 bill no  114 of  2014 the street children (rehabilitation and welfare) bill, 2014 by shri rakesh singh, mp a billto provide for the rehabilitation and welfare measures to be undertaken by the  union and the state governments for the street children who subsist on  rag picking, begging, shoe polishing, working as potters or performing         acrobatics at road crossings or public places and for their           rehabilitation by taking their custody and providing             them due care, protection, education, vocational                    training and for matters connected                          therewith or incidental                                  theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fifth  year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the street children (rehabilitation and welfare) act, 2014short title and extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(b) "child" means a boy or girl who is below the age of eighteen years; (c) "children home" means an institution or home established or certified as such by the appropriate government for the purposes of this act;(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and5(e) "street child" means a child who is an orphan or has been abandoned or is a vagabond and who subsists on income earned by collecting and selling of waste materials from garbage dumps or streets or other public places or begging or working as a potter or vendor or shoe polisher and who lives on pavement or in a hutment or slum or railway platform or bus stop or such other place103 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, formulate a national policy for the rehabilitation and welfare of street children so as to secure them all rights of childhood and make them responsible citizensnational policy for street children(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the national policy referred to in sub-section (1) may include:—15(a) taking custody of every street child and provide him boarding, lodgingand other facilities in children home;(b) taking of such measures, as may be necessary, to discourage streetchildren from returning to their earlier means of subsistence;20(c) provision of free educational facilities, vocational training and facilitiesfor developing moral values and other skills among street children to make them self-dependent;(d) provision of employment opportunities for street children after theycomplete their education and vocational training;25(e) provision of annual grants-in-aid to such orphanages and nongovernmental organizations as are working for the welfare of street children; and(f) such other measures as may be deemed necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act4 it shall be the duty of the appropriate government to implement the national policy formulated under section 3appropriate government t o implement the national policy30constitution of street children welfare fund5 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the street children welfare fund with an initial corpus of rupees two thousand crore to be provided by the central government by due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf35(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistance from individuals, organizations or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund(4) the fund shall be used for the welfare of the street children in such manner as may be prescribed406 (1) the appropriate government shall establish or cause to be established such number of children homes as it may deem necessary for the purposes of this actestablishment of children homes(2) the children homes established under sub-section (1) shall provide free boarding and lodging and such other facilities to the street children as may be prescribed7 the appropriate government shall—(a) maintain a district-wise register of all street children;welfare measures for the street children5(b) open sufficient number of schools and colleges for imparting education tothe street children and provide books, writing materials, clothes, uniforms and other relevant articles free of cost;(c) provide healthcare facilities free of cost to all street children; (d) take custody of every street child in such manner as may be prescribed;10(e) send every street child taken into custody under this act to a children homeor to a non-governmental organisation certified by the appropriate government in such manner as may be prescribed;(f) provide vocational training and gainful employment to street children; and (g) take such other measures as may be necessary for the rehabilitation andwelfare of street children158 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide adequate funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide adequate funds45 of 1860punishment9 notwithstanding anything contained in the indian penal code, 1860 or any otherlaw for the time being in force, whoever—20(a) forces any child covered under this act to beg, commit petty crime orrag picking or any act which is injurious to the health of such child shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than four years but may extend to seven years and also with which may extend to rupees five lakh;(b) sexually exploits any child covered under this act shall be punished withimprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but may extend to life imprisonment and also with fine which shall not be less than rupees five lakh but may extend to rupees ten lakh; and25(c) having already been convicted of an offence under this act or an abetmentof such offence is again convicted of any such offence or abetment shall be punished with life imprisonment and also with fine which may extend to rupees ten lakh30act to have overriding effect10 the provision of this act and rules made thereunder shall have effectnotwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force11 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw for the time being in force regulating any of the matters dealt with in this actact not in derogation of any other law power to make rules3512 (1) the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act40(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule45(3) every rule made by the state government under this act shall be laid, as soon asmay be after it is made, before the state legislature statement of objects and reasonsit has rightly been said that children are the future of any country because they grow as the citizens of that country it is, therefore, necessary to bring them up in a good atmosphere by providing them all the necessities of life, good education and a joyful childhood it is equally important to note that most of the parents try their  best to give their children good upbringing and provide them best facilities but in our country, unfortunately, there are millions of orphans, who are mostly homeless, abandoned, runaway, vagabond and destitute who are generally known as street children and can be seen in most of the urban areas loitering, collecting waste papers, plastic and metal scraps from the dumping pits and public places for their subsistence they can also be seen begging at the road crossings, near the religious places, markets, bus stops and railway stations many a times they indulge in petty crimes like stealings, pick-pocketing and snatching for their survival they are exploited by anti-social elements and even by the police such children become hardened criminals when they grow up the girl child in this category is often sexually exploited and ultimately pushed into flesh trade they fall prey to all kinds of dreaded diseases education is a day dream for them and even two square meals a day is luxury for them these children are thus most vulnerable to abuses, exploitation and depravityours is a welfare state and thus it is duty of the state to ensure that these hapless, homeless orphan and street children are protected against neglect, cruelty and exploitation and they must enjoy childhood by bringing them into the national mainstream by giving every opportunity and protection they deserve in order to fully develop their potentials they should be provided with good education, nutrition, healthcare and good atmosphere which will enable them to grow as responsible citizens the government have to establish children homes with all facilities for the street children the ngos too have to be encouraged for the upliftment of orphans and street children the provisions of the bill will go a long way in creating a better society and a strong nationhence this bill financial memorandumclause 5 of the bill provides for the constitution of a street children welfare fund with an initial corpus of rupees two thousand crore to be provided by the central government clause 6 provides for establishment of children homes for street children clause 7 provides for welfare measures to be undertaken by the appropriate government for the street children clause 8 provides that the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide adequate funds for carrying out the purposes of this act although, the expenditure relating to states shall be borne out of the consolidated funds of  the respective states, the central government shall bear the expenditure in providing assistance to the state governments for carrying out the purposes of the act and for implementing the provisions of the act in union territories the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india though, at this stage, it is difficult to assess the exact expenditure, it is estimated that a sum of rupees five thousand crore would be involved as recurring expenditure per annuma sum of rupees ten thousand crore would also be involved as a non-recurring expenditure memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 12 of the bill empowers the appropriate government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail onlythe delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character———— a billto provide for the rehabilitation and welfare measures to be undertaken by the union andthe state governments for the street children who subsist on rag picking, begging,shoe polishing, working as potters or performing acrobatics at road crossingsor public places and for their rehabilitation by taking their custody andproviding them due care, protection, education, vocational trainingand for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri rakesh singh, mp)gmgipmrnd—2391ls(s3)—05112014