Child begging menace reaches alarming proportions

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 13

There has been a big rise in child begging after the lockdown with children being seen present at every traffic light point, marketplace, outside schools and colleges and shops.

One can spot groups of children begging at Kabir Park market situated opposite Guru Nanak Dev University, market areas of Ranjit Avenue, Lawrence road, eating joints on the Queen’s road, Cooper Road, Mall Mandi Chowk, markets inside the Hall Gate.

The number of children begging on roads, especially girls, has sharply increased on roads after the lockdown. They keep pestering people until they give some money to them.

Balram Kumar Sharma, president, Punjab Sudhar Sabha, said, “The problem has become more aggravating after the lifting of the lockdown. The people behind these groups of children are trying to cash in on the emotions of people which were shaped up by the stories of people helping others in distress.”

He said a good gesture was to provide them good education. Though India had introduced the Right to Education Act way back in 2010, which gives legal guarantee to provide free and compulsory education to children, these children were seen wandering on roads and seeking alms. They do not go to any school. They look fit to be enrolled in pre-primary and primary classes.

The Right to Education law, providing free and compulsory schooling to children in the 6-14 year age bracket came into force on April 1, 2010. Yet no sincere efforts were being noticed on the part of the departments concerned to enrol them to provide mandatory and free of cost education.

Dr Himanshu Aggarwal, ADC, said the District Child Protection unit had been asked to immediately check this and take action.