CHENNAI: The Directorate of Social Defence (DSD) and other key departments are currently working together to release a common Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the effective implementation of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A senior official of DSD emphasised the need for an SOP to keep all departments in loop and to make the officials understand the dos and don’ts of the Act, both on paper and in implementation.

DSD recently held a consultation meeting with the Minister of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, P Geetha Jeevan, and higher officials from the departments of health, education, police and judiciary to discuss on the same. Speaking to DT NEXT, the DSD official said, “The consultation meeting held recently will help us understand the ground reality. Though all departments have guidelines for implementation of the POCSO Act, there are no common SOPs for officials of all departments combined.” The official also added that the combined SOP will help departments in comprehending the responsibilities of the other departments. Besides bringing uniformity in procedures, the SOP is also aimed at increasing the conviction rates under the Act.

The DSD has also sought a onemonth duration to train the government officials on SOPs for effective implementation of POCSO and to examine the difficulties faced by the officials. “We will be meeting again next week in September, followed by a meeting with the minister in October. After that, we will come out with a common SOP for handling POCSO cases at the earliest, “the official noted.

DSD recently held a consultation meeting with minister of social welfare and women empowerment and officials of education, health, and police dept in this regard