Child Welfare Committee
Also called: CWC · Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A Child Welfare Committee (CWC) is a body set up in every district under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. It has a chairperson and four members. It decides on the care, protection, treatment and rehabilitation (help to return to a normal life) of "children in need of care and protection". Examples of such children are orphans, abandoned children and child labourers.
Example
When police rescue a runaway child found begging at a railway station, they bring the child before the CWC. The committee then decides whether the child should go back to the family or stay in a children's home.
Don't confuse with
- Juvenile Justice Board: deals with children accused of offences ("in conflict with law"). The CWC deals with children who need care, not children who are accused.
Related concepts
- PCPNDT Act 1994
- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
- Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006
- Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015
- Juvenile Justice Board
- Central Adoption Resource Authority
- POCSO Act 2012
- Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act 2016