Mission Vatsalya is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD). It was set up for the welfare and rehabilitation of children in difficult circumstances. The Vatsalya scheme replaced the Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme in 2009-10. The mission aims to provide comprehensive care and protection to children. This includes children in need of care and protection (CNCP), children in conflict with the law (CCL), and children affected by HIV/AIDS. The scheme also aims to prevent child abuse and promote the rights of children.

Vatsalya Maatri Amrit Kosh is an important topic for UPSC IAS Examination. It falls under the governance section of the General Studies Paper 2 syllabus for the UPSC IAS Mains examination. In this article, we shall discuss the facts & figures, objectives, needs, and benefits of the Vatsalya scheme.

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What is Mission Vatsalya?

Mission Vatsalya is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Government of India, in 2009. The scheme aims to provide holistic care and protection to children in difficult circumstances. This includes children in need of care and protection (CNCP), children in conflict with law (CCL), and street children.

Historical Background of Mission Vatsalya 

The historical perspective of Mission Vatsalya can be traced back to the early 1980s. This was when the Government of India began to take a more serious interest in the issue of child protection. In 1986, the National Policy for Children was adopted. This emphasized the need to provide holistic care and protection to all children.

In the early 1990s, the government launched many initiatives to address the needs of children in difficult circumstances. These initiatives included: 

• the establishment of Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and 
• the Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPUs) across the country.

In 2009, the government launched Mission Vatsalya. The scheme was a consolidation of the earlier initiatives. It provided a more comprehensive framework for addressing the needs of these children.

Mission Vatsalya has been implemented in a phased manner since its launch. The first phase of the scheme focused on strengthening the infrastructure and capacity of CWCs and SJPUs. The second phase of the scheme focused on providing services to CNCP, CCL, and street children.

Objectives of the Vatsalya Scheme

• Give top priority to children in all administrative activities under the Mission.
• Ensure the child's best interests when planning and delivering projects, focusing on their right to grow in a supportive family environment.
• Safeguard children's rights to survival, development, protection, and participation.
• Establish crucial services and enhance emergency support, both within families and communities, as well as institutional care, counseling, and support services at various levels.
• Promote inter-sectoral responses, coordination, and collaboration with allied systems to ensure seamless service delivery for children.
• Strengthen child protection at the family and community levels by empowering them to identify risks and take preventive measures.
• Encourage private sector partnerships within the legal framework for supporting children.
• Raise public awareness and educate people about child rights, vulnerabilities, and government-sponsored protection measures, involving the community as stakeholders.
• Enhance the capacities of duty holders and service providers at all levels.
• Monitor progress using well-defined objectives and outcomes.
• Involve Panchayats and Municipal Local Bodies at the village and urban cluster levels to assess issues, implement appropriate interventions, and monitor progress in building a robust safety net for children.

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Modes of Non-Institutional Care for Children

There are a variety of NIC models that can be used to provide care and support to children in need. Some of the most common NIC models include:

• Foster care: Foster care is a temporary placement of a child in a licensed foster home. 
• Kinship care: Kinship care is the placement of a child with a relative, such as a grandparent, aunt, or uncle. 
• Adoption: Adoption is a permanent legal transfer of parental rights and responsibilities from a child's biological parents to adoptive parents. 
• Family-based services: Family-based services are a range of in-home and community-based services. They provide support to families who are caring for children in need. These services can include counseling, parenting education, and financial assistance.
• Community-based services: Community-based services are a range of services that are provided in the community to support children and their families. These services can include childcare, after-school programs, and mental health services.
• Sponsorship: This includes Government Aided and Private Aided Sponsorships.

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Funding Pattern for Mission Vatsalya

Most States

• The Central Government pays 60% of the costs.
• State Governments or Union Territories (with Legislatures) pay the remaining 40%.

Special Exceptions

• North-Eastern and Himalayan States

• • • The Central Government contributes 90%.
    • State Governments pay 10%.

• Union Territories without Legislatures

• • The Central Government bears all costs (100%).

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Components of the Vatsalya Scheme

Components under Mission Vatsalya include

• Improve the functioning of statutory bodies;
• Strengthen service delivery structures;
• Upscale institutional care/services;
• Encourage non-institutional community-based care; 
• emergency outreach services;
• Training and capacity building

Study the Article Global Nutrition Report 2021 here!

New Guidelines for Mission Vatsalya

• States cannot alter the original name of the scheme to access central government funding.
• Funds will be approved through the Mission Vatsalya Project Approval Board (PAB), chaired by the WCD Secretary. This is to scrutinize and approve annual plans and financial proposals.
• It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a fund-sharing ratio of 60:40. For certain states, it is 90:10.
• The Mission will establish a 24x7 helpline service for children. It will support State Adoption Resource Agencies (SARA) in promoting in-country and inter-country adoption.
• SARA will coordinate non-institutional care and adoption within the state.
• Cradle baby reception centers will be set up in specialized adoption agencies. This is to receive abandoned and trafficked children.
• Special homes will be set up for children with disabilities. They will provide specialized educators, therapists, and nurses.
• Staff in these divisions must be proficient in sign language, Braille, and related languages.
• Open shelters will be supported to care for runaway, missing, trafficked, working, and street children.
• Financial support will be provided for vulnerable children living with extended families or in foster care. This involves addressing their education, nutrition, and health needs.

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Benefits of Mission Vatsalya

Vatsalya scheme will benefit in the improvement of the public health of the country through the following ways:

• Providing mother’s milk to sick and prematurely born babies will reduce child mortality rates.
• Supporting and educating breastfeeding mothers for better health of their child. This will help improve the child stunting rate.
• Helps in the training of frontline medical professionals around the country to set up more such human milk banks.

Check out this article on Malnutrition in India here!

Mission Vatsalya Portal

This portal acts as a one-stop shop for all things related to vulnerable children, especially those missing, orphaned, abandoned, or surrendered. Through it, you can:

• Track missing children and report sightings through Khoya-Paya.
• Find adoptive families for children in need through CARINGS.
• Monitor the Mission Vatsalya scheme's progress with the ICPS portal.
• Access critical resources and support for children facing challenges.

Conclusion

Vatsalya Maatri Amrit Kosh will provide life-saving mother’s milk to newborn babies. This milk will provide more immunity to children and hence will reduce the child mortality rate of the country. The Vatsalya scheme is a step in the right direction as it will also support the training and expansion of such human milk banks in other regions of the country. The Vatsalya scheme, along with the MAA program, are two major missions launched by the government to support and increase the breastfeeding rate in the country.

Download the PDF on Vatsalya Scheme notes for the UPSC Exam here.

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