There has been no realisation of the existing child-sensitive laws, even as hundreds of street children continue to be exploited, according to activists who took part in a discussion titled “The Invis
There has been no realisation of the existing child-sensitive laws, even as hundreds of street children continue to be exploited, according to activists who took part in a discussion titled “The Invisibles —A dialogue”.
“We have a special law for children on sexual act with special measures for children, child-friendly measures —- police procedures to medical procedures — all focused on children. But, the gap is in the implementation. There is a big problem of street children in all smart cities,” Anju Talukdar from Multiple Action Research Group (MARG), which works with women and children and unorganised labour, said. The discussion was organised by Youth ki Awaz and Save the Children here recently.
Two youth advocates, who have lived on the streets before being rescued, also shared their stories. Fifteen-year old Salmaan, who was rescued by one of Save the Children India’s partner NGOs, said: “I lived on the streets before. I was not doing anything at that time. We were not given any importance by others, they didn’t even bother if we passed in front of them.”
Salmaan aspires to become an actor, besides a powerful advocate for children’s rights. “I don’t know whether you have noticed, boys who are employed at the ‘dhabas’ and other shops are often called as ‘Raju, Kalu or Chotu’, we don’t have a particular name. There are thousands of children like us in the country. We also dream to study,” he said.
Nisha, who before being rescued worked as a domestic help to support her family, said: “I had to do the job of ‘dusting’ when I was nine. But I wanted to study and I got the opportunity to get it.” She is now a student at an English medium school.
“For you, it was very easy to reach 8th standard. But for me, it was a difficult task. I had to work for my family from the age of nine because in our society, people think, what is the need for a girl to study,” she said.
The discussion also saw experts detailing the legal framework safeguards and enforcements.
“According to Right to Education Act, for a street child, he can go to a government school and get the right to education. In case of private schools, 25 per cent seats are reserved for disadvantaged students which also include street children (in some states only),” Ms Anju said.
