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Gandhinagar, 25 March 2022: Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) and Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre (PRAYAS) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today for collaboration to further common objectives.

Prayas General Secretary, Mr Amod Kanth, said we have laws to protect children from sexual offences, child labour and human trafficking. However, there are massive gaps between the laws, policies, and services reaching the children in need. We are a country of 1300 million. There are 35 million Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP children) and 20 million children with no family support. Child labour and trafficking are rampant. But, only 700 to 1000 cases of child trafficking and around 1,000 cases of child labour are registered annually across the nation. As far as Ahmedabad is concerned, Ahmedabad City and Ahmadabad Rural districts together registered only two cases of human trafficking, three cases of child labour and 370 cases under the POCSO Act in 2020! These statistics point towards the poor implementation of laws for the protection of children. We look forward to working with GNLU to improve the implementation of these laws and expanding our reach to the children in distress.

Mr Amod Kanth further said under the “Access to Justice Project” launched by Prayas with the support of Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation, Prayas and GNLU would soon undertake an intensive exercise to implement the basic Child Protection Laws like the Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO, child labour and trafficking.

GNLU Director, Prof Dr S. Shanthakumar, said Prayas has been doing exemplary work for the children in distress. GNLU has two active centres, GNLU Centre for Law and Society and GNLU Centre for Women and Child Rights, that work for women and children. Today’s MoU will formalise and strengthen our long-standing relationship with Prayas and enable GNLU faculty and students to contribute to the betterment of children in the country, particularly Gujarat.

ADGP, CID Crime, Gujarat congratulated GNLU and Prayas on the MoU. He hoped that this collaboration would also help the state police in their efforts to prevent or reduce crimes against children and obtain better conviction rates where crimes do happen.

Ahmedabad Rural District Legal Service Authority’s Secretary, Mr Hiren Vasavada, said NGOs play a vital role in child abuse cases. I am sure the MoU between GNLU and Prayas will benefit society. We at DLSA would be happy to support their efforts.

GNLU Director Prof Dr S. Shanthakumar and Prayas General Secretary Mr Amod Kanth signed the MoU on the sidelines of Stakeholders’ Consultation on “Ensuring Access to Justice for Children” organised jointly by GNLU and Prayas. Mr Anil Pratham, IPS, Additional Director General of Police, CID Crime, Gujarat State; Ms Mini Joseph, Assistant Commissioner of Police, CID Crime, Gujarat; Mr Hiren Vasavada, Secretary, District Legal Service Authority, Ahmedabad, other GNLU faculty members and Prayas functionaries were present on occasion