Now Reading: Delhi govt to launch Child Beggar-Free Delhi campaign
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Delhi govt to launch Child Beggar-Free Delhi campaign
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Saturday that the government will launch a 'Child Beggar-Free Delhi' campaign across all 13 districts to protect children found begging at public places. The campaign…
The Story in Brief
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Saturday that the government will launch a 'Child Beggar-Free Delhi' campaign across all 13 districts to protect children found begging at public places. The campaign will not remove children by force. Instead, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights and NGOs will counsel families, address their difficulties, and provide alternatives such as education and skill training. Gupta said the campaign will also identify organised gangs forcing children into begging and take strict legal action against them.
DCPCR Chairman O P Vyas said the campaign is expected to be launched around Independence Day after public feedback. He added that child welfare committees will play an active role under the Juvenile Justice Act. Social organisations estimate Delhi has around 70,000 street children, with thousands engaged in begging at religious sites, bus and Metro stations, marketplaces, and major road intersections.
The Indian Opinion
The plan sounds compassionate, no force, only counselling and skill training, but the scale is daunting. Social organisations count 70,000 street children in Delhi, and organised gangs profit from their misery. The real test will be whether law enforcement can dismantle those networks without harassing the poor families the government says it wants to help. If the campaign focuses only on removing children from sight instead of addressing the poverty that drives them there, it will be a cosmetic exercise. How many of those 70,000 children will actually be in schools a year from now?
Sources (3): indiatoday.in, timesofindia.indiatimes.com, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
