and match missing children by the State and UT police concerned. Further, through Khoya Paya module, any citizen can report about any missing or sighted child.

The number of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) funded under Mission Vatsalya Scheme State and UT-wise during FY 2025-26 is at Annexure. *****ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (d) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3323 FOR ANSWER ON 07.08.2026 BY SHRI K RADHAKRISHNAN REGARDING CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS STATE AND UT WISE CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS (CCIs) FUNDED UNDER MISSION VATSALYA DURING FY 2025-26 S. State Number of registered CCIs funded under No. Mission Vatsalya 1 Andhra Pradesh 98 2 Arunachal Pradesh 11 3 Assam 91 4 Bihar 99 5 Chhattisgarh 102 6 Goa 19 7 Gujarat 80 8 Haryana 31 9 Himachal Pradesh 55 10 Jammu and Kashmir 60 11 Jharkhand 46 12 Karnataka 156 13 Kerala 44 14 Madhya Pradesh 107 15 Maharashtra 107 16 Manipur 99 17 Meghalaya 58 18 Mizoram 67 19 Nagaland 62 20 Odisha 184 21 Punjab 42 22 Rajasthan 147 23 Sikkim 28 24 Tamil Nadu 31725 Telangana 67 26 Tripura 40 27 Uttar Pradesh 191 28 Uttarakhand 45 29 West Bengal 208 30 Andaman & Nicobar 14 31 Chandigarh 10 32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman 4 & Diu 33 Ladakh 9 34 Lakshadweep 0 35 Delhi 39 36 Puducherry 29 *****