Context:
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.
