National Child Survey to Develop Child Index Under Mission Vatsalya

To strengthen child rights protection and enhance evidence-based policymaking, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), is set to conduct a National Child Survey.

Objective of the Survey

• Mission Vatsalya is the core focus of the survey.
• The survey aims to map the needs of children:
  • In need of care and protection
  • In conflict with law
• The ultimate goal is to develop a Child Index to guide welfare policies.

Mission Vatsalya Portal

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has launched the revamped Mission Vatsalya Portal, a unified digital platform designed to streamline child protection services and integrate earlier services like Khoya-Paya and TrackChild.

Objective

• To create a secure, centralized, and tech-enabled system for monitoring and managing child protection efforts across India, improving coordination among various stakeholders and ensuring real-time data-driven decision-making.

Key Features of the Mission Vatsalya Portal

• Integrated platform combining Khoya-Paya and TrackChild under a single portal.
• Multi-stakeholder access, including:
  • State level: State Child Protection Society (SCPS), State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA)
  • District level: District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU), and Child Care Institutions (CCIs)
• Real-time Monitoring: MIS dashboards enhance monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
• Avoids duplication of data entry and services at the grassroots level.
• Ensures resource optimization and efficient implementation of child welfare schemes.
• Provides a digital workflow system for case tracking and inter-agency coordination.

Significance of the Child Index

• Will provide a data-driven foundation for policies under Mission Vatsalya.
• May serve as a tool to monitor child welfare outcomes across states.
• Addresses a major statistical gap in understanding vulnerable children’s conditions.

BS