 bill no  lix  of  2008 the  homeless  orphan  and  street  children (rehabilitation  and  welfare)  bill,  2008 a billto provide for the rehabilitation and welfare measures to be undertaken by the central and state governments for the homeless orphan children who are referred to as street children who subsist on rag picking, begging, petty crimes, shoe polishing, working as porter or performing acrobatics at road crossings or public places by taking their custody and providing them due care, protection, education, vocational training and other means and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the homeless orphan and street children (rehabilitationand welfare) act, 2008short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force at once5definitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "child" means a boy or girl who is below the age of eighteen years; (c) "children home" means an institution or home either established or certified as such by the appropriate government for the purposes of this act;5(d) "orphan or street children" means children with unknown parentage, abandoned, vagabond and who collect waste papers, plastic items, glass and metal waste from garbage dumps, streets and other public places including neglected and destitute children who subsist on working as a porter, vendor, shoe shiner, beggar or petty criminal and who generally languish on pavements, hutments slums or railway platforms, bus stops and such other places and remain deprived and exploited(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act103 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, formulate a national policy for the rehabilitation and welfare of homeless orphan and street children so as to secure them all rights of childhood to enable them to enjoy their childhood and ultimately become responsible citizensnational policy for homeless orphan and street children15(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the national policy may include provisions for—(a) taking custody of every orphan and street child who is homeless and without guardians and his board and lodging and other facilities wherever necessary in children home;20(b) withdrawal of orphan and street children from their profession of rag picking,begging, petty crimes, shoe polishing, potter, performing acrobatics or any such profession as may be prescribed;25(c) free educational facilities, vocational training and facilities for developing character and abilities to become self dependent in life for the orphans and street children;(d) employment opportunities for orphan and street children after they grew up and complete their education or vocational training;30(e) providing yearly grants-in-aid to all the orphanages and non-governmental organisations who are working for the welfare of orphans or street children, as the case may be;(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 3 of this actappropriate government to implement the policy35establishment of homeless orphan and street children welfare fund5 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, establish a welfare fund for the purposes of this act with initial corpus of rupee two thousand crores, and thereafter shall contribute to the fund from time to time after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf along with the governments of the state in such ratio as may be prescribed40(2) there shall also be credited to the fund such other seems as may be received by way of donation, contribution, assistance or otherwise from individuals, body corporate, financial institutions, etc(3) the fund shall be utilised for the welfare of the homeless orphans and street children in such manner as may be prescribed456 (1) the appropriate government shall establish or cause to be established such number of children homes as it may deem fit and necessary for the purposes of this actestablishment of children homes(2)the children homes established under sub-section (1) shall provide free of cost board and lodging and such other facilities to the children covered under this act as may be prescribed7 the appropriate government shall—miscellaneous provisions(a) maintain a district wise register of all the homeless orphans and street children;5(b) open sufficient number of schools and colleges for imparting education freeof cost to the homeless orphan and street children and provide books, writing materials, clothes and uniforms and other relevant articles free of cost;10(c) provide healthcare facilities free of cost to every child covered under thisact;(d) take custody of every child who is homeless, orphan, vagabond destitute,rag picker, beggar or petty criminal or such children identified by such government in such manner as may be prescribed;15(e) send every child  taken into custody under this act to the children home or toa ngo certified by such government in such manner as may be prescribed;(f) provide vocational training and gainful employment wherever required; (g) take such other measures as may be necessary for the rehabilitation andwelfare of children covered under this act20 8 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by  parliament by lawin this behalf, provide adequate requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide requisite fundspenalty9 notwithstanding anything contained in the indian penal code or any other law for the time being in force, whoever,25(a) forces any child covered under this act to beg, commit petty crime, ragpickingor any act which is injurious to the health of  such child shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not  be less than four years but may extend to seven years and also with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees;30(b) sexually exploits any child covered under this act in any manner whatsoevershall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than ten years but may extend to life imprisonment and also  with fine which shall not be less than five lakh rupees but may extend to ten lakh rupees;(c) having already been convicted of an offence under this act  or of an abetmentof such offence is again convicted of any such  offence or abetment shall be punishable with life imprisonment and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees35act to have overriding effect10 the provisions 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 other law for the time being applicable for the children covered under this actact supplement other laws power to make rules4012  the central  government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act 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 up them 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 upbring their children with love and care and provide them best facilities but in our country, unfortunately, there are millions of orphans with known or unknown parentage, mostly homeless, abandoned, run away 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 stealing, pickpocketing and snatching for their survival they are exploited by anti-social elements and even by police such children become hardened criminals when they grow up the girl child in this category is generally sexually exploited and ultimately pushed into flesh trade it is a pity that these hapless street children work under pathetic and unhygienic conditions and fall prey of all kinds of dreaded diseases education is a dream for them and even two square meals are a luxury for them these children are thus most vulnerable to abuses, exploitation and depravityours is a welfare state and thus it is the 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 their  childhood by bringing them to the national mainstream by giving every opportunity and protection they deserve 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 governments have to establish children homes with all facilities for the street children the ngos too have to be encouraged for the uplift of orphans and street children if the orphans and street children are looked after well, it will not only uplift the conditions of the homeless orphan and street  children but it will also create a better society and strong nationhence  this billo t  lepcha financial memorandumclause 6 of the bill provides for the establishment of children homes clause 4 prescribes on appropriate govt the duty to implement  the national policy for rehabilitation and welfare of orphan and street children clause 8 makes it obligatory for the central government to provide adequate requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of the bill the bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is difficult to assess the exact quantum of money likely to be involved at this stage but it is estimated that a sum of rupees five thousand crores may involve as recurring expenditure per annuma non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees ten thousand crores may also involve memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 12 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character a billto provide for the rehabilitation and welfare measures to be undertaken by the central andstate governments for the homeless orphan children who are referred to as streetchildren who subsist on rag-picking, begging, petty crimes, shoe polishing,working as potters or performing acrobatics at road crossings or public placesby taking their custody and providing them due care, protection,education, vocational training and other means and for mattersconnected therewith and incidental thereto(shri ot lepcha, mp)