DIMAPUR, Sept 25 � While juvenile crimes are very low in Nagaland compared to other parts of the region, the number of Observation Homes and Special Homes for Children in conflict with law or in contact with law have increased over the years.
Delivering the key-note address at the inaugural function of the two-day orientation training on management of Child Care Institution at Zonal Council Hall in Kohima, Secretary for Social Welfare T Kiheto Sema said except for child trafficking, Nagaland does not have other child crime problems.
He said earlier even though children were sent to jail, the government now does not want to send any children behind the bars but their cases would be dealt by Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
In this connection, he said the State presently has five Observation Homes and two Special Homes for children in conflict or in contact with law. Another three observation homes have already been approved while proposals for Zunheboto, Kiphire and Longleng districts have been put up with the Ministry this year.
Observation Homes and Special Homes will be opened in all the districts, he asserted adding that a Special Home will also be opened at Chozuba sub-division under Phek district on September 25.
Pointing out the importance of child care institution, Sema said any case relating to children below 18 years ought to be taken care by JJBs, CWCs, Law and Justice department, Social Welfare ICPS and administration.
He also urged the participants to know the legal procedure as to how the children should be treated and dealt in different circumstances while also encouraging the staff to know and prepare themselves to face any situation that may arise.
Assistant Director, National Institute of Public Cooperation & Child Development (NIPCCD), Guwahati Dr. Sanghamitra Barik dwelling on the objective of the training said it would not possible to provide quality care to children without training on juvenile justice victim, and encouraged the State government to impart more training to the counselors.
Maintaining that children in conflict with law or in contact with law have emotional and behavioral problems, she said it is the duty of the Observation Homes to ensure protection to such children.
She also stressed the importance of training the employees of Observation Home and Special Home to enable them to provide minimum standard health to the children as per the Juvenile Justice Board.
She expressed her appreciation to the department of Social Welfare for being the first State in the Northeastern region and India to sign the MoU for Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) implementation. She was also happy to note that Nagaland was the first State which has recruited all the officials of ICPS and has registered 100 per cent child care institutions under Social Welfare department.
Advocate GHC and president Nagaland Voluntary Consumer Organisation, Kezhokhoto Savi dwelt on the topic �child rights and various legislations for children and salient features of JJ Act 2000.
Society Director, SCPS Nagaland, Khehoto Sema chaired the programme.