On the third day of Operation Mukti, field units continued to collect information about child beggars, regarding their parentage and detailed family history. However, some people are raising questions on the campaign plans. According to them, the campaign has ground level flaws as things which should be done by the police in the first phase have been kept for the last phase. Observers state that child beggars being questioned by the police will most probably leave on the next day.
When asked about this issue, Director General, Law and Order, Ashok Kumar said, “If this an issue we will combine two phases in one. As per the requirement we will keep on adding measures as the campaign progresses. The campaign is on trial basis, if the results in two months are positive, we will continue this in other districts too.”
According to sources, some child beggars usually shift from one place to another within months.
They live like nomadic people, travelling from one place to another.
However, they are street smart because of the survival tactics they have to follow from early childhood. Due to this, if the police collect information by questioning them, they are likely to move away soon after.
It is important to mention here that unlike earlier drives that were conducted by Uttarakhand Police; this drive has three phases starting from observation period which will be for initial 15 days to the third phase of enforcement and rehabilitation period. According to DG, Law and Order, the idea is to remove children from begging and motivate them towards education, to enroll them in schools so that they can have a normal childhood too.