Some activists, based in Dehradun, met SP Sarita Dobhal on Tuesday and demanded continuation of the drive conducted by the police for the identification of the child beggars in the city. The current drive would end on August 31. They, further, said that such drives should be conducted not only in four districts-Dehradun, Nainital, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar- but also in all the 13 districts across the State.
The activists said that the condition of the child beggars is grim. According to them, a few of such children go to schools, but education is out of bounds for a majority of them. They said that a system should be there so as to ensure that the child baggers are enrolled in schools. They should be rehabilitated too under various schemes rolled out by the Government, the activists suggested.
Sarita Dobhal (SP) told the activists that police regularly conduct drives to spot the children found begging. “To desist the adults from begging, we slap fines on them if they are found begging on the city roads. As far as the child beggars are concerned, we get them verified and their parents are called. In some cases, such children are goaded to beg by their parents themselves who cannot take care of them. They are made to fend for themselves while begging on the roads. We try to send such hapless children to the shelter homes,” she said.
She, further, said that they would soon write to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), suggesting that such drive to stop the practice of child begging is conducted across the state. “However, besides police, other departments concerned should also come forward and work in tandem to ensure that the children are freed from the practice of begging once and for all,” SP added.
Earlier, the police department has conducted three drives to verify the child beggars in 2017 and 2018. The drive was conducted in four districts -Dehradun, Nainital, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. A fortnight-long drive was conducted in December 2017 in the city during which 57 boys and 41 were girls were identified.
The second drive was conducted for 20 days in April 2018 during which 20 boys and 10 girls were identified. The third drive which is going on since August 11 would continue till September. So far, 26 boys and 23 girls have been identified.