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February 2015

Institute of Juvenile Justice (IJJ)

Amitabh Srivastava & Deepshikha Singh

PRAYAS JAC SOCIETY 59, Tughlakabad Institutional

Area,

New Delhi-110062

PH-011/29955505

Web: www.prayaschildren.org

Rights of Children

upheld

Parliamentary

Standing Committee

pats Prayas

A home away from

home for homeless

Dare to fulfill the

dreams of have-nots

Filling the gaps

between law and

implementation

(CIC)

SSB Training at

Indo- Nepal Border

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March 2015

Day Celebration US

Ambassador VISIT

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THE BEGINNING OF 2015 HAS BEEN VERY HECTIC FOR PRAYAS BUT ALSO VERY

SATISFYING.THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE ACHIEVEMENT FOR WHICH THE FAMILY OF

PRAYAS CAN BE PROUD AND IN SOME WE HAVE BEEN PATH-BREAKERS. BUT THAT’S

NOT NEW FOR US.

February 25 was a memorable day for Prayas and like-minded child rights organizations when after their representations and protests the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Human Resource Development rejected the government's proposal to reduce the age of juveniles involved in heinous cases such as rapes form 18 to 16 asserting that the move was "in conflict with law" and should be "reviewed". Giving its observation on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 that was introduced in parliament in August 2014, the Parliamentary Standing Committee said that children below 18 years are amenable and should be treated in the same manner and "differential treatment" for children above 16 years of age "should not arise". Prayas, which had contested this thought and even secured a Judgment from the Supreme Court to support its argument that reducing the age of Juveniles from 18 to 216 went against all canons of justice, made a strong presentation on January 2,2015 before the committee headed by J P Nadda and Satyanarayan Jatiya. The report over-ruled the perception that there was an increase in crimes committed by children aged 16-18 years in recent years by pointing out that the percentage in rise of crimes committed by children was not abnormal because during the corresponding period there had been a similar increase in crimes by adults. "The proposed legislation is meant for children alleged and found to be in conflict with law. And the definition of both the term 'child' and 'child in conflict with law' means a person who has not completed 18 years of age. Accordingly, the question of envisaging a differential treatment for children above 16 years of age should not arise. Such a move would lead to contravention of international law and also the stated purpose of the bill," the committee said. SHARING EXPERTISE WITH SSB

‘Prayas’ was once again invited by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for sensitization and

Training Programme for the SSB personal. The training was held at various locations of th e

Indo-Nepal Border where trafficking is most rampant. The object of this training

programme was to strengthen the functioning of SSB to combat human trafficking and

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dealing with the grass-root difficulties during the process of victim identification,

restoration and rehabilitation.

The SSB had invited Prayas to sensitize its

personnel on preventing Human trafficking

restoration, repatriation, soft skills and

Nepali and Bhutani Language and three day

programme from 4 to 6 February

2015.Prayas has an expertise in this filed as

a service delivery organization practicing in

the field to combat human trafficking and

different forms of violence against women &

children for over two decades and is

considered as a resource agency.

A team of experts from ‘Prayas’ including Deepshikha, Jitendra, Amardip and Suresh Kumar

provided the training at five locations (Check-Posts) Gorakhpur, Lakhimpur Khiri,

Peelibheet, Guwahati, Purnea and Muzaffarpur.

The high-power training was based on real stories, best field practices, laws related to

trafficking, soft skills like interpersonal communication, problem solving, decision making,

and Nepali Language.

PRAYAS STEPS IN WHERE OTHERS FEAR TO TREAD

Winters are hopefully over. Hopefully for

‘Prayas’ because it had been working

round- the- clock for the last three months

to ensure that there was no casualty

among the inmates of its shelter homes

(for the destitute and the poor) run by its

team of dedicated volunteers.

This problem is not as simple as it might

appear. As some of the gruesome pictures

reveal, getting these people inside the

Shelter Homes has been the toughest

challenge. There have been occasions

when the stench and the stink from the

clothes and bodies of the homeless found abandoned on the roads forced our team to put

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masks on their noses but they did not give up. Some of those being brought in were

reluctant to enter because they felt their so-called freedom- freedom to smoke, use alcohol,

drugs and roam around would get curtailed.

In a city that is known as heartless there

have been examples where rickshaw-pullers

who were roped in to transport them to the

shelter homes refused to charge a single

penny for their services. Even charity is

infectious if the intention is honest. That is

the lesson learnt by Prayas in its endeavour.

The story of the poor and marginalized in

Delhi, including the slum dwellers and the

most deprived among the city dwellers living

under the most difficult circumstances is

very depressing. Slums and unauthorized

colonies alone constitute 52% of Delhi’s

population.

The most deprived among them are the homeless, i.e. those without any dwellings

whatsoever, destitute, old and neglected children, handicapped, leprosy and TB patients,

street sex workers, rag- pickers, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, vendors or

porters- of all ages, communities, religious and regional denominations.

But the mission of our team was twofold. Not to allow even one homeless on the pavements

and to prevent any mortality. This was a very tough challenge in the severe winters, given

the fact that Prayas is currently running 29 night shelters with the collaboration of Delhi

Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), but

we did it.

ILO-PRAYAS JOIN HANDS TO TRAIN

DOMESTIC WORKERS

In January 2015, Prayas launched its training

programme simultaneously in Delhi and Ranchi

for the first batch of women domestic helps

from the marginalized slum community,

launched jointly by ‘Prayas’ in collaboration

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with the International Labour Organization

(ILO)to provide skills that could provide a

boost to their job prospects in this huge

unorganized sector in India.

Launching the project at the Jahangirpuri

Prayas Children’s Home, Amod Kanth, General

Secretary, ‘Prayas’ told the enthusiastic

gathering of the first batch of 50 trainees that

the kind of skills that will be imparted to them

in the coming three months would help them

earn better wages and a better life. He recalled

that ‘Prayas’ had started this project with the

help of ILO and Delhi Government under which about 150 poor women had improved their

lives by earning four times wages than before. This time it was being launched in a big way

with the help of ILO as pilot project and was likely to turn into a national project.

However he pointed out that the training was not just meant to get enhanced wages. It

concerned dignity of labour and the issues of forced migration of women, trafficking and

exploitation. “This training will help you in changing the environment of the house where

you go work. This will give your confidence a boost and your personality and self-

confidence will ensure that no one takes you for granted. You will decide your own destiny

after this” he exhorted.

Ms. Sheena Chatterjee, representative of the ILO who spent a long time at ‘Prayas’ going

around the entire complex, told the gathering, “Your life will change from today once you

have joined this course. The ILO works as a labour organization all over the world. Through

this special training and skilling we would like to change your life.”

CRISIS INTERVENTION CENTRE CONFERENCE DECEMBER 22, 2014

Prayas as an NGO is actively engaged in rescuing victims of trafficking and bringing their

life back on track through its rehabilitation and skill development programmes in the

country & providing support to victims of rape and sexual assault through its Crisis

Intervention Centre. In the aftermath of the Nirbhaya tragedy Prayas was actively involved

in the deliberations of both the Justice J. S. Verma Committee & Justice Usha Mehra

Committee. Since then major legal changes have been made in the law and administrative

changes in the system are also in the process.

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Hence on December 22, Prayas organized a programme to mark the day as ‘After 16/12,

THE ROAD AHEAD’ to honour the memory of Nirbhaya whose martyrdom brought about

radical; changes in the Indian legal system. The mother of Nirbhaya was also present on

this occasion. This programme was utilized to have an open discussion among the various

representatives of the Crisis Intervention Centres (CICs), representatives of the Delhi Police

and Delhi Commission for Women. Prayas was the first to set up Crisis Intervention Centres

in Delhi to deal with victims of sexual assault who need medical, psychological and legal

support to come out of their trauma.

Senior police officers who attended the conference were full of praise for the hard work put

in by the Counselors who ensured that every case of sexual assault was registered at the

Police Stations 24X7. Senior police officers who spoke on the occasion expressed their

concern that at least 60 per cent cases of rape that were being reported in the capital were

fake.

Representatives of other NGOs and counselors also complained that they came across

many cases where case of live-in relationships had been converted to rape cases and many

times cases of elopement were turned into sexual assault cases by the parents of the girl.