"KHUSHI" initiated a debate on " Increasing Menace of Child Beggary in India - What Solutions do we have?”, on 4th May 2012. About 125 people joined the discussion, and the discussion still continues....
All the participants came up with intriguing suggestions and comments on the topic.. Some of the discussions on the facebook are reproduced below:
What could be the reasons of child beggary? They could b poverty, insufficient family income,
forced by blacklisted person , forced by parents themselves, etc . Children beg at traffic signals, at temples, mosque , church etc we should not give them money but we should make them eat something so that atleast we are aware that the money we are using for them is used at good place otherwise we don't knw that where these children use the money if we give them money. The children can get addicted to bad habits like smoking, drinking, taking drugs etc which is very very dangerous and harmful for these children So its better we make them eat something or instead of money we can give them some things like clothes etc.
Some parents force their children to beg so that they bring money for their family bt. At the age of playing, studying , etc these children are begging. Such parents should be punished and made understand that educating these children is more important than begging if the child is educated he himself alone is much capable of taking the responsibility of his/her family and if not educated and begging at roads then begging just only add something to their family income at the risk of children's life. So at last i want to conclude by looking this i can say India is industrialising but not developing.
I feel we need to look at larger picture. No parent want his/her child to beg....I mean they are not doing it coz they like to beg...I think its lack of options for them for their livelihood which force them to make their kid beg or work
Initiatives like making a city beggar free are indeed commendable if the rehabilitation of these children is taken care of with the involvement of NGOs and social welfare organizations with support from the government and state authorities..
But we also need to be careful that these kind of initiatives don't make these children end up in far-worse living conditions … these people could get involved in unlawful acts like stealing and can create a huge law and order situation…
Most of us do have sympathy towards children and trying to help kids by giving one rupee. Average Rs 200 per day every child is earning, So it became a profitable business and more children are brought into begging (without sending to school/free hostels). There has been number of reports revealed that missing children from our home or neighborhood end up in begging or other dark business. Do you know the average age of these kids? It is 5 yrs, the reason is kids were not given proper food and were given harmful drugs (Small kids are given sleeping tablets so that they will sleep without crying). Unknowingly we are being part of this issue, by giving money to the kid thinking that we help kids but that money goes to their organizer (Why child should struggle for elders? Let elders work/beg). In a survey many people said they are not aware of free hostels available for them. So here is the solution for orphans to join hostels very easily just calling to Govt child helpline 1098 or 040-23233550
We have to start from something....which should be some strong law for them.....individual contribution are expected from every good citizen ...but u can not force somebody...so LAW is going to save life of poor child....while it can be a small part......
There should be strict law for beggar for thier basic constitutional fundamental rights. Food....Education...which govt. must provide......the contribution from ourselves should be that we should contribute some part of our earning to educate them......so they can also make their dream...which should not be in thier hand like BOWL................
A minimum number of days assured work and 2 square meals for each person in the country is a solution which only the government can aid in implementing.. Once this is efficiently implemented can we talk about what individual citizens need to do!
The biggest problem in my view is that people who are beggars should ideally not give birth to more of their kind. At least that's the view from our perspective. However, for them, children are the best route to gain sympathy at signals, etc. These parents should be discouraged from begging and brought into productive employment first. And using children for the purpose of begging should be dealt with severely
We know that children are forced to beg but we dont know who gets benefited by what they get. So its usually the public who gives money and encourages begging. What if they are not given money or rather given something else... may be food or clothes. This way it would be reasonably assured that only the child is being benefited & not someone else which might lead to removal of child beggery. Therefore its the public who could discourage child beggary.
Such a cruel this...country of spritual & devine culture our ethics& vedha"s told to us many moral things to lead our life with humanity&honesty............in jail goverment amends lots action plan to recover their bad qualities such as education,rehablitation activites,job oppourtunities likesto be plan for child beggary rahablitation centres to make a turn on their life by basic education,job,moral support by passing law in constitutional ....to organize the NGO,s & social service centres to eradicate child beggaary...... childs are god..for developing nation
We can have programs 'Like Earn while you Learn' where such kids are paid to study and learn the different vocational skills. Any monetary incentive is a good way to lure kids. Yes people like us have to contribute in such a system however its worth it. The more the financiers the lesser would be the burden on each one and more would be the beneficiaries.
Child begging..........the biggest fault of our system.
Even though begging is a crime, the police response is inconsistent. One young child was begging while police looked on and did nothing about it.But now there is something good going in Delhi.....where some NGO's are working very hard to stop this.They are being urged to report child beggars with a quick phone call to 1-0-9-8..............A 24x7 open helpline. Childline Coordinator Varun Pathak and Kanika Tripathy handle the calls at one of five Childline centers in Delhi........They will help these children regarding food , shelter nd study.
I think this is the best we can do......in other states also ..........
Pranav its real good initiative...but the fact is that its kept on papers mostly due to syste failure in our govt body ....the distribtion channel should be improved and there are hell lot of thing that has more to be implemented than planning alone...India is a country where plans are made but execution partis still very low....
it cant be done so easily...strong nexus is there which has prevailed in the roots of every system which has to be eradicated....real long process...leaving few who cares..!!!
well d best alwaz ..!!
Child labour is the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom.This practice is considered exploitative by many countries and international organizations.Child labor was not seen as a problem throughout most of history,only becoming a disputed issue with the beginning of universal schooling and the concepts of laborers and children's rights.
Child labor can include factory work,mining or quarrying,agriculture,helping in the parent's business,having one's own small business,or doing odd jobs.However, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most child labor occurs in the informal sector, "selling on the street, at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses—far from the reach of official labor inspectors and from media scrut.
SEXUAL ABUSE!! THE SECOND FORM OF EXPLOITATION More than 53% children report facing one or more forms of sexual abuse. People come together and unite ourselves to eradicate this problem of humiliation of children and youth in india by stoping childs exploitation.
A powerful and swift solution is convincing our legislators to ban this and make provisions for rehabilitation of the kids. Noting that in a democracy voters have the power, bringing the above changes will be tough if not difficult as kids neither can vote nor have parents to vote for their future. Public money will not be easily allocated or spent for people who cannot vote. There are such govt rehabilitation homes present but I only have heard bad reviews about them. A good option can be to fund private autonomous run institutions working in this area like the SOS Children's Villages of India. They have a very good facility here at Bhopal. Lastly, I think depending on the executive to implement ban on this will not be a successful idea as sooner or later our police and other services become lazy. Hence, forming a public opinion about this is crucial in banning of child begging. People currently do know that Child Begging is wrong and illegal but what they do not know is what should they do with these children. Investing in publicity of such options will increase public awareness and responsible citizen then will themselves see to it that child beggers are sent to rehabilitation.
One of the main reasons why so many children are forced into begging is that they generate most sympathy and hence earn more... there have been many excellent suggestions in this debate as to the long term solution of it.. but every individual may start making an immediate contribution.. idf u see a child beggar buy him/her food.. dont give money.. maybe that will discourage their parents from ruining their futures while they will receive nutrition.
Many a times its their parents who sell them for money... what if instead of "that gang" buying them we offer any daily house hold job to the parents and in return send their children to schools.... mom and I have already done this... :)
this was just one such idea... if we really want to heal our pains by helping them.. lets not only give them money and think the job is done (when we know its even worse when we give money)... lets give them also a chance to see a better part of life...
Great to see so many people being sympathetic .. i do not intend to be a critic here, but a lot of d real work needs to be done at ground level..can reach out to schools and involve them in organizing camps...plus not sure why people mix rural India with child begging....??
i also read some views about stronger laws, we do have already and that wont solve the purpose at the root..compassion helps and not enforcement...Mother Teresa have demonstrated that...
I know it sounds cruel but then you need to be so to solve such problem because untill we all stop giving money to these beggers they will not stop asking for it......so no matter how emotional you get seing their condition do not have pity on them........though there are some who are really in need but there are so many others who are taking undue advantage of such few examples.......and just think once would you ever like to work very hard if the life you are living can be continued with minimum efforts.....just be true to yourself and i know very few would deny the fact.......so its as simple as that why would they stop asking if its so easy for them and they are so very used to it.......
The problem of begging is gigantic, yet it can easily be solved, if there is will and determination to do so. By creating healthy public opinion against it and by passing laws which make this profession a punishable offence, the problem can be solved within no time.
When we literate people doesn't know laws properly then how can we expect that these people r going to understand it..... n most imp. it take years to form one law there r many bills pending since years which should be law then how can u expect that this law will be made early..... we need some steps which can help them from now not after years we need to make them learn not to beg but to earn their livelihood.
People are mercy on children and giving money as it is just 1 Rs coin. But it is spoiling many other children life from normal children. The people behind the chilren are doing business with kids and forcing them for begging again and again. They are stoping kids from going to Govt school as they get more money for alcohol drinking & smoking.(Some of the children are taken for rent or some times they are kidnapping kids from other cities).
We can avoid child begging if everyone stops giving money to kids(If you want give to old people). We stopped giving money to child !!!!!!!
I agree with you ... bt just stop giving money is not the solution.. our government didnt have any policy for orphan children or children of poor single mother, also if they have it is not reached to the deserving children... i would suggest dnt give money directly to the children try to give thing of need..like cloths books, food, etc
Money is not the only thing you can give to them. There are so many other things to give which will give more happiness to them and more satisfaction to you. As it says "Money never gives you true happiness". You can give them food, clothes or toys if you have. I have myself given food like chips, ice cream and sometimes whatever was there in my hand. In fact you can go with them and buy things they want. In this way you will be spending atleast some time with them. You can know little more about them and guide them in the right direction. By doing so, I am sure they will have a big smile on their face. I urge that if you really feel pity on those children then give them anything other than money. I agree that it is not the solution to the problem but definitely it is a step forward. It will not only help the children but also help in controlling the crime which is happening underground.
Yes we do have the solutions. They just take a lot of time to show up, which is the main problem. The other problem is the question of roti, kapda aur makaan, which in itself is the core of the struggle. We just need more self aware people in this world, who can take care of these children and show them the pointlessness of begging. Each one, teach at least one!
Government is doing its bit. Corporates are doing their own bit. I can talk about Vedanta who
have adopted more than 5500 Anganwadi centres in Rajasthan, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Karnataka. Each Anganwadi has about 30 small children in the age group of less than 6 years. Which mean education, health and nutrition of about 165,000 under-privileged children are under care in association with the state governments?
Now if few of us can take care of some of the other under-privileged children, including child beggars, we would be contributing directly to the nation.
"KHUSHI" - Partners in Creating Happiness
A Vedanta Group Initiatives
