SSC Selection Post 2024 Matriculation Level Question Paper (20-Jun-2024) (Shift-1)

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.On 14 November 2022, the POCSO Act completed a decade of being on the statute books in India. When enacted, it marked the culmination of years of campaigning for a dedicated domestic legislation to deal with sexual offenses against children. Ten years is a reasonable period of time to look back and reflect on how far it has been able to meet the objectives it set out to achieve.Objectives of the law: The need for a dedicated law to deal with sexual offenses against children emanated from a realisation that, by failing to account for the specific needs of child victims, the criminal justice system's response to such cases lacked the sensitivity required. To address this concern, the POCSO Act in addition to providing punishment for sexual offenses against children, provided certain safeguards to make children's interaction with the criminal justice system 'child-friendly'. For instance, the child victim should not see the accused at the time of testifying and that trial be held in camera. The evidence of a child shall be recorded within a period of 30 days. The trial court completes the trial, as far as possible, within a period of one year from the date of cognisance. The POCSO rules, 2020 also made a provision for appointment of support persons for victims to render assistance.Hurdles in implementation: Implementing a new law in a vast country like India is not an easy task. Though the child protection ecosystem is complex and involves the interplay of multiple actors, when it comes to courts, the delay in disposal of POCSO cases presents one of the biggest challenges in meeting the Act's objectives. There is a huge variation in the average case length across states. For instance, Chandigarh takes about six months (on average) to dispose of a case, Himachal Pradesh takes about two years 10 months. Slow disposals not only impact the accused who might be incarcerated during the duration of the trial but also negatively impact the child victim who might be retraumatised.Lessons learnt: Though the Act's implementation is far from perfect, the fact remains that the criminal justice system is more sensitive towards child victims today than it was a decade ago. Since some states are clearly performing better than others, certain best practices can be adopted by other states.Going forward, the government and the judiciary need to assess the gaps in implementation and strengthen the capacity of the various actors to meet the objectives of the Act. Select the most appropriate title for the passage.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.[Same Passage as Above]Which of the following statements is NOT correct, according to the passage?

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.[Same Passage as Above]What is the view of the writer on one decade of the POCSO Act?

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.[Same Passage as Above]Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.The POCSO Act deals with _______

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.[Same Passage as Above]Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the word 'incarcerate'.