DCPCR to rehabilitate 72 kids found begging on streets
New Delhi: Child begging remains a seroius problem in the city as Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in a recent survery found that as many as 72 children were begging on the street of South East Delhi. The child rights body has started a pilot project to curb the menace. The data accessed by Millennium Post claimed that children were found begging at 29 places in the district. The highest number of kids were found in places like Tuglakhabad–10 children, Nehru Place–9, Mool Chand–5, New Friends Colony–5, Badarpur–4 and Sarita Vihar–4.
The other places were identified as Ali Vihar, Amar Colony, Batla House, GK-1, GK-2, Govindpuri, Jamia Nagar, Jasola, Julena, Kailash, Kalindi Kunj,Lajpat Nagar, Maharani Bagh, Mohan Estate, Nehru Enclave, Nehru Place, Nizamuddin, Okhla, Okhla Phase-2, Pulprahaladpur, Sangam Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan. The survey was conducted last year regarding the child begging.
The children are aged from 1 to 15 years. "In some cases, we found that mother or father with one-year-old kids in their lap was begging," said DCPCR official. As many as 43 instances, DCPCR team with their stakeholders found these children begging near metro stations, bus stops, markets, near traffic red light, under the flyover, parks.
Talking to Millennium Post, DCPCR member Roop Sudesh Vimal said that they have been continuously counselling children as well as their parents. "We have also started a pilot project for the rehabilitation of these children. We are continuously doing the follow-ups on these children and their families," said Vimal.
He further added that under the pilot project, these kids will be first give an identity in the form of Aadhaar card and then they will be enroled in the school and other government schemes. "Their parents are also being sensitized on the laws related to kids," added DCPCR member. The child rights body is also maintaining a vigil to prevent any new child from joining the menace of child begging.
According to Delhi Police Annual Report of 2018, Crime Branch had also conducted a survey of children begging at various traffic intersections to find whether they were forced into begging by some organized gang. However, the survey did not reveal the involvement of any organized gang behind child begging.
