GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

RAJYA SABHA

QUESTION NO. 581

ANSWERED ON 07.02.2019

Bringing Child Grooming under POSCO Act

581. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:-

(a)Whether Government would review and bring amendments to the POCSO Act to include the phenomenon of 'Child Grooming' (when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purpose of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or trafficking) and make it punishable; and
(b) If so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR)

 (a) & (b): There is no such proposal under consideration in the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, contains effective provisions to curb the menace of child abuse. The Act provides mandatory reporting, child friendly provisions of recording of statement and evidence and speedy trial of the cases. There are adequate legal penal provisions including POCSO Act, 2012 for the sexual offences against the children, as per the gravity of offences. However, in the wake of such purported instances through media recently impacting young children, Ministry took up the matter with Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology at the level of Minister and Secretary to take necessary interventions to curb the menace and to ensure the safety and security of children. In order to equip children in negotiating the online world with adequate safety, Ministry of Human Resource Development was requested to issue necessary directions to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for incorporating suitable content pertaining to cyber safety in the school curriculum of children and advise State Governments to do the same through their School Boards.

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