States to submit street children rehabilitation plan to Supreme Court by Nov 15

Following the Supreme Court's recent order asking states to submit a status report on the rehabilitation of street children in two weeks, apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has intensified its monitoring process of the issue, ET has learnt.

The court ordered this while hearing an application seeking directions in respect of children who are adversely affected due to Covid-19. It has specifically directed state governments/Union Trritories to file status reports of their implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations prepared by NCPCR in 2020.

The NCPCR in the last few months reached out to 51 tourist spots in the country asking them to identify and rescue street children as part of phase one of the rehabilitation process. At least 27 of the major tourist destinations in the country, including Somnath and Varanasi, have already responded with their action plans to rehabilitate street children that the body is looking into, NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanungo told ET.


"We are confident with the court's order now, more states will come up with their own plans," he said. Before Covid outbreak , the body had received a mapping of about two lakhs children in 10 cities of four states in India, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, whose rights to protection, education, health, water, sanitation, and urban development and welfare were not addressed so far.

The body had informed the Supreme Court that it had already received several complaints of government authorities illegally transferring details of children to private entities and NGOs.