A juvenile home in Ranchi where minors are awaiting the Juvenile Justice Board to try their cases and dispose the same quickly. Picture by Ashok Karan

Ranchi, Sept. 25: Juveniles, languishing in observation homes in the state, have a reason to cheer up after the formation of Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) for prompt hearing of their cases and their speedy disposal.

Director of social welfare department Puja Singhal said JJB members have been asked to start taking up the juvenile cases of observation homes from October 1.

A number of children, arrested for various crimes, have been languishing in observation homes in state?s seven districts ? Ranchi, Deoghar, Dumka, Hazaribagh, Chaibasa, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad ? as their cases have been pending for a long time in courts.

The team of 21 JJB members (three from each district) said they were hopeful that the pending juvenile cases would be solved soon.

The main aim of the JJB, formed on August 25, 2005, is to dispose of the cases and provide justice to the juveniles who have been languishing in the observation homes, they added.

According to official figures, the number of juveniles languishing in the state observation homes is at least 500. While in Ranchi observation home it is 200 (190 males and 10 females), in Jamshedpur observation home, it stands as 153 (148 males and 5 females).

The JJB members are also entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the food and lodging for the juveniles residing at different observation homes.

The members recently visited the observation homes to know the conditions in which the juveniles are living there and distributed clothes.

The members said they have asked the authorities to improve the diet of the children and urged the government to engage them in various vocational courses that would help them become self-reliant after their release.

Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a member of the board, said the Ranchi observation team would form a court and try to pronounce judgments within four months.