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The Ministry of Women and Child Development runs three Centrally Sponsored verticals: Mission Shakti, Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0, and Mission Vatsalya.
Mission Shakti has two sub-verticals — Sambal for safety and security, and Samarthya for empowerment.
991 One Stop Centres are operational and have assisted over 15.20 lakh women since 1 April 2015; Women Helpline 181 has assisted over 1.04 crore women.
4,172 Anganwadi-cum-Creches under the Palna scheme are operational, serving about 43,000 beneficiaries.
PMMVY has delivered benefits of Rs 21,171.32 crore to more than 4.56 crore women.
Give women affected by violence integrated support under one roof
Key: Provides medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance and psycho-social counselling; 991 centres operational, over 15.20 lakh women assisted since 1 April 2015
Provide round-the-clock telephonic support to women in emergency and non-emergency situations
Key: A 24-hour toll-free service offering assistance to women affected by violence and information about government schemes; over 1.04 crore women assisted
Address the declining Child Sex Ratio and empower girls
Key: Works through mindset and behavioural change by informing, influencing, motivating, engaging and empowering stakeholders; described as having grown from a policy initiative into a national movement
Provide integrated relief and rehabilitation for women in distress, including trafficked women
Key: Created by merging the erstwhile Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala schemes with effect from 1 April 2022; 433 functional, benefiting 1,46,164 women
Provide safe accommodation for working women and women pursuing higher education or training
Key: Working Women Hostels with day care for children, in urban, semi-urban and rural areas where employment opportunities exist; 2,32,018 women benefited since inception
Provide day-care creche facilities to children of all mothers, irrespective of employment status
Key: Introduced from 1 April 2022 for children aged 6 months to 6 years, with nutritional support, health and cognitive development, growth monitoring, immunisation and education; 4,172 AWCCs operational. National Minimum Standards and Protocol for setting up creches were issued in 2024
Provide maternity benefit as cash incentive
Key: Implemented from 1 January 2017 across 35 States and UTs; Rs 5,000 by Direct Benefit Transfer for the first child, averaging Rs 6,000 with Janani Suraksha Yojana benefits after institutional delivery, and Rs 6,000 for a second child if that child is a girl
Act as a single-window information and monitoring unit for all Mission Shakti components
Key: Functions as the Project Monitoring Unit for Mission Shakti; 35 State and 742 District hubs functional, having assisted 7,75,406 women
Support a child victim through investigation and trial
Key: Rule 4 of the POCSO Rules, 2020 provides for appointment of a Support Person by the Child Welfare Committee, drawn from a person or organisation recognised by the District Child Protection Unit. NCPCR's Model Guidelines under Section 39 of the POCSO Act prescribe a Selection Committee, qualifications, roles and deployment procedure. NCPCR also runs a POCSO Tracking Portal for real-time case tracking
Defines a child as any person below 18 years; amended in 2019 to introduce more stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for sexual crimes against children
Provides for appointment of a Support Person to assist the child through investigation and trial, wherever the Child Welfare Committee considers it necessary
The provision under which NCPCR issued its Model Guidelines on Support Persons, covering their empanelment, qualifications, roles and deployment
The principal law for children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection; Mission Vatsalya operates within its framework and prioritises family-based non-institutional care
Requires verifiable parental or guardian consent before processing a child's personal data and prohibits tracking, behavioural monitoring and targeted advertising directed at children; the DPDP Rules prescribe identity and age verification and virtual tokens for obtaining consent
Require intermediaries to exercise due diligence and prohibit hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, harmful to children, or that promotes hate or violence
In force from 21 November 2025, it subsumes the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and requires creche facilities in establishments with 50 or more employees; the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) enforces this in the Central Sphere and States in the State Sphere
Implements the three Centrally Sponsored verticals and issues advisories, review meetings and capacity-building support for POCSO implementation
Issued Model Guidelines on Support Persons under Section 39 of the POCSO Act, developed the POCSO Tracking Portal, published the 'Being Safe Online' guidelines, the Manual on Safety and Security of Children in Schools and the 2024 Guidelines on Preventing Cyber Bullying, and commissioned the 2021 national study on children's device use
Decides whether a Support Person should be appointed for a child victim under Rule 4 of the POCSO Rules, 2020
Recognises or employs the persons and organisations who serve as Support Persons under the POCSO framework
Approves State and UT proposals annually and reviews progress under Mission Shakti and the Palna component
The POCSO Act was written on the premise that the ordinary criminal process is itself harmful to a child victim. Repeated questioning, confronting the accused, long adjournments, unfamiliar courtrooms and the family's own uncertainty about what is happening can inflict a second injury on top of the offence. The Act therefore builds in special procedure — in-camera trial, recording of the child's statement at a place of the child's choice, avoidance of face-to-face contact with the accused, and Special Courts. The Support Person is the human element of that design. Under Rule 4 of the POCSO Rules, 2020, the Child Welfare Committee may appoint a person or organisation recognised by the District Child Protection Unit to accompany the child through investigation and trial: facilitating access to support services, keeping the child and family informed of the case's progress, coordinating with authorities, safeguarding the child's best interests and maintaining confidentiality. NCPCR's Model Guidelines under Section 39 give this a standard framework — a Selection Committee, prescribed qualifications, defined roles and a deployment procedure — because the quality of the role depends entirely on who is empanelled. Implementation, though, rests with State Governments and UT Administrations; the Centre's role is advisory, which is the standard limitation to note in any answer on POCSO enforcement.
Simple Analogy: A Support Person is to a child witness what an interpreter is to a witness who does not speak the court's language — not a party to the case, but the reason the child can get through it.
The DPDP Act, 2023's requirement of verifiable parental consent and its ban on behavioural tracking and targeted advertising to children is India's principal legal safeguard for minors online
The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 has been subsumed into the Code on Social Security, 2020, effective 21 November 2025, whose Section 67 carries forward the creche obligation for establishments with 50 or more employees
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao targets the declining Child Sex Ratio through behavioural change rather than only enforcement, which distinguishes it from the PCPNDT Act's regulatory approach
Mission Vatsalya operates on the Juvenile Justice Act principle that institutionalisation of a child should be a measure of last resort, prioritising family-based non-institutional care
Mission Shakti and Palna funds flow through the SNA or SNA-SPARSH mechanism of the Public Financial Management System, the standard route for Centrally Sponsored Scheme transfers
The Ministry of Education's PRAGYATA Guidelines of July 2020, CBSE's Cyber Security Handbook and Cyber Clubs, and NCERT's cyber safety curriculum together form the education-sector layer of child online protection
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Welfare Schemes for Women and Children; Social Justice
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Acts
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Women and child welfare schemes and the POCSO Act are recurring UPSC Prelims and Mains GS-2 topics
The WCD vertical for women's safety, security and empowerment, comprising Sambal (safety and security) and Samarthya (empowerment)
The integrated relief and rehabilitation home created from 1 April 2022 by merging the erstwhile Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala schemes; 433 are functional
The Anganwadi-cum-Creche scheme from 1 April 2022 for children aged 6 months to 6 years, funded 60:40 between Centre and States, 90:10 for North-Eastern and Special Category States, and 100% for UTs without legislature
A person or organisation appointed by the Child Welfare Committee under Rule 4 of the POCSO Rules, 2020 to assist a child through investigation and trial
The Project Monitoring Unit and single-window information system for all Mission Shakti components; 35 State and 742 District hubs are functional
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, in force from 1 January 2017, providing Rs 5,000 by DBT for the first child and Rs 6,000 for a second child if a girl