Safety of street kids in focus: Seven state commissions to meet in Delhi

New Delhi: Child rights body from seven states including Delhi will meet in the city to discuss the issue of children living in street situations. According to the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), in spite of their high prevalence there is negligible data on the number of children in street situations in the country. They are also deprived of their basic rights such as the right to identity and life of dignity with access to basic education, health and skilling.

"To highlight and discuss more on this issue and also to find sustainable solutions for these children to access their rights, the state of Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh will meet," said DCPCR.

Rita Singh, member DCPCR, stated that they have been working to provide Aadhar cards to children living in street situations. "On the ground, we have faced challenges like lack of machines for Aadhar registration in districts, non-functional or faulty machines at the time of registration," said Singh adding that there is also lack of human resources to reach out to more number of children.

Singh further stated that Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for children in street situations is implemented on the states that are participating in the discussion. "During meeting, we will come to know about the effect of SOP on children and also solutions to make these kids' life better," said Singh.

In recently held survey done by child rights body, it was found that more than 4,000 families were found sleeping without any roof in the city. The DCPCR data claimed that as many as 2,775 children under age group (0-3 years), 8,129 under (3-6 years), 46,848 under (6-14 years) and more than 12,000 children under 15-18 years were found residing on the streets of Delhi.