India has seen a rise in the number of Child Care Institutions supported under Mission Vatsalya in the last three years. However, government data showed that the actual number of children supported under institutional care through the Mission Vatsalya scheme has come down significantly.
In response to a question raised by Mansukhbhai Vasava of the BJP in Parliament regarding the number of orphanages in the country along with the inmates residing in them, the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur, stated that the country currently has 3,010 Child Care Institutions under the Mission Vatsalya scheme.
What is Mission Vatsalya?
Mission Vatsalya is a centrally sponsored scheme operated through state and union territory governments on a pre-defined cost-sharing basis between the central and state governments.
It aims to deliver various services for children in difficult circumstances, including both institutional care and non-institutional care services. The scheme provides support to Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) as well as Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) for their rehabilitation and social reintegration into mainstream society.
According to the data, the number of Child Care Institutions in India in 2021-22 was 2,245, which has increased to 3,010 in 2024-25. However, the number of children supported under institutional care through the Mission Vatsalya scheme has declined significantly.
Under the mission, in 2021-22, 76,118 children were housed in these care homes. This number dropped to 57,940 in 2022-23, and in 2023-24, the number was 62,592. In 2024-25 also the same number of children are supported.
States such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh have experienced a decline in the number of children being supported through these centres.
However, northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram have seen an increase in the numbers. Notably, the fund-sharing pattern in most states follows a 60:40 ratio between the centre and the state.
In contrast, the eight northeastern states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura—along with the two Himalayan states, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, follow a 90:10 ratio between the centre and the state.