Corporal punishment, ragging could come under JJ Act purview

"The Right to Education considers corporal punishment wrong. Similarly, children may face trauma or suffer due to ragging. Under these practices, it is often children under 18 years of age who suffer and it is this area with which the Juvenile Justice Act deals," said a senior ministry official.

Officials, however, added the proposed amendments are at the moment at "discussion stage" and it was premature to comment on what shape the law would finally take.

"There are areas of law related to adoption which are also being looked at but right now the issues are only being examined and consultations on the subject are being held", the official added.

The Women and Child Development ministry is also planning to make non-registration of Children's Homes a punishable offence under the Juvenile Justice Act.

"It is felt that bringing all the Children's Homes under this Act would subject them to stringent scrutiny and monitoring as prescribed and, thus, quality of care in the institutions would improve," the WCD ministry has in a recent statement said.

To achieve the objective, an amendment will soon be made in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to make non-registration of Children's Homes a punishable offence, the ministry had said in the statement.