‘New dedicated court for POCSO cases to come up in Baruipur’
Kolkata: State Law minister Moloy Ghatal inside the Assembly premises on Friday said that a court dedicated to handle cases relating to Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act will be set up in South 24-Parganas’ Baruipur.
The minister also pointed out that the Calcutta High Court has also given necessary clearance in this regard. State government needs to take permission from the Calcutta High Court while setting up a new court anywhere across the state. Now the state government will chalk out details for setting up the new court dedicated to POCSO cases in consultation with the Calcutta High Court.
State government had decided to set up five more fast track courts only for cases filed under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. A Cabinet meeting was also chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on whose initiative the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, on September 3, weeks after the rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata triggered mass protests. During discussion on the Bill in the Assembly in September last year, Banerjee had said that Bengal then had 88 fast track courts and 62 POCSO courts.
In a parallel development, Moloy Ghatak who is also in-charge of the Labour department said that the state government would run a jute mill in South 24-Parganas’ Budge Budge that was shut down in 2016.
The state would run the jute mill in coordination with its employees. The mill currently has 2,870 employees. The minister also pointed out that the state government provides Rs 1,500 to the employees. During Puja time all the employees of the jute mills in the state receive Rs 1,500 from the state government, Ghatak added.
The minister also claimed in the House that state has secured zero child labour in the state. In 2020, there were 14 child labourers in the state which reduced to 1 in 2023.
