CHENNAI: The social welfare department has constituted a special monitoring committee – Tamil Nadu Empowered Committee on Special Services for Children – headed by the chief secretary for administering all the government homes functioning for children in conflict with law.
The committee, under the Department of Children Welfare and Special Services, has been primarily formed to implement the recommendations made by the one-man committee headed by Retired Justice K Chandru for effective functioning and administration of government observation homes, special homes and places of safety.
The 15-member committee has the secretary of the Social Welfare Department as the member secretary, and the director of Children Welfare and Special Services as the convenor. Additionally, secretaries of eight other departments, including revenue, health, public works, school education, home, youth welfare, finance, and differently-abled will be part of the committee. The other members include member secretary of the Tamil Nadu Legal Services Authority, the managing director of Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation, and child rights activist Andrew Sesuraj.
Besides, the committee will also meet once in three months to discuss and improve the service delivery to the children. The meetings can also be convened at the discretion of the chairperson and based on the request of the members. The committee will also plan and execute the necessary infrastructure development for the homes through the Department of Children Welfare and Special Services.
It will oversee the development and well-being of children in conflict with law, focusing on the management of homes, staffing, health services, training, food, stakeholder involvement and after-care. It will also focus on enhancing programmes related to curriculum development, social security schemes and family-strengthening initiatives. This apart, it will also oversee staff restructuring and recommend policy changes based on the Justice K Chandru committee’s suggestions, including updates to infrastructure, medical care, and counseling services, as per the GO issued by the social welfare department.