NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a rise in the number of children in conflict with law receiving non-institutional care under the Government of India’s Mission Vatsalya scheme, with the number increasing from 521 in 2019–20 to 4,024 in 2023–24 — a more than sevenfold increase over five years.
The information was provided by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in two separate written replies in the Lok Sabha on April 4, 2025, to questions raised by Dr Shashi Tharoor and Shri Imran Masood. Mission Vatsalya, a centrally sponsored scheme, aims to ensure that the best interests of children are safeguarded through a range of care and protection services.
The number of Jammu and Kashmir’s beneficiaries under non-institutional care, including children in conflict with law, was 521 in 2019–20, rose to 979 in 2020–21 and 2021–22, and climbed further to 1,398 in 2022–23 before peaking at 4,024 in 2023–24.
During 2023–24, Jammu and Kashmir received Rs 43.64 crore under Mission Vatsalya. This made it the 10th highest recipient of funds among all States and Union Territories. In terms of the number of children supported under the scheme in the same year, Jammu and Kashmir ranked 11th nationally.
Mission Vatsalya is implemented through State and Union Territory governments on a pre-defined cost-sharing basis and provides both institutional and non-institutional care to children in vulnerable situations. The non-institutional component includes sponsorship to children living with extended families, foster care with unrelated families, adoption support, and aftercare for children leaving institutions at age 18.
Ladakh, which had no beneficiaries under the scheme until 2021–22, supported 29 children in 2022–23 and 411 in 2023–24, with Rs 4.39 crore in funds released for the latter year.
The aim of Mission Vatsalya is to build a child-friendly ecosystem by ensuring access to education, vocational training, counselling, recreation, healthcare, and emergency outreach. Child Helpline 1098, operational 24×7 and now integrated with ERSS-112, is part of the initiative’s emergency support network.
District Magistrates serve as nodal authorities for child welfare under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Monitoring is carried out by District Child Welfare and Protection Committees, while the National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights supervise the broader implementation.
Aftercare under the scheme provides support to children after they turn 18 and leave childcare institutions, continuing until age 21 and extendable up to 23. A total of 1,21,861 children across India were supported under non-institutional care in 2023–24 alone, although the Ministry stated that constituency-level data is not maintained centrally.
