Parliament Question: Implementation of Mission Vatsalya

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *291 ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026 IMPLEMENTATION OF MISSION VATSALYA *291. SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA:

SHRI BABU SINGH KUSHWAHA:

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

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the budget allocated, the actual expenditure incurred and the achievements made under Mission Vatsalya during the year 2025-26 in the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for gap between allocation and actual utilisation;

(b) whether the children are facing difficulties in receiving time-bound assistance due to shortcomings in the basic facilities and safety standards of Chid Protection Homes as well as deficiencies in the Child Helpline (1098) services in rural areas, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether orphaned, destitute and victim children are not receiving timely financial, educational and other assistance under Mission Vatsalya and the PM CARES for children scheme due to complex administrative procedures and lack of departmental coordination, if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the details of special monitoring system developed for social inclusion and protection from trafficking of destitute children belonging to deprived, landless and illiterate families from remote areas? ANSWER MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTs (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.291 FOR ANSWER ON 07.08.2026 RAISED BY SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA AND SHRI BABU SINGH KUSHWAHA REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF MISSION VATSALYA

(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 (UTs). 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).

The primary responsibility for the implementation of the Act lies with the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations. At the National and State level, the JJ Act provides the National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights to monitor the implementation of the Act (Section 109).

Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely ‘Mission Vatsalya’ in all States and Union Territories on predefined cost sharing basis between the Central and the State Governments to deliver various services for the care, protection, rehabilitation and reintegration of children in difficult circumstances including orphan children. The scheme provides institutional care and non-institutional care. Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the Mission Vatsalya scheme provide, inter-alia, age- appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc.

Under Non-Institutional Care Service, support is provided through Sponsorship, Foster Care and After Care, including in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

Mission Vatsalya promotes family based non-institutional care of children in difficult circumstances based on the principle of institutionalization of children as a measure of last resort. Under non-institutional care, support is provided to the children through Sponsorship, Foster Care, Adoption and After Care. The scheme provides Rs.4000/- per month to children eligible for non-institutional care (Sponsorship/ Foster Care/ Aftercare). The Central Government formulated the PM CARES for Children Scheme to support children who lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian or adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic during the period 11.03.2020 upto 05.05.2023. The beneficiaries of the PM CARES for Children Scheme below the age of 18 years, who are staying with their relatives, also receive Rs.4000/- per month under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has developed an integrated unified Mission Vatsalya Portal in consultation and coordination with States and UTs for stakeholders at State and district levels for service delivery and real-time monitoring. 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 baseof 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 emergency response and outreach service under Mission Vatsalya is provided through Toll-free Child Helpline (#1098) which is a 24x7x365 service for children in difficult circumstances. Dedicated WCD Control Room (WCD-CR) is setup for Child Helpline in each States and UTs Administration and integrated with the Emergency Response Support System- 112 (ERSS-112) Helpline of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Women Helpline (181). The District Child Protection Unit working under the overall supervision of District Magistrate is the nodal agency for ensuring service delivery and care and protection of children in the district. The DCPU to implement all child protection legislations, schemes and work for achievement of child protection goals as laid out in the Mission Vatsalya scheme guidelines.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development undertakes periodic and systematic reviews of the budget allocation, actual expenditure incurred, and the physical as well as financial progress achieved under Mission Vatsalya through established institutional mechanisms, including the Project Approval Board (PAB) meetings, which are held with States and Union Territories to assess annual action plans, fund utilization, and implementation status. The State Governments and UTs Administrations ensure that allocated funds are optimally utilized and scheme objectives are effectively achieved.

Details of the State-wise funds released under Mission Vatsalya Scheme including Uttar Pradesh during the last year are placed at Annexure. *****ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTs (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.291 FOR ANSWER ON 07.08.2026 BY SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA AND SHRI BABU SINGH KUSHWAHA REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF MISSION VATSALYA DETAILS OF THE STATE-WISE FUNDS RELEASED UNDER MISSION VATSALYA SCHEME INCLUDING UTTAR PRADESH DURING THE LAST YEAR (Rs. in Crore) S. No. Name of the State FY 2025-26 Fund released 1 Andhra Pradesh 38.72 2 Arunachal Pradesh 7.74 3 Assam 29.61 4 Bihar 51.95 5 Chhattisgarh 28.79 6 Goa 3.07 7 Gujarat 2.49 8 Haryana 7.85 9 Himachal Pradesh 22.56 10 Jammu & Kashmir 33.79 11 Jharkhand 29.76 12 Karnataka 45.48 13 Kerala 13.80 14 Madhya Pradesh 61.82 15 Maharashtra 78.90 16 Manipur 34.36 17 Meghalaya 42.75 18 Mizoram 33.65 19 Nagaland 28.36 20 Orissa 51.92 21 Punjab 13.94 22 Rajasthan 30.43 23 Sikkim 8.51 24 Tamil Nadu 89.14 25 Telangana 27.26 26 Tripura 18.11 27 Uttar Pradesh 107.15 28 Uttarakhand 20.14 29 West Bengal 47.50 30 Andaman & Nicobar Island 3.60 31 Chandigarh 4.90 32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 2.89 33 Delhi 6.63 34 Lakshadweep 0.09 35 Ladakh 3.20 36 Puducherry 3.21 *****