Necessary to gather information on minor children who have lost one or both parents to COVID19: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that just like registration of deaths and births is necessary, it was necessary for Delhi government to gather information on the minor children who have lost one or both parents to COVID19. .Emhasizing on the importance of collection of data on such children for the purpose of grant of benefits and formulation of policy by State government, a Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh said,"Loss of one or both parents not only damages the child but also puts him in vulnerable position that could be manipulated to their disadvantage..".While maintaining that any such data has to be kept confidential, the Court directed the departments concerned of the Delhi government to call upon the RWAs, schools, Police station, revenue department and hospitals to provide information on the existence of such minor children. .Central government informed the Court that it has already written to the State governments to direct the hospitals to incorporate a column in their admission forms on the aspect of minor children and details of "trusted relative". .The Court directed the Delhi government to issue necessary directions in this regard and forward the information to the Child Welfare Committees for action..The Court noted that at present there was a lack of information on children who have been orphaned. .While as per DCPCR, there were 1,436 children who had lost one or both parents, Child Welfare Committees had information only with regard to 15 such children. .The Court was dealing with a plea moved by Bachpan Bachao Andolan highlighting the issues pertaining to children during the pandemic. .With respect to the status of schemes for children under the Juvenile Justice Act, the Court opined that it was "dismayed" that although the Act came into being in 2015 and the Delhi government had a department with the mandate to enforce it, "little progress" had been made on several aspects under the Act, such as foster care. ."..it appears that it was only after this court turned its focus, there has been some activity undertaken as if the department has now opened up to the reality..", the Court remarked. .Even as Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra assured that "steps would culminate into action" as per the timeline set out in the report given by the Delhi government, the Court ordered, "We bind GNCTD to the status report and each and every timeline is met. We fix tbe responsibility of compliance of JJ Act upon the Secretaries of Deptartments of Child Welfare and Social welfare. At this stage we are not getting into aspect of failure of GNCTD to implement the statutory schemes.. we wish to look forward and give another opportunity to GNCTD to cover the ground and make amends.".The Court clarified that in case of non-implementation, it would proceed to deal with failure of Delhi government to implement the Act and consequences shall follow for those responsible. .The Court further said that the Secretaries may take assistance from Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, counsel for Bachpan Bachao Andolan. .In its order, the Court also hoped and expected that IBHAS' mobile mental health units shall be made operational within 15 days as it would greatly aid in providing assistance to children with mental care needs at their doorsteps..Read the full account of hearing here: