(1) The Government shall create the State Children’s Fund for raising and coordinating resources for achieving the purposes of this Act.
(2) There shall be credited to the fund such voluntary donations, contributions or subscriptions as may be made by any individual or organization.
(3) All fines imposed under this Act shall be credited to the Fund.
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(4) The fund created under sub-section (1) above shall be administered in such manner and for such purposes as may be prescribed.
(5) There shall be a State Level Authority which may be called the State Commission for Children to promote and maintain the best interests of all the children in Goa and which will carry out such functions as may be prescribed. The functions may include the following:—
(a) The creation of a Child Friendly Society;
(b) Preparing and implementing a systematic plan for spreading awareness amongst different groups, mobilization action and dialogue within civil society on Child Rights;
(c) Develop a capacity development strategy for the progressive implementation of Child Rights covering amongst others the training of teachers, police, judiciary, 74[prosecution] etc.;
(d) Review all State Legislations, Rules, Orders, Notifications, Schemes and all other provisions pertaining to children and recommend necessary amendments therein, to ensure that the Rights of the Child are protected;
(e) To monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(f) To ensure that children become fit citizens and that all children are given the opportunity and encouraged to learn and develop thinking and participatory skills as well as skills of developing and articulating ideas;
(g) Set up a mechanism to hear complaints from child victims;
(h) Establish norms for good parenting and evolve a strategy for achieving this.
(i) undertake and promote research in the field of Child Rights;
(j) Prepare disaggregated data on all children in Goa in terms of category, age, sex, etc.
(k) Examine the situation regarding children particularly the status of the girl child, assess the reasons for discrimination and recommend strategies for their removal;
(6) The State Level Authority shall be constituted within a period of 76[one year] from the commencement of this Act.
76[(6A) The constitution, the terms and conditions of service of the members, the regulation of the procedure of meetings and the powers in relation to inquiry and investigation into complaints against the children by the State Commission for Children shall be such as may be prescribed.]
(7) For finalizing all the Plans of Action, Government shall set up separate Steering Committees comprising persons with experience in that particular area, social workers, Government officers and others. Officers of the Central Government should participate in the deliberations leading up to the Plans, and Government shall carry out visits to other States to see best practices specially in terms of rehabilitation, education and integration of children. The Steering Committees shall oversee the implementation of the Plans of Action.
(8) There shall be a Village Child Committee which shall be constituted by each village panchayat. The committee shall comprise not less than five persons of whom one shall be a child above the age of 15 years and the other members shall comprise representatives from the village panchayat and social workers of whom at least 2 should be women. The Village Child Committee shall ensure the best interests of the child and will pay particular attention to providing recreational and play facilities for children. The Village Committees will also interact with the departments of the State Government in the implementation of the Plans of Action for -14- elimination of child illiteracy, children on the streets, child prostitution and child labour, and will carry out such other functions as may be laid out from time to time.
(9) There shall be 4 or more such Child Committees in each Municipal/Corporation areas.
(10) The Government shall institute a system for recognizing and recording appreciation of outstanding work done by individuals, organizations or departments in achieving the best Interests of the Child under this Act.
(11) The Government shall carry out an awareness campaign after the commencement of this Act to appraise the public about the provisions and to solicit their cooperation. Sustained media advocacy will be taken up with NGOs, Womens Groups and others to create public awareness on the issues involved. Doordarshan, the Print Media, Radio, Private Television Channels and cable networks and all other forms of media will be used.
(12) Appropriate guidelines for the protection of children from information and material injurious to their well being as well as harmful exposure in the mass media shall be prepared and implemented. For this purpose, the Government, with the assistance of the State Information Department,77[ may set up a State Council comprising persons from the media, and others, as may be prescribed. The State Council may also suggest ways to protect children from the harmful influences of the internet and media.]
(13) All persons appointed by the Government under this Act as Members of District Inspection Teams 78[Task Forces, Special Officers, Labour Inspectors, State Commission for Children, State Council and others]40 shall be persons with the highest credentials and integrity.
Their proposed appointment and details shall be printed in the Official Gazette wherever they are non-Government staff and the members of the public shall be given two week’s time to file any complaint against any proposed appointment. The Government shall consider all complaints received before reaching a final decision and the appointments made will be notified in the Official Gazette.
(14) The Police Department shall formulate an exclusive Child Code including issues of Child Friendly Police Stations, interaction and behaviour with children, mandatory sensitization programmes, etc.
(15)79[omitted]
(16) No child below the age of 14 shall be allowed unaccompanied inside any cyber café or any other establishment which provides any computer services to the general public against a cost.
(17) All establishments providing training to children through computers shall ensure that child friendly safeguards are installed and that no child below the age of fourteen has access to internet facilities other than in the presence of an adult from that establishment.
[80(18) The owners of the establishments referred to in sub-sections (16) and (17) shall be held responsible for any contravention of the provisions thereof and shall be punishable for such contravention with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month and a fine which may extend to Rs. 3,000/- on each occasion.]
(19) All such establishments under sub-sections 16 and 17 shall make their premises freely available to the Special Officers for inspection at any time.
(20) The use of children in the illicit procurement, trafficking and sale of narcotic, psychotropic and alcoholic substances is prohibited and anyone found guilty of transgression -15- shall be 81[punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and fine which may extend to Rs. 50,000/-.]
(21) Anyone inducing a child to gamble or to assist in the gambling trade shall be liable to a punishment of imprisonment of either description for a period 82[which may extend to three years ] and a fine of not less than rupees fifty thousand.
(22) The State shall make special provision for the children of prisoners and commercial sex workers 83[in a phased manner].
(23) The Competent Authority shall have the power to direct any registered Children’s Home to accept any child/children in distress provided that the said Home has the facilities for taking care of the extra child/children.
(24)84 [omitted]