The Krishna district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has expressed concerns over children begging in public places including temples, parks and junctions.
Teams comprising the officials of the Labour Department and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) and NGOs have been conducting drives against child begging and rescuing children. However, this appears to be falling short of curbing the menace.
The teams rescued six children, aged below 15 years, during the Devi Navarathri Utsavams in Vijayawada in October last year and produced them before the Krishna District Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
“A 12-year-old boy, who was studying in the fifth class in Khammam, was among the children rescued near the Prakasam Barrage,” said CWC Chairperson K. Suvartha, adding that the children were handed over to their parents after counselling.
Representatives of several NGOs said that children resorting to begging was not rare in the district.
Children were seen seeking alms at the Gunadala Matha Utsavams in Vijayawada in February and the ‘Prabhala Utsavam’ organised as part of Maha Sivaratri celebrations at Yenamalakuduru village in Krishna district in March, the NGO representatives said. They appealed to the officials to register cases under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 against those who forced children to seek alms.
Taking a serious view of it, Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR) Chairperson K. Appa Rao said that the social welfare, labour, revenue, police, juvenile welfare, correctional services and welfare of street children, and women development and child welfare departments should intensify drives against child begging.
“It is pathetic that women, carrying infants, begging at Benz Circle, Police Control Room, Seetarampuram Junction, Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) and other major junctions in the city is a commonsight,” he said.
NTR district Collector S. Dilli Rao, during a programme recently, directed the officials concerned to take measures to prevent child begging.
Speaking to The Hindu on March 25 (Monday), Child Rights Advocacy Foundation (CRAF) State programme director P. Francis Thambi appealed to the authorities concerned to conduct awareness programmes against child begging and ensure strict implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
“Several children are being forced to beg in public places. Prolonged exposure to the hot sun and unhygienic conditions are causing health problems among the children,” Mr. Francis said and appealed to the officials to counsel the parents to avail of the benefits of government welfare schemes and educate their children.
