- The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 directs that in no case a juvenile in conflict with law shall be placed in a police lockup or be lodged in a Jail.
- Children in conflict with the law under the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 and children living in government institutions are in need of care and protection. We work with institutions in collaboration with the state government and have managed to bring about a lot of changes in the lives of these children. Through Judicial intervention, children now get education facilities, health facilities, special food for malnourished children and also vocational training.
- While meeting with districts authorities regarding children in need of care and protection, Dr. Yogesh Dube, as the then Member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Government of India came to know that in district jails, children aged till 6 years live with their mothers. These children are living there according to the UP jail manual. Children living in Jails with mothers are also in need of care and protection.
- Apart from this a large number of children below 18 yrs who are under trail or convicted, live in the Juvenile cell of Jails. Under the Integrated Child protection scheme of the Central government there are observation homes in all the states where children below 18 years in conflict with law reside. The Juvenile cell in jails is meant for persons in the 18 – 21 age group.
- In women cells too children aged between 0-6 yrs live with their convicted / under trail mother’s. Some of these children attend school one km outside the jail premises. These small children are also in need of protection.
- A team comprising of members from QICAC (Quality Institutional Care and Alternative for Children) and CRY (Child Rights and You) New Delhi supported alliance and associated in an initiative by U.P based voluntary organizations working for the social emancipation of child labour and children in servitude, in Uttar Pradesh led Dr. Yogesh Dube, visited the Allahabad, Varanasi, and Agra Jails in Uttar Pradesh, to study the issues of Health, Education, Nutrition and psychological concerns and the rights, dignity and development of children living in the most difficult circumstances. The Report of the visit has been shared with the Uttar Pradesh State Government in 2016. The Team will also be visiting theSonbhadra, Kaushambi, Badaun, Lucknow, and Mathura Jails in Uttar Pradesh.
- Dr. Yogesh Dube decided to visit the jails in Maharashtra. Permission for the same has been sought and a team of dedicated personalities, comprising research scholars, counselors and representatives of health sector under the guidance of Dr. Yogesh Dube are in the process of visiting Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur – the Women district jails to study the status of the issues of Health, Education, Nutrition and psychological concerns.
- This study report shall be shared with the Maharashtra State government with suggestions and recommendations for improvements, once the study is completed.
- The Team along with Dr. Yogesh Dube also visited Tihar in Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jaipur, Moradabad, Dhanbad, Agra, Varanasi and many other District / Central Jails to find out if there were any juvenile kept in Jails due to wrong recording of age during the investigation. Among the under-trials as well as convicted inmates in these Jails numerous inmates claimed that they were below the age of 18 years on the date of offence for which they have been accused. However, only few of those inmates had documents to prove their claim, but a majority of them did not have any proof of age. This was found to be a gross violation of Juvenile Justice Act and Child Rights. Spot recommendations were provided to Jail officials.
- We also decided to take up the matter with NHRC so that direct investigation in all the Jails located in all the States be carried out to ensure that no juvenile languish in Jails and also ensure the safety of women and health, nutrition, education and welfare of their children who are permissible in Jails. Dr Yogesh Dube also visited Tihar Jail to review the status of juveniles in Jail.
- It was through the intervention of Dr. Yogesh Dube, that the NHRC took a Suo-Moto Cognizance of the matter and issued detailed notices to all the Chief Secretaries and Administrator of the States and Union Territories to report compliance pertaining to different provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007 and Rule 12 of the Rules 2007 and summons were also issued.