 bill no 107 of 2015 the  underprivileged,  orphan,  vagabond  and  other street children (prevention of abuse, rehabilitation and welfare) bill, 2015 byshri nishikant dubey, mp a billto provide for the prevention of abuse and exploitation of orphan, vagabond, runawayand other street children by  providing deterrent punishment for the violators and for rehabilitation and other welfare measures to be undertaken by the union and the state governments for such children who usually subsist on rag picking, begging, shoe polishing, working as potters, performing acrobatics or who are forced to indulge in crimes like stealing, pickpocketing, snatching, smuggling, prostitution and unnatural acts by taking their custody and providing them with shelter, care, protection, education,medical care, vocational training etc, and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the underprivileged, orphan, vagabond and other streetchildren (prevention of abuse, rehabilitation and welfare) act, 2015short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force with immediate effect52 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "child" means any person who is below the age of eighteen years; (c) "fund" means the underprivileged street children welfare fund constituted under section 6;(d) "home" means juvenile home established under this act ;5(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;10(f) "street children" include a child who is orphan or has been abandoned or hasrun away from home, or vagabond and who subsists on income earned by ragpicking or begging or working as a potter or vendor or shoe shiner or petty crimes like stealing, pick pocketing, snatching, smuggling drugs or liquor etc and who lives on a pavement or in a hutment or slum or railway platform or yard or bus stop or such other place153 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, but within one year of the commencement of this act, formulate a national policy for the rehabilitation and welfare of the underprivileged street children covered under this act so as to extend all rights of childhood to enable them to grow as responsible and respected citizens in the societynational policy for underprivileged street children(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the national policy referred to in sub-section (1) may include,—20(a) on the basis of the census data or otherwise conducting a survey of theunderprivileged street children in the country and taking their custody and provide them boarding, lodging and other requisite facilities in the homes;(b) provision of educational facilities including higher medical, engineering,information technology education, vocational training and facilities for developing moral values and other skills among the underprivileged street children to make them self reliant;25(c) undertaking such measures including counselling, as may be necessary todiscourage the children covered under this act from returning to their earlier means of subsistence;(d) nutrutious food, medical care, entertainment facilities etc in the homes;30(e) transport facilities between home and educational institutions, access tolibraries, access to games and sports facilities free of cost;(f) provision of employment through reservation or otherwise for the childrencovered under this act after they complete their education or vocational training, as the case may be;35(g) provision of annual grants-in-aid to orphanages and non-governmentalorganisations which are working for the underprivileged street children; and(h) such other provisions as may be deemed necessary and expedient for carryingout purposes of this act4 it shall be the duty of the appropriate government to implement the national policy for underprivileged street children formulated under section 3appropriate government to implement the national policy405 the appropriate government shall establish such number of juvenile homes as it may deem necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act6 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, for the purposes of this act, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the underprivileged street children welfare fund with an initial corpus of rupees twenty thousand crore to be establishment of juvenile homesconstitution of underprivileged street children welfare fundprovided by the central government by due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf(2) the fund shall also include,—(a) contributions made by the central government and governments of the states in such ratio as may be prescribed;5(b) moneys received by way of donation, contribution or assistance from individuals, firms, body corporates, financial institutions of both domestic and foreign ones and organisations etc10(3) the fund shall be utilised for the rehabilitation and welfare of the underpriviledged street children covered under this act in such manner as may be prescribed 7 the appropriate government shall,—measures to be taken by appropriate government(a) maintain a district-wise register of children covered under this act within its territorial jurisdiction with such particulars and in such manner as may be prescribed;15(b) open such number of schools and colleges as it may deem necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act including imparting education to the children covered under this act and providing books, writing materials, uniforms, and other relevant articles free of cost;(c) take custody of every child covered under this act in such manner as may be prescribed;20(d) send every child so taken custody of to a home or to a non-governmental organisation certified by the appropriate government in such manner as may be prescribed;(e) take such other measures as it may deem necessary and expedient for carrying out the purposes of this act25penalty8 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, whoever,—30(a) forces any child covered under this act to beg, commit petty crime like stealing, pickpocketing, snatching, smuggling etc or rag picking or any act which is injurious to the health of such child shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to ten years and also with a fine which may extend to five lakh rupees35(b) sexually exploits any child covered under this act or forces into prostitution or unnatural act shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to life imprisonment and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees(c) having already been convicted of an offence under this act or an abetment of 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 ten lakh rupees409 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by lawin this behalf, provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide funds act to have overriding effect10 the provisions of this act and rules made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force4511 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw for the time being in force dealing with any of the matters dealt with in this actact to supplement other lawspower to make rules12  (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act5(2) every rule made under this act 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 rule10 statement  of  objects  and  reasonsit is a common sight in mumbai, national capital delhi and other metropolitan cities and urban areas where early in the morning children of all ages, particularly adolescents can be seen carrying sacks on their backs and collecting waste paper, plastic, metal scrap etc from dumping pits and public places these rag pickers collect the waste throughout the day and sell it in the evening to kabadiwalla for their subsistence very often these hapless children are forced to do so by anti-social elements or mafias similarly, many of such underprivileged street children can be seen begging at road crossings, near religious places, markets, bus stops and other public places many a times, they are forced to indulge in petty crimes like stealing, pick pocketing, snatching for their survival owing to their social and financial condition such children have been found to be members of certain gangs and of late the street children are being used by hardened criminals even for murders as they knew that there is no jail terms for such juveniles they are exploited and abused physically by anti-social elements, organized criminal gangs, mafias, etc such exploited and abused children become hardened criminals when they grow upthe girl child in this category is very often sexually exploited and ultimately pushed into prostitution these hapless underprivileged children fall prey to all kinds of dreaded diseases they remain illiterate and even two square meals a day is luxury for them these underprivileged children are in fact the most vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and depravityon the contrary, being the future citizens of the country the children should be brought up in a good atmosphere, providing them all requirements of life, good education and a joyful childhood with all care and love but unfortunately in our country, there are millions of orphans, abandoned, runaway vagabond and destitute children who are mostly homeless and are known as street children many of whom are very talented but their talent goes wasteour country being a welfare state, it is the solemn duty of the government to take care of these underprivileged hapless street children and ensure that they must enjoy their childhood by bringing them into the national mainstream by giving them every opportunity and protection they deserve, in order to fully develop their potentials and talenthence, this billnew delhi;march 24, 2015        nishikant  dubey financial  memorandumclause 5 of the bill provides for the establishment of juveniles homes clause 6 provides for the constitution of the underprivileged street children welfare fund with an initial corpus of rupees twenty thousand crores to be provided by the central government clause 9 provides that the central government shall provide 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 estimated that a sum of rupees twenty thousand crore will be involved as recurring expenditure per annum a non-recurring expenditure of rupees fifty thousand crore will also be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 12 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of details only the delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for the prevention of abuse and exploitation of orphan, vagabond, runawayand other street children by providing deterrent punishment for the violators and for rehabilitation and other welfare measures to be undertaken by the union and the state governments for such children who usually subsist on rag picking, begging, shoe polishing, working as potters, performing acrobatics or who are forced to indulge in crimes like stealing, pickpocketing, snatching, smuggling, prostitution and unnatural acts by taking their custody and providing them with shelter, care, protection, education, medical care, vocational training etc, and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri nishikant dubey, mp)