UT To Simplify Child Adoption Rules

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh administration has notified ‘Chandigarh Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Amendment Rules, 2023’. The amendment has come subsequent to the notification of Rules by the Union government on September 1, 2022. The provisions laid under amended Rules 2022 have been adopted by the UT.A UT spokesperson said, “The recent amendment in the Rules has simplified and strengthened the procedure of child adoption by vesting the powers in district magistrate (DM) for issuing orders in cases of in-country/inter-country/relative/step parent adoption in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases. Previously, the adoption orders were passed by the district court as per Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016.”The amended rules also empower the district magistrate along with additional deputy magistrate to monitor the functioning of agencies under the Act such as child welfare committee, Juvenile Justice Board and special juvenile police unit. The said monitoring will ensure that all agencies are adhering to the norms laid under the Act, subsequently, preventing any kind of violation of provisions of the act.Another significant amendment in the Rules envisages immediate investigation by the Police (Rule 55 A & 57 A) in cases where child is being used for begging & labour before registration of an FIR.In addition to the above mentioned amendments, any affected child or anyone connected with the child may file grievance arising out of the functioning of child welfare committee before the district magistrate.