Govt set to push for passage of anti-trafficking, adoption & sexual assault bills

The Union government will push for the passage of three crucial bills in this session of Parliament.

Re-introduction of three previously lapsed bills, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, the Anti-Trafficking Bill and POCSO Amendment Bill is high on the list of priorities of the government, sources said.

The Anti-trafficking Bill was passed in Lok Sabha but lapsed as it could not be introduced in the Rajya Sabha in the last session before the Lok Sabha elections. The bill faced much resistance from the opposition in the Rajya Sabha over certain provisions; the opposition wanted it to be first referred to a select committee of Parliament.

In July last year, the Ministry of Women and Child Development had introduced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2018, under which the district magistrate was empowered to issue adoption orders instead of district courts. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 6, but could not be passed in either House.

As per the proposed amendments to the JJ Act, the district magistrate’s role will be widened to oversee and monitor implementation of the entire adoption process, effectively making it the appellate and monitoring authority of the district-wise adoptions carried out by the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA).

In the POCSO amendment, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, now headed by Smriti Irani, seeks to award death penalty in cases of aggravated penetrative sexual assault of children, irrespective of gender. A contentious point in the bill is to bring in a section to penalise the possession of child pornography to up to three years in jail.

Officials say that the new changes have been proposed keeping in mind the cases of rape and sexual abuse in shelter homes in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria and Bihar’s Muzaffarpur last year.

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