New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Supreme Court judge Justice S. Ravindra Bhat Thursday said the issue of legal aid for juveniles requires urgent attention and the governments should open their purses for expenditure on their welfare.
Justice Bhat said that when “we claim that children are the future of the country, then why should we go with begging bowl to seek money for their welfare.”
“If you say that children are the future of this country it is not enough to rely on the charity of some organisations or companies. It is important that the way in which we sensitise our society, we have to sensitise our governments to open their purses and ensure there is greater budgeting and spending,” Justice Bhat said.
The apex court judge was speaking at the launch function of a book on ‘Juvenile Justice System: Manual for Stakeholders’ edited by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria.
Delhi High Court judge and Chairperson, Delhi High Court Juvenile Justice Committee, Justice Rajiv Shakdher also spoke on the occasion, and said that problems of children should be treated on a rights-based approach and not on charity-based.
Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Soledad Herrero, Chief of Child Protection for UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund] India, also shared their views on the occasion.