We should all collectively hang our heads in shame at the thought of the number of children being kidnapped, trafficked and abused, for the mere purpose of making some money out of them. India consists of the world’s largest number of child beggars, a number that has been rising at a rapid pace. The rescue missions, the counseling, the rehabilitation processes require tremendous courage, patience, and compassion, and it’s high time to tread towards a path of betterment, otherwise, the future of a youth-centric nation will be pretty dark.
As the sun rises in the morning, it brings with it new hopes. But do all citizens have similar hopes, or even hope for the next day? The answer to this question is heart wrenching enough to give us a reality check, because there are people who don’t even know if they would manage a meal the next day to fill their stomachs. The children on the streets have lost all hopes of even being able to dream, as they have accepted their fate.
Child beggary is no more a small issue, it is a societal concern now, as millions of children have been forced into this highly worrisome menace. Everyday, we see a number of children begging on the roads and we just turn our backs to them. Is this how we are trying to eradicate this problem from our country. Obviously not. We need to stand together to beat this demon, which is gradually sinking into the roots of the nation.
The other day, following my daily routine, I was heading back home in the evening. The redness of the sky felt so calm, until I noticed a few child beggars sitting in a group, counting coins, under the foot-over bridge of the Polytechnic crossing in the city of Nawabs. They were all counting the coins all in a hurry, as if scared that someone would snatch those away from them. While I observed them, a woman came out of the blue, and snatched all the money from them. Soon enough, a 3-year-old girl walked up to me, with folded hands, and begged me for some money. When I refused, she clung on to my legs. I asked her for her name and tried to inquire more about her, but she ignored me and walked away, into the crowd.
The State Has Strict Laws Against Child Begging, But To No Avail
The team of News Times Post investigated this matter for two long months and during the investigation, we found out that the situation of child beggary is alarming enough to jeopardise the future of millions of children in the country. The frightening outcome has shaken all of us. But the reality is not what it seems. There are organized groups that are running these scams to make money.
Innocent kids are been trapped into this nexus and are being exploited by the mafias. Child beggars from the age group of 4-6 years are seen begging at every crowded place, whether it is near a shopping mall, railway station, crossings or a police station, but the authority and the answerable departments ignore all this under their watch.
A few years back, a three-year-old Rehan (names changed) while walking with his uncle, accidentally let go of the latter’s hand, and couldn’t be traced anywhere. The family lodged an FIR in the police station, but that didn’t help. The family left no stone unturned to look for the boy. One day, they come across a 14-15 year old beggar who told them that he had seen Rehan begging at the Charbagh Railway Station (Lucknow), and that he was with a middle-aged woman. Waseem and his wife were traumatized. With no help from the police, they managed to locate the address of the woman, Shyama Devi, who had kidnapped their child. But when they reached the location, there was no sign of Rehan or Shyama Devi.
Shyama’s husband, Ram Ratan, who was there, confessed that Rehan was with his wife, and that she was taking him to Mokama Ghat, Patna, Bihar. Waseem, along with Ram Ratan, reached Mokama Ghat on the same day, but what he saw, startled them completely. Waseem told us that all that was there were slums, and children were being sold there for a mere Rs. 5,000, and the mafias used those children for begging and other illegal activities. After 18 days of an extensive search, they managed to locate their son and another child from Lucknow, who was also kidnapped by Shyama Devi. They managed to free them, without any police assistance.
Kidnapping the children in the capital and using them for begging, smuggling and child labour has become a new business, and the culprits operate from everywhere, be it a slum or a residential colony. All the organizations and units of police, established for the protection of children have failed to play an active role.
After examining various reports from police stations, the order of courts and other surveys by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), News Times-Post got to know about the existence of a nexus related to child begging. On 8 August, 2018, the High Court asked CWC why child begging was still so active, despite the existence of such strict laws? The next morning, Childline (Lucknow), District Child Protection Unit (DSPU), Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Special Juvenile Police Unit, Interns of Childline, rescued 15 child beggars and arrested two women who were responsible for forcing those children to beg, on the order of CWC.
Sources close to CWC and Bachpan Bachao Andolan told us that when we counseled those 15 children, they were hesitant to speak. Some of them were so frightened that they couldn’t tell where their native place was. An intern of Childline told us that it was pretty obvious that those children didn’t belong to that woman. Another thing which was suspicious was that one of the women introduced herself as Razia and said that her husband’s name was Alam (both Muslim names), but when we asked the names of their children, all were Hindu names. Interns told us that it was quite clear that both the women were outrageous liars. (All the documents related to this story are with News times Post)
Sudha Rani, a member of CWC, told us that the business of child begging is very well organized. She further told us that the arrested woman taught these children the techniques to beg and how to play victim while begging. The children were abused by the elders, boys were dressed as girls and there was even a school where they were trained to beg, in exchange for education.
Our investigation has revealed that the Social Welfare Association, District Probation Officer and CWC don’t have any statistics about the child beggars in Lucknow. Child begging is a violation of Article 21-A of the Constitution i.e., right to free and compulsory education in, as they are being deprived of this very basic right. Thousands of child beggars are living on the streets and are forced to live a nomadic life. On the other hand, people responsible for their condition are enjoying a luxurious lifestyle.
A source of CWC said that it is a matter of concern that no agency has the data of child beggars, but the Labour department is equally responsible for this as child begging is a form of child labour, and the department chooses to detach itself from this issue.
A senior employee of ‘Rajkiya Bal Grah (Balak) (Mohan Road, Lucknow) spoke to us about the statistics of child beggars in the city, and said that their number is so high that there isn’t enough space to provide shelter to them. He told us that there are various schemes for these children launched by the government. There is a scheme which provides education to these children, but all the concerned officials have turned a blind eye to it. The number of child beggars in the state is in lakhs, but the shelter homes are not equipped enough.
Integrated Child Protection Scheme and many more schemes are being operated under the Department of Women and Child Development. These schemes are for those children who are surviving in unfavorable conditions and are the victims of child labour, but on ground, those schemes haven’t been implemented accordingly. There is a lack of coordination between the special police units too.
(Investigative bilingual reportage published in Newstimespost.com)