Women & child protection bodies in crisis, 38.69% posts lying vacant

National child and women protection bodies, including the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), are reeling under alarming levels of staff shortage at a time of rising crimes against children and women.

Analysis of data submitted by the government in Parliament this week reveals a cumulative vacancy rate of nearly 40 per cent across the Ministry of Women and Child Development and its statutory and autonomous bodies, which are responsible for ensuring the protection of children and women. This means four out of every 10 sanctioned posts across Groups A, B and C in these segments are vacant.

The highest rate of vacancy is at the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), India’s apex panel vested with statutory powers to protect children and their rights.

At a vacancy rate of 89 per cent, 32 of the 36 sanctioned posts in the NCPCR across administrative segments — groups A, B and C — are lying vacant.

Established in March 2007 under an Act of the Parliament, the NCPCR is tasked with ensuring that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative systems conform to the vision of the rights of the children as enunciated in the Constitution of India as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A child is defined as a person in the age group of 0 to 18 years.

The main secretariat of the WCD Ministry is no better. Of the 266 official positions notified for recruitment, 66 are currently vacant.

Similarly, at the apex child adoption agency of India — Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) — 14 of 37 sanctioned posts are lying vacant (a vacancy rate of 37.80 per cent).

At the National Commission for Women, there are 64 sanctioned posts in Groups A, B and C, and 35 of these are lying vacant. At the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, tasked with research in the sector, 124 of 287 sanctioned positions are vacant.

Overall, across the Ministry of Women and Child Development and its autonomous bodies — NCW, NCPCR, NIPCCD and CARA — the rate of vacancy is 38.69 per cent as 267 of the total 690 sanctioned positions are vacant. The data signals gaping holes in the institutional networks meant to protect children and women.

Notably, high levels of human resource crunch in key positions has come at a time of growing crime rates against children.

The latest National Crimes Record Bureau that mapped trends until 2021 revealed 1.49 lakh cases of crimes against children were reported in a year — a rise of 16.20 per cent over 2020, which had seen 1.28 lakh cases. Among all crimes against women, kidnappings made up 45 per cent, while 38.1 per cent were about sexual offences.