The Supreme Court of India has issued directions while seeking a status report on the rehabilitation of children in street situations. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and all the state governments and the union territories have been directed to submit the status report within two weeks.

The top court had taken a suo moto cognisance on April 3, 2020. The court had issued detailed directions for state governments and other authorities to protect children in juvenile, foster, protection, or kinship homes across the country amid the coronavirus outbreak and had ordered them to protect the children. Later in June 2020, the court had sought a reply from the state governments to a questionnaire on measures taken in child protection homes during the pandemic. The court had initially asked the Child Welfare Committees to complete the inquiries on 26 August 2021.

The current hearing on Friday was based on an application filed by the Amicus Curiae, Mr. Gaurav Agrawal. He was seeking directions regarding children who had lost either a single parent or both during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also noted that there were substantially increased incidents of child trafficking reported during the pandemic. Mr. Agrawal had referred to a Standard Operating Procedure for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations. This SOP was prepared by NCPCR in 2020. The term ‘Child in need of care and protection’ has been defined in Section 2(14) of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Relying on the NCPCR SOP and the Juvenile Justice Act, the court issued the directions and has given two weeks for submission of the status reports.

The matter is next listed to be heard on 15 November 2021.