Challenges

♤ The Scheme has been marred by limited capacity and poor fund utilization.

♤ Survey for vulnerability mapping is a key mandate for the District Child Protection Units. However, budget for the same under ICPS is a constraint.

♤ Presently, crucial aspects of the scheme of high relevance for street children, such as foster care, sponsorship programmes and after care for older children remain highly underdeveloped.

♤ Emergency outreach services through the Childline 1098 helpline are also facing issues of inaccessibility, especially after the advent of mobiles and vanishing of PCOs. Access to these numbers has become difficult for street children and the homeless.

♤ There has also been little focus on the training and sensitisation of functionaries and awareness generation activities.

As a result, despite its commendable aims, the ICPS lacks a structured mechanism to reach out to children in need of care and protection through proactive and sustained efforts for their identification, rescue and rehabilitation.