Probation must be pillar of juvenile justice, say experts
Recognising probation as a cornerstone of child rehabilitation was the central message of the first-ever national consultation on 'Strengthening Probation in the Juvenile Justice System in India,' held recently at the capital.
Organised jointly by the Resource Cell for Juvenile Justice (RCJJ), a field action project of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), and the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, the event brought together key stakeholders from across 20 States and one union territory.
Delivering the keynote address, retired Supreme Court judge and Chairperson of the UN Internal Justice Council, Justice Madan B. Lokur, lamented the neglect of probation in India's juvenile justice system.
Justice Lokur said his first contact with probation officers took place in early 2000's in Canada where he had gone for judicial education programme for two weeks. He found that every probation officer there handled 30-35 probationers.
He said, in India, probation had not been given the importance it should have been given and that the Probation of Offenders Act had not been properly implemented. He commented on the understaffing in the Indian juvenile justice system, where one probation officer is responsible for 150-500 children.
Bharat Parashar, Member Secretary, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) said the system should give every child a second chance, and it should not re-traumatise them. He said NALSA was committed to this cause, and the Probation Officer could go a long way in mentoring children.
Held as a satellite event to the recently concluded 5th World Congress on Justice with Children, the consultation saw active participation from principal magistrate, Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB), social work members on the JJB, probation officers, legal-cum-probation officers, deputed government officers, civil society organisations, academicians, research scholars, and a few independent lawyers.
Over two days, panel discussions explored the socio-legal dimensions of juvenile justice. The sessions emphasised, 'the need for probation to be acknowledged as a pillar of rehabilitation for children in conflict with the law and strengthen it by looking at concerns like the ratio between probation and probationers, skill sets, and training required'.
Prof. Bipin Jojo, Dean, School of Social Work, TISS, spoke about how the legal structure of probation in India was developed at TISS in the early 1950s, and from then to now, TISS had been committed to pioneering the cause of strengthening probation in India.
Prof. Sanjoy Roy, Head, Department of Social Work, DU, emphasised that the collaboration of TISS and the Department of Social Work, DU is also historic as it has been the first time that the two colleges of social work have come together and organised this national consultation on strengthening probation.
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