INTRODUCTION

For many young people today, traditional patterns guiding the relationships and transitions between family, school and work are being challenged. Social relations that ensure a smooth process of socialization are collapsing; lifestyle trajectories are becoming more varied and less predictable. Youth nowadays, regardless of gender, social origin or country of residence, are subject to individual risks but are also being presented with new individual opportunities some beneficial and some potentially harmful. Quite often, advantage is being taken of illegal opportunities as young people commit various offences, become addicted to drugs, and use violence against their peers. Juvenile delinquency has been in every stage regarded as a problem peculiar to the contemporary society while the fact is that like adult criminal behaviour it has always existed in some form or the other and there is no apparent reason to expect that it will not remain so in future .This phenomenon has two dimension basis. Firstly, the violation of any code of conduct ,whether for adults or for young people , is inevitable.Secondly, the definition of juvenile delinquency as deviant child behaviour itself depends upon the norms laid down by society and clash of values due to generation gap is bound to occur. Children are an important asset, every effort should be made to provide them equal oppurtunities for development so that they become robust citizens, physically fit, mentally alert and morally healthy endowed with the skills and motivations needed by society. The child of today is the citizen of tomorrow , the criminal tendency in youngsters must, therefore be timely curbed so that they do not turn into habitual criminals in their future life.

WHAT IS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY?

Etimologically, the term delinquency has been derived from the Latin word delinquer which means to omit. The Romans used the term to refer to the failure of a person to perform the assigned task or duty. It was William Coxson who in 1484, used the term delinquent to describe a person found guilty of customary offence. In simpler words it can be said that delinquency is a form of behaviour or rather misbehaviour or deviation from the generally accepted norms of conduct in the society. However, the penologists have interpreted the word juvenile delinquency differently. Generally speaking, the term refers to large variety of disapproved behaviour of children and adolescents which the society does not approve of, and for which some kind of admonishment, punishment or corrective measure is justified in the public interest. It may, therefore, be inferred that a juvenile is an adolescent person between childhood and manhood or womanhood, as the case may be, who indulges in some kind of anti-social behavior, which if not checked, may turn him into a potential offender. It is not easy to give a precise definition of juvenile delinquency. Several factors are responsible for not allowing a clear-cut formulation. One hurdle is the choice between the social and legal definitions. Sociologists insist that legal definitions are of no help in understanding the true nature of delinquency and in knowing who are juvenile offenders , since the arrest or conviction of a child may depend upon various fortuitous circumstances. They also maintain that legal definitions differ from place to place and time to time hence are not suitable for scientific studies. The reasons as to why legal definitions are to be preferred are the same as in the case of the definition of crime. The legal definition of juvenile delinquency is obvious any act prohibited by law for children upto a prescribed age limit is juvenile delinquency and it follows, therefore, that a child found to have committed an act of juvenile delinquency by a court is juvenile delinquent. Under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)Act, 2000 juvenile or child means a person who has not completed eighteen years of age , be he a boy or a girl.The Act provides uniform age for both boys and girls.The question is often raised as to the date that is to be reckoned for determining the age of the juvenile.Whether it is the date of committing the offence or the date of arrest or trial.The Supreme Court took the liberal view

holding the age on the day of commission of the offence as the relevant age. 1This view was reaffirmed by the court in Pratap Singh v. State.2

1 2

Raj Singh v. State of Haryana, (2000)6 SCC 759:2000 SCC(Cri)1270. (2005) 3 SCC 551:2005 SCC (Cri)742.

HISTORY OF JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

The movement for special treatment of juvenile offenders started towards the end of eighteenth century. Prior to this, juvenile offenders were dealt with exactly like those of adults.The crusade against harshness towards young offenders began in 1772 when certain special concessions were granted to juvenile delinquents in civil matters such as probate , gift and will etc. The Apprentices Act, 1850 was the first legislation dealing with children in conflict with law, providing for binding over of children under the age of 15 years found to have committed petty offences as apprentices. Subsequently, the Reformatory Schools Act, 1897 provided that children up to the age of 15 years sentenced to imprisonment may be sent to reformatory schools rather than prison. The Madras Act started the era of diversion of all children from the criminal justice system by establishment of a separate juvenile court and the residential institutions under it in 1920 which was followed by many other States. The Children Acts passed around this time had certain common features though they laid down different cut-off ages for defining children. They all included two categories of children: delinquent and neglected children. However, the definition of neglected children differed in these legislations. They all provided for establishment of a separate childrens court to deal with all cases of children covered by the Children Act. Use of prison was permitted in exceptional circumstances under these legislations. Parliament enacted the first central legislation, namely, the Children Act, 1965 as the model legislation. All the states that enacted their Children Acts after 1960 followed the same pattern. The central Act was applicable only to the Union Territories. The Children Act, 1960 introduced a sexdiscriminatory definition of child and established two separate adjudicatory bodies to deal with children in conflict with law and children in need of care.It prohibited imposition of death penalty or sentence of imprisonment or use of jails or police station for keeping children under any circumstance. In 1986, Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice Act for the whole country.The Act was enforced throughout the territory of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir on October 2, 1987, bringing in a uniform system of juvenile justice throughout the country. While it retained the scheme and primary features of the Children Act 1960, the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 substituted the word juvenile for child. It continued the same sex-discriminatory

definition of child. It provided two separate authorities to deal with the two categories of delinquent and neglected children. In 2000, Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children)Act, 2000 as it found it expedient to re-enact the existing law relating to juveniles bearing in mind the standards prescribed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 ,the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, 1985 (the Beijing Rules), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (1990), and all other relevant international instruments. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 was amended in 2006 and new Model Rules, 2007 under it were notified on October 26, 2007. These Model Rules are applicable to every state unless replaced by their own new Rules.

NATURE AND EXTENT OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

It is very hard to define juvenile delinquency in terms of deviance from conduct norms because norms vary from place to place. The attitudes and actions of parents exercise an important influence on whether a child is found to be incorrigible and disobedient or compliant and receptive to the learning experience. The policies of the police and the attitudes in the community can influence the notion of what delinquency is. Juveniles today are handled differently and separately from adults in almost every phase of the criminal justice system. Boys who come before the juvenile courts usually present delinquency problems different from those of girls. Figures show that the most usual charges in boys cases are the stealing or attempted stealing and the acts of carelessness or mischief, whereas the closely related charges of running away, ungovernable or beyond parental control and sex offence appear more often in cases of girls. Crimes committed by the juvenile may range from petty offences to heinous offences.It has been found that offences committed by the juveniles to the total IPC crimes reported in the country has shown a declining trend since 1989.From 1.2 percent in 1989 it has got down.Though it showed some marginal increase between 1995-1996 but again went down to 0.5 percent in 1997-1999.Under the IPC a total of 16,509 cases were registered against juveniles during the year 2001 showing an increase of 78.1 percent against such cases in 2000.Similarly a total of 8332 cases of juveniles were reported under SLL during 2001 as against 5154 cases in 2000.The share of crimes committed by the juveniles during 2001 was 0.9 percent and it was increased to 1 percent in 2002.The share increased to 1.1 percent in the year 2006. The number of juvenile crimes in 2007 increased by 8.4 per cent over 2006 with 22,865 crimes by juveniles registered during 2007, up from 21,088 in 2006. A total of 34,527 juveniles were apprehended during 2007 out of which 32,671 were boys and 1,856 were girls.

CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

There is no single cause of juvenile delinquency. The foundations of delinquent behavior are usually laid in very early childhood. Many factors may contribute to produce delinquency, but the central problem in any case is, after all, the delinquent himself. Juveniles choice of delinquent careers and the consequent perpetuation of delinquency are fostered by a wide range of factors, the most important of which are described below: Family Environment: The family has a strong influence on development of delinquent behaviour .The behaviour of the parents with the children and the behaviour of the parents amongst themselves is of vital concern in moulding the child psychology from the very beginning. The way the child is nursed is very important throughout his life.The families where the parents indulge in undesirable activities e.g., use of filthy language, quarrelsomeness, drug and alcohol addiction smoking, gambling, the unfair business dealings, corrupt practices in their official functions have undesirable and corrupting impact on immature mind .Even such parents may fail to check their children due to examples having been set by themselves. Unprecedented increase in divorce cases and matrimonial disputes is yet another cause for disrupting family solidarity. Today, mans hold over his family is declining fast.Undue discrimination among children or step motherly treatment also has an adverse psychological effects on youngsters. Urbanisation: The industrial development and economic growth has resulted into urbanization which in turn has given rise to new problems such as housing, slum dwelling, overcrowding, lack of parental control and family disintegration and so on. Moreover, temptation for modern luxuries of life lures young people to resort to wrongful means to satisfy their wants. All these factors cumulatively lead to an enormous increase in juvenile delinquency in urban areas. Associational Impact: When the child starts to move outside his family, he comes in contact with various classes of persons of all age and both the genders. He develops a definite circle of association outside the home and also in the school also.The associational impact of the children is very
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important. He adapts the culture of the group to which he is associated. If he falls in bad association, he starts to behave accordingly. If the parents are negligent in keeping their children in discipline, the children may suffer irreparably throughout the whole period of life. They may develop delinquency and that may ultimately turn into criminality with the maturity of age. Adolescence Instability: The biological, psychological, and sociological factors are important in adolescent behaviour.Puberty or physical maturity is also an important factor. The intolerance against restrictions appear in this age. The problem of adolescence is not so much in the societies which are less fluid because the elders always keep their eyes on their children during the transition period i.e in the age of adolescence. The problem becomes more when the adolescents are not kept in containment and their growth is not chasted.The pushes and pulls of adolescence in various directions are responsible for delinquency. Failure in the school life: Some children may not be mentally prepared to go to the school and learn things taught there and the parents force them to go to the school. Some of the children adjust themselves and start the learning process although with indifference.While others may think it cruelty by their parents. They therefore may leave classes and become truants. They in order to conceal this fact,may pass their school-time at some other place. The poor schooling these days is also responsible for the children to think that there is no use of going to the school. They may develop other delinquent behaviours also. There are also children who due to failure in the examinations may be mentally disturbed and may leave home just to avoid the shame and may fall prey to the vicious activities. Poverty: Poverty is a cause of delinquency and so of juvenile delinquency. When the children see others enjoying the life with comforts and better living, the discontentment and consequently the desire to have these things by hook or crook develops giving birth to delinquency. Failure of parents to provide necessities of life draws their children to delinquency in a quest for earning money by whatever means. At times, even the parents connive at this for the sake of petty monetary gains.

 Media: People in a society are simply blind followers of values, beliefs and ideologies that are propagated by its various media. The same holds true for children. Violent video games, movies, cartoons and the like cater to young, impressionable minds and implant value systems which we would consider quite inappropriate in them. Insensitivity to the value of life, to ethics, to ethical practices is held in high esteem by the media we encounter every single day of our lives. This passes on to children and invariably they end up believing in things that can lead them to get themselves involved in anti social activities. Trauma: Traumatic incidents in the life of the young people correlates with delinquent behaviour. A sad and unfortunate reality of life in our modern world is that far too many children and young people are abused and traumatized everyday.Some of these abuses are infrequences whereas other occur on a regular basis. The abuse may vary in nature as physical, sexual or psychological or as a combination.

EFFECTS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Juvenile delinquency is the behaviour of minors who break the law. Many times this is a natural part of rebelliousness that comes with youth, but other times it can be a serious sign of a maladjusted child. Nonetheless, numerous concequences follow when people participate in crime as juvenile delinquents. Not only does the problem affect the victims of the crime; it also affects the juvenile delinquent's family, future, and society as a whole. The effects that follow are: Effect on the Victims: The most obvious people affected by juvenile delinquency are the victims. Whether the crime involves theft, vandalism, or violence, the victim always suffers loss. The victim may incur expenses related to lost wages, health, care, or psychological care in addition to the cost of replacing damaged or destroyed items. Effect on the Juvenile Delinquent: The juvenile who commits a crime also suffers effects that he or she is probably unable to predict. Juvenile delinquents who get caught create a paper trail that can haunt them throughout their life. He or she may lose his or her freedom while being incarcerated or placed on probation. The juvenile may lose ground academically as well. Although placement in residential detention centers for juveniles may be appropriate consequences for the adolescent's criminal actions, it also puts him or her in relationships with other delinquents, who may be more sophisticated or influential. This makes recidivism likely.The delinquency may even have future consequences on the adolescent's college and career choices. Arrest records, court records and even a criminal record might show up on job applications and background checks for many years to come. Effect on the Families: The upheaval and trauma of having a family member who is a juvenile delinquent can create instability for the other relatives. Not only does the family have to cope with the needs of the child who is in trouble, but they may also have to raise large amounts of money to pay for lawyers. In addition, the family has to face the ethical issues of responsibility to the victims of the child's crime.
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 Effect on the Community: There is a correlation between juvenile delinquency and drug use, gang involvement, alcohol abuse, and sexual behaviour. All of these issues challenge communities by making neighbourhoods unsafe and costing large amounts of public money to be spent on law enforcement and school safety. Since crimes are a matter of public record, juvenile delinquents can develop a reputation in the community. Even if the delinquent isn't convicted of a crime, the arrest and accusation can be enough to create suspicion and take away the benefit of the doubt. Even without official action and punishment, juvenile delinquents can suffer from major hits to credibility and trust among other people. Effect on the Society: Young people who commit serious crimes before they are 18 years old challenge the future for everyone involved. They may be acting out to protest perceived abuses that have been perpetrated against them. They may believe that there is no future for them outside of a life of crime. They may be expressing anger or frustration directed against another person or group or looking for approval from a gang. Whatever the motive, juvenile delinquency affects too many individuals, families, and communities. It is a serious problem that challenges the efforts of government agencies, politicians, educators, faith communities, and nonprofit organizations alike.

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PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

At no time is the child more in need of careful study and sympathetic understanding than when he has come into conflict 'with the law. It is largely accidental to-day just which of the children manifesting less serious conduct problems are apprehended and brought before the court. The important thing is to discover just what it was that caused the individual child to break the laws which society enacts to protect its own security, and why this particular child succumbed to temptations when other children in his own environment were able to resist them. There is a growing realization that society is paying too much for the care of criminals and too little for the prevention of crime. The constantly mounting toll of juvenile delinquency is presenting a major threat to problem of crime prevention in recent decades. Prevention requires individual, group and organizational efforts aimed at keeping adolescents from breaking the law. Early preventive work is being carried out in several areas. Some of them are described below. Recreational measures: Recreation to the children as far as others is very important for a healthy mind.To the child nothing is more important and serious than playing.The game which he plays must be wholesome and helpful in his constructive building. The children prone to creating problems for themselves as well as for others if engaged in games may be reformed or else in course of time they may create mental disorderas to become violent and criminals. Redirecting conflict-gangs: The conflict gang problem can be cured through the mechanism ranging from outright suppression to working with gangs so that the offenders can be directed to those activities which are acceptable to the society. The members of the gang can be lured to other pursuits.Those who are hard-core criminals are reluctant to leave their gangs.A large number of such persons suffer from personality disturbance or think themselves not adequate to the conventional settings.The gang members are helped to find out the employment.Sometimes activities of gangs are rechannelized while not disturbing gangs.The workers by keeping themselves close to conflict gangs win the confidence of the leaders of the gang and persuade them to follow peaceful life.

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 Income Generation: Within the economic sector, professional development programmes are being set up to provide legal alternatives for income generation. Supplying adolescents and young people with increased economic opportunities, professional training and education, new workplaces and assistance in organizing businesses can help prevent youth involvement in delinquent activities. Educational and Vocational instructions: In reformative institutions and prisons the offenders are given educational and vocational instructions so that they may be reformed and on the completion of their sentence term, they may go back to the society as good citizens by pursuing the course of conduct in conformity to the society. Community Influences: Beyond the walls of home and school lies another world in which the child will spend more and more of his time which, therefore, helps to shape his personality and to influence his conduct and his attitude towards life which is known as, community. As the child seeks to satisfy his budding curiosity, his need for new experiences and his desire for adventure and achievement the community will have an ever-increasing attraction for him, since these needs can never be fully satisfied by his home, his school, nor, in the case of the child who may leave school to go to work, by his job. Regardless of the extent to which these agencies afford him security and opportunities for development and achievement the community will inevitably claim its share of that portion of the child's life designated as " leisure time Where these agencies fail him, he will all the sooner turn to this outside world for compensation. Family: The family, as the primary institution of socialization, appears to play the most important role in the prevention of child and juvenile delinquency. The most impressive prevention efforts focus on the families of troubled youth, including those young people with serious behaviour problems. In this connection special attention must be given to street children and to children and adolescents who have lost their families and have thus had no appropriate family surveillance. The majority of programmes serving street children are remedial in nature, as they operate on an adhoc basis, providing food, clothing and occasionally shelter and health services. Special programmes are needed to tackle the problem of unaccompanied and homeless children, including rehabilitation schemes that take children off the streets.

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 Restorative Justice: Prevention of recurrent crime is best achieved through restorative justice, which is usually carried out by non-governmental remedial organizations and local communities. Restorative justice is regarded as an alternative mode of criminal justice. It involves a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a specific offence come together and collectively determine how best to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future.The offender, through interaction with the victim, must understand the seriousness of the incident and together with the victim and social workers develop a series of steps towards reconciliation, arranging reparations for damages and providing whatever remedial assistance the victim might require. If successful resolution occurs, the juvenile is not placed in a correctional facility or labelled a delinquent, thereby avoiding the influence of an environment (jail) that can reinforce delinquent behaviour. Agencies and Institutions Caring for Delinquent Children A child's first right is to his home, and education in the family is a better preparation for life in the community than training in an institution. In some cases the child's needs for security and development cannot be met adequately in his own home, and the best possible substitute for normal home life is a foster home or an institution. Whichever type of care is chosen, the underlying purpose must always be to provide for the child's needs for security and development which have been seriously thwarted before his removal from his own home, and in either case social agencies should cooperate to make his home environment suitable for his return.The institutions such as observation Homes, Childrens Homes, Special Homes, Shelter Homes, Reformatory Schools and Brostals are meant to eliminate prison sentence to children and adolescents under a particular age group. Punishment: Punishment not only deters the offenders and others from committing the crime in future but also acts as a preventive measure.The offender by physical punishment of incarcenanation is segregated from the society for some time and thus he is prevented from committing the crime. Mutilation of offenders is also meant to disable the offenders.

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JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN INDIA

The juvenile justice system in India contemplates the legal response with respect to two categories of children, namely those who are 'in conflict with law' (an individual under the age of 18 years who is accused of committing an offence); and those in need of care and protection' (children from deprived and marginalized sections of society as well as those with different needs and vulnerabilities). The juvenile justice policy in India is structured around the Constitutional mandate prescribed in the language of Articles 15(3), 39 (e) & (f), 45 and 47, as well as several international covenants, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules). The guiding principles relating to the treatment of children and young delinquents are now contained in two central Acts , namely the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of children) Act, 2000 and the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958. The latter Act provides for release of juvenile offenders on probation. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 Prior to the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 the policy was based on the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 and various State legislations dealing with the rights and welfare of children. However, a review of the working of the said legislations indicated that much greater attention was required and a distinction had to be drawn between the treatment of children in conflict with the law and those in need of care and protection. In this regard, one of the key objectives of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 was to create a separate system of justice-dispensation for instances where children are accused of committing offences, distinct from the criminal justice system for adults. This Act also contemplates the effective involvement of informal social arrangements at the level of the family, voluntary organisations and the community. The Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act,2000 seeks to use the term child as distinguished from juvenile while both of them have been defined as a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age. However, the distinct usage gets blurred in many sections and interpreting the sections strictly by reference to the specific term used in different parts of the sections results in confusion. As is apparent from the nomenclature of the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act,2000, it provides for a segregated

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approach in dealing with the two categories of children covered under it, namely, juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. It continues to have two separate adjudicatory bodies to deal with the two categories of children i.e Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee. The Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act,2000 lays down that juveniles in conflict with law may be kept in an observation home while children in need of care and protection need to be kept in a children home during the pendency of proceedings before the competent authority. A revolutionary change introduced by the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act,2000 is in the constitution of the children court referred to as the Juvenile Justice Board. It is constituted as a bench consisting of one Magistrate and two social workers. The decisions are to be made by majority and the Magistrate has a casting vote in case of a tie. The Juvenile Justice Board is required to determine age, decide the question of bail, determine if the child has committed the alleged offence or not, as well as pass appropriate orders in the matter. In deciding any of these matters, the two social workers together may overrule the decision of the Magistrate. It means that the members of the Juvenile Justice board do not have to decide the matter in strict compliance of technicalities of laws as two of the three members of the Juvenile Justice Board are non-law persons. The Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act,2000 has provided for appointment of special police officer in each police station to deal with children under it. It continues to provide for grant of bail to all children irrespective of the offence being bailable or non-bailable, except when the release will expose the child to moral danger or bring the child in contact with known criminals or will be against the interest of justice.Under the Act the state government has to establish childrens homes and shelter homes under its supervision and control. It was widely perceived that even the 2000 Act did not achieve what it set out to do and that the justice-delivery system for juveniles continues to suffer from neglect and apathy. An amendment was made to the Act in 2006, with the primary intent of speeding up the administration of justice for juveniles. Due emphasis was also placed on the integration of children from deprived sections into the social mainstream. The amendment also reflected the legislatures concern that the various duties and responsibilities cast on State Governments by the 2000 Act were not being met and many States had not framed the requisite rules under the same. This concern was addressed by inserting a proviso to Section 68, wherein the Model Rules that were to be framed by the Central Government were made applicable to the States

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until such point of time that the State Governments made rules which were to be in conformity with the Central Model Rules. Subsequently the Model Rules were framed by the Central Government in 2007. They prescribe and restate the fundamental principles involved in the administration of Juvenile Justice and the protection of Children .The principles are to be borne in mind by all the concerned stakeholders while discharging their duties under the Act.

Besides, certain special provisions also exist in the Indian Penal Code and The Code of Criminal Procedure ,1973.They are as follows: Indian Penal Code Section 82 and 83 of IPC contain elaborate provisions regarding the extent of criminal liability of children belonging to different age groups .A child below the age of seven is doli incapax i.e incapable of committing a crime. Likewise , a child between seven and twelve years of age has only a limited criminal liability. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 Section 360 of the code provides that when any person who is below 21 years of age is convicted of an offence not being punishable with death or life imprisonment and no previous conviction is proved against such person, the court may, having regard to the age and other circumstances of the case order release of the offender on probation of good conduct for a period not exceeding 3 years on entering into a bond with or without sureties , instead of sentencing him to any punishment. Section 27 of the code provides that if a person below 16 years of age commits an offence other than the one punishable with death or life imprisonment he should be awarded a lenient punishment depending upon his previous history. His sentence can further be commuted for good behaviour during the term of his imprisonment.

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CONCLUSION
Children are innocent, vulnerable and dependent. Abandoning children and excluding good foundation of life for them is a crime against humanity.Children cannot and should not be treated as chattels or saleable commodities or play things. They are in flesh and blood with life as much as elders are and they are also capable of becoming as great, as good or as useful as elders and even more. Therefore, they are to be provided with all necessary facilities and atmosphere to grow into responsible and useful citizens of the country. For the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, a child should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding. Adults cannot barter away the future of the children. There must be conscious and continuous effort by all the concerned to take care of the children to ensure wholesome development of their personality. In dealing with juvenile delinquents, it is important to focus on their rehabilitation rather than punishment. A positive approach should be taken in dealing with these children. While dealing with the juvenile delinquents by the respective authorities it is necessary to understand the psyche of such offenders. It should be borne in mind that the accused concerned is a juvenile who does not have the proper understanding of the intricate details of law and hence is unaware of the legality of a particular act he involves himself in. Therefore, the concerned authorities should encourage the juvenile concerned to understand that his actions are against his morality and detrimental to the society as a whole. Children should be motivated, inspired and persuaded to possess good qualities and human values. Children can be inspired to possess these qualities so that when they grow, they should be able to build bridges between man and man irrespective of regions, religions, caste, community, language etc., based on mutual love and trust and not the walls of hatred, violence and distrust. It is both expedient and convenient to infuse these qualities in the children from the beginning so that the future of the country can be safe in their hands. Children being supreme asset of the country, they are to be looked after and groomed well not merely on the basis of constitutional or statutory provisions but also with great human touch and concern.Therefore it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that they are able to live safely and with dignity. Efforts should be made from everybody concerned to make sure that their exploitation is curbed at all costs. Helping the young to develop into active, contributing citizens is essential for the development of a nation.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prof.N.V.Paranjape; Criminology and Penology,13th Ed,2008;Central Law Publication; Allahabad. Dr. S.S.Srivastava; Criminology and Criminal Administration; 3rd Ed; 2007; Central Law Agency;Allahabad. Ahmad Siddiqui; Criminology and Penology;6th Ed; 2009; Eastern Book Company; lucknow. Internet: http://www.wikipedia.com http://www.google.com http://www.ehow.com http://www.sagepub.com http://www.indiastudychannel.com http://www.delinquencyprevention.org http://www.pucl.org http://www.ssrn.com

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