The Mehbooba Mufti government has constituted the Selection-cum-Oversight Committees for monitoring and evaluation of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), a move that is bound to ensure children will not be arrested for stone-pelting. The Committee has been mandated for the creation of Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in the state.
Minister of Social Welfare, Sajjad Gani Lone, said that in a conflict area like Kashmir, such systems are necessary to save the minors from draconian laws like the Public Safety Act (PSA). The state government has under the SRO-75 appointed former Judge of J&K High Court Hasnain Masoodi as its chairman. During the 2016 unrest, hundreds of minors were arrested by the police on stone-pelting charges.
With rumours of fresh unrest in the offing in Kashmir, the state government wants to send out a positive message to the people. The J&K Police has started a drive to do counselling of stone-pelters and has decided to drop the cases against them if they are not habitual stone-throwers.
In the last week of February 2017, hundreds of Kashmiri youths, including girls, were counselled by J&K Police about their careers in the most restive areas of Shopian in South Kashmir. State Police Chief Shesh Paul Vaid told the media that hundreds of youths who had been counselled, have agreed that they will return to their normal life and pursue their careers and education. He said that he has decided to portray J&K Police as a force which is there to help the young boys and girls get educated. J&K Police has roped in many important consultants and local officers for holding counseling sessions with young boys who were involved in stone-pelting incidents during the 2016 unrest.