The Department of Women & Child Development, Assam, has a significant role in promoting the well-being and protection of women and children in the state of Assam. Established as a separate department on 2nd  November 2022, it was bifurcated from the Department of Social Welfare to exclusively focus on issues related to women and children. 
Vision: The vision of the Department of Women & Child Development, Assam, is to createa society where women and children are treated with dignity, respect, and equality. Thedepartment envisions a society that provides ample opportunities for the holistic development of women and children, ensuring their well-being and empowerment.
Mission: The primary mission of the Department of Women & Child Development is to protect and empower women in distress and children in difficult circumstances within the state of Assam. The department achieves this mission through a range of welfare services and development programs tailored to the needs of women and children.
All major schemes of the Ministry have been classified under 3 umbrella schemes viz. Mission  Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Mission Shakti and   Mission Vatsalya.

Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is an integrated nutrition support program designed to combat malnutrition among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers with a strategic shift in mission mode to develop practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to free from malnutrition. The Government of India has approved “Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0” during the 15th Finance Commission period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The objectives of “Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0” are as follows:

    To contribute to human capital development of the country
    Address Challenges of Malnutrition.
    Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health & wellbeing. 
    Address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies

The Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Poshan Abhiyaan have been re-aligned under POSHAN 2.0 in the year 2021-22  for maximizing nutritional outcomes. 
Anganwadi Services:  
The Anganwadi Services Scheme provides the following six package of services in an integrated manner to eligible beneficiaries:
1.    Supplementary Nutrition Programme
2.    Pre-school non-formal education
3.    Nutrition & Health Education
4.    Immunization
5.    Health check-up and
6.    Referral services
Three of the six services, viz., immunization, health check-up and referral services, are related to health and are provided by through NHM & Public Health Infrastructure.
Scheme for Adolescent Girls: 
The Scheme for Adolescent Girls addresses the inter-generational problem of malnutrition by focusing on adolescent girls keeping in view the life cycle approach. The scheme aims at providing nutritional support to adolescent girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years for improving their health and nutritional status under the nutrition component and providing them IFA supplementation, Health check-up and Referral Service, Nutrition & Health Education and Skilling etc. under non-nutrition component of the Scheme.
POSHAN Abhiyaan: 
POSHAN Abhiyaan (earlier known as National Nutrition Mission) aims to reduce undernutrition by improving the utilization of key Anganwadi services,  the quality of delivery of the services and real time monitoring  through POSHAN Tracker App for ensuring last mile service delivery.  The Abhiyaan is focusing on converting the agenda of improving nutrition into a Jan Andolan through involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions/Villages Organizations/SHGs/volunteers etc. and ensuring wide public participation. 

The Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition, IYCF, Treatment of SAM/MAM and Wellness through Ayush practices to reduce wasting and under-weight prevalence besides stunting and anaemia, supported by the ‘Poshan Tracker’, a new, robust ICT centralised data system. 
Under Saksham Anganwadi, the Government has also taken the initiative to strengthen, upgrade and rejuvenated Anganwadi Centres (AWC) for improving service delivery to beneficiaries including stimulating the creative, social, emotional, cognitive and intellectual development of children under 6 years of age by providing/adding more services with better infrastructure and attractive environment   to provide Early Childhood Care and Education at AWC level.

Mission Shakti: Comprehensive Initiative for Women’s Safety & Empowerment
‘Mission Shakti’ is a scheme in mission mode aimed at strengthening interventions for women safety, security and empowerment, launched by the Government of India under the MWCD. It comprises two sub-schemes: Sambal (Safety and security) and Samarthya (empowerment of women). The mission aims to provide to all women and girls including differently-abled, socially and economically marginalized and vulnerable groups, in need of care and protection, with short term and long-term services and information for their holistic development and empowerment. By integrating these schemes, the government seeks to enhance security and create greater opportunities for women across India.
A. SAMBAL – Safety and Security of Women
1. One Stop Centre (OSC)
o    The scheme provides integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence and in distress in private or public spaces under one roof. 
o   Provides immediate, emergency and non-emergency access to a range of services including, medical, legal, temporary shelter, police assistance, psychological and counselling support to fight against any forms of violence against women.
2. Women Helpline
o    The Women Helpline provides toll-free 24-hours telecom service to women seeking support and information by connecting them with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for all emergency services like police/fire/Ambulance services and with One Stop Centres.
o    WHL also provide information about government scheme/programmes, facilities and also connect women with the statutory officers under various legislations like Dowry Prohibition Officers, Child Marriage Prevention Officers, and Protection Officers etc. as per requirement. 
3. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)
o    Launched in 2015 as a tri-ministerial effort of the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to address the declining child sex ratio and promote gender equality focusing on preventing gender-biased sex selection and improving girls’ education.
o    The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Ministry of Minority Affairs have also been added as partners with a view to undertake awareness campaigns and community-driven initiatives to change social attitudes and works through institutional support and advocacy for girls' welfare.
4. Nari Adalat Scheme
o    Nari Adalat a new component for providing women with an alternate Grievance Redressal Mechanism for resolving cases of petty nature (harassment, subversion, curtailment of rights or entitlements) faced by women at Gram Panchayat level 
o    This platform will also be utilized for engaging with the public for awareness generation and getting feedback for improvement in the schemes and for effective public delivery of services. 

B. SAMARTHYA – Empowerment of Women

1.    Shakti Sadan (Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home)
o    The schemes aimed at creating a safe and enabling environment for the women in distress including trafficked women and thereby give them the strength to overcome their difficult circumstances and make a fresh start.
o    Provides shelter, food, clothing, primary health facilities and other essential daily need items.
o  Residents will be facilitated for opening Bank Accounts in their names in which an amount of Rs. 500 per month per resident shall be deposited. 
o    The resident can also avail the benefits of social protection scheme like PM Jeewan Jyoti Bima Yojana or PM Suraksha Bima Yojana.
o    Unmarried girls of any age and boys up to the age of 12 years would be allowed to stay in Shakti Sadans with their mothers
o    Shakti Sadan provides services to all distress women including trafficked women and children. Services like- 
           1.  Basic necessities: such as food, clothing and other items of personal use 
           2.  Legal service: through the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to claim their right to property, marital rights, divorce, maintenance  and custody of children etc. 
            3. Medial facilities: First aid facilities shall be available within the Centres. However, Health Check-up and medical facilities will be provided through the district hospital/health and wellness centre/ CHC/PHC 
            4. Counselling: provide psycho-social counselling to the women through OSC

        5. Education: provide formal or open school system to victim children or women Vocational training arrange for the women through the Vocational Training Institutes recognized by the Directorate General of Employment and Training under the Ministry of Labour and Employment/ Training Partners of National Skill Development Council (NSDC) 
        6.   Micro Credit will be facilitated through SIDBI, Mudra and other relevant schemes of Central/State government in case residents want to start small-scale industry/ business. 

2.    Sakhi Niwas (working Women Hostel)
o    promote availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women and other women pursuing higher education or training, who need to live away from their families due to professional commitments.
o    The Day care facility also available in Sakhi Niwas for the children of working women living in the hostel.
o    The Hostel facility can be availed by any working women, who may be single, widowed, divorced, separated or married. Preference will be given to women from disadvantaged sections and with physical disabilities.
3.    Palna – Anganwadi cum Creche Centre (AWCC)
o    Supports working mothers by offering quality day-care services to balance work and childcare responsibilities.
o    Ensures a safe and secure environment for nutritional, health and cognitive development of the children.
o    The crèche facility caters to children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years.
4.    Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)
o    Provides ₹5,000 for the first child and ₹6,000 for the second child (if a girl).
o    Aims to improve maternal and child health.
o    Compensates wage loss during pregnancy.
o    Implemented under Section 4 of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013
5.    Gender Budgeting (GB)
o    Integrates a gender-sensitive approach into government budgets.
o    Ensures equal benefits for women and men in government spending.
o    Promotes gender equity in policy planning and execution.
o    Strengthens monitoring and impact assessment of women-centric programs.
6.    SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW)
o   Functions as a single-window support system at National (NHEW), State (SHEW), and District (DHEW) levels.
o Facilitates inter-sectorial coordination for women’s welfare programs-guiding, linking and hand-holding women to various institutional and schematic set ups for their empowerment and development including equal access to healthcare, quality education, career and vocational counselling/ training, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship.
o Backward and forward linkages, social security and digital literacy at districts/ Blocks/ Gram Panchayats level Provides training, entrepreneurship support and financial inclusion.

Mission Vatsalya
State Child Protection Society, Assam

Mission Vatsalya, a centrally sponsored scheme, is a plan for achieving the objectives of development and child protection that are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Mission emphasizes children’s rights, advocacy, and awareness while also developing the juvenile justice care and protection system under the guiding principle of “leave no child behind.”
The provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act of 2012 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015 provide the fundamental framework for carrying out the Mission.
Vision of Mission Vatsalya
Mission Vatsalya advocates for the family-based, non-institutional care of children in difficult situations and institutionalized care as a measure of last resort only. 
The vision of the mission is to ensure a healthy and happy childhood for every child in India and create opportunities for them to realise their full potential in a sustainable manner.
Objective/Aim of Mission Vatsalya
The key objective of the mission is:
The child’s best interests should be considered when creating or implementing initiatives and programmes.
The right of children to survival, development, protection, and participation is ensured.
To develop fundamental services and improve emergency outreach, community and family-based noninstitutional care, and counselling and support services for institutional care at the national, regional, state, and district levels.
Coordinate and network with all allied systems to support convergent efforts for seamless service delivery to children in order to ensure appropriate inter-sector response at all levels.
To promote family and community-level child protection, empower families and communities to recognise risks and vulnerabilities impacting children, and develop and spread preventive methods to shield children from danger, risk, and abuse.
To promote private sector partnerships to support children within the framework of the law.
Ensure the best interests of children through increasing public awareness, educating the public about child rights, vulnerabilities, and protective measures sponsored by the government, and involving the community at all levels.
Track the development of objective parameters in relation to outputs and outcomes.
The involvement of Panchayats and Municipal Local Bodies at the village, ward, and urban cluster levels, along with regular monitoring, helps develop a strong social safety net for children.
Services provided under Mission Vatsalya
Mission Vatsalya is an initiative for the protection and rehabilitation of vulnerable children in Need of Care and Protection and Children in Conflict with Law. It provides childcare, foster care, aftercare, adoption (via CARA), helpline support (1098), and rehabilitation for victims of abuse. The mission also strengthens the juvenile justice system and supports at-risk families, working with states and NGOs to ensure a safe and nurturing environment for children.
Institutional Care
1.    Children’s Home: Children’s homes are established to receive children who are in need of care and protection (CNCP) during the pendency of any inquiry and subsequently for their long term care and rehabilitation.
2.    Observation Homes: Observation Homes are established for the temporary reception of children in conflict with law (CiCL) during the pendency of their inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Boards
3.    Special Homes: Special homes are set up for reception and rehabilitation of children in conflict with law. On completion of inquiry, if the JJB is of the opinion that the child needs to be placed in an institution, an order is passed for placing the child in a special home for his/her rehabilitation.
4.    Place of Safety: Any place or institution, other than a police lock-up or jail that can temporarily receive and take care of children alleged or found to be in conflict with law. The institution is meant for a child between 16 to 18 years of age who is accused of or convicted for committing a heinous crime.
5.    Open Shelter: It is meant for vulnerable children (homeless, street children, beggars, etc.) in urban/semi-urban areas. It is a short-term community-based facility for children in need of residential support that protects them from abuse.
6.    Fit Facility: Refers to facility being run by a Government organisation or a voluntary or non-governmental organisation registered under any law for the time being in force to be fit to temporarily take the responsibility of a child for a specific purpose. 
7.    Specialised Adoption Agency: An institution established by the State Government of by a voluntary/non-governmental organization for housing orphans, abandoned and surrendered children, placed there by order of the CWC, for the purpose of adoption.
Non-institutional Care
1.    Sponsorship and Foster Care: Sponsorship provides supplementary financial support to such families, to meet the educational, medical, nutritional and other needs of children in order to improve the quality of their lives. 
Foster care is an arrangement usually on a temporary basis whereby a child lives with an extended or unrelated family members.
2.    Adoption: Adoption is a process through which a child, who is permanently separated from biological parents because his/her parents have died, or have abandoned or surrendered her/him, becomes a legitimate child of a new set of parents. Children must be declared legally free for adoption by the Child Welfare Committee. 
3.    Aftercare: It provides financial support to children who leave institutional care after attaining 18 years to facilitate child’s reintegration into the mainstream of the society and to help them transition to independent life.

Child Helpline:
The Child Helpline is an important component of Mission Vatsalya, a government initiative in India aimed at ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of children in need of care and protection. It serves as an emergency outreach service that provides 24/7 support to children facing distress, abuse, exploitation, or any other vulnerable situations. Operated round the clock, the 1098 Child Helpline is a free service available across Assam to assist children in distress. Any child or concerned citizen can dial the number to report abuse, seek help, or request intervention. At present in Assam 35 Districts CHL are functioning.
 

Service Delivery Structures under Mission Vatsalya

Child Marriage Prohibition Officer

Child Marriage Prohibition Officers are appointed at the district and panchayat levels to prevent child marriages. At the district level, District Child Protection Officers (DCPOs) serve as Child Marriage Prohibition Officers, while at the panchayat level, the Secretaries of Gaon Panchayats and in the Sixth Schedule areas the Lat Mandals hold this responsibility.

Whom to Report

Here’s a structured chart on whom to contact for reporting POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) cases, child marriage cases, child trafficking, illegal adoption and child labour cases: