Children from downtown settlements around the district headquarters have resorted to begging in order to fund their cravings for ‘Over the Counter’ (OTC) drugs and syrups sold freely from the chemist stores and even whiteners from stationary shops!!
The children, aged between 8 to 10 years from the low economic strata, who are rag pickers, are now found to be begging near tea shops and roadside eateries to gather sufficient money to buy a ‘fix’ for getting an instant high. These young rag pickers after gathering sufficient money from their rounds of begging buy OTC drugs such as Iodex and Corex cough syrup from chemist shops and whiteners from the stationary shops.The addicts sniff the whiteners and were learnt to consume Iodex and Corex syrup for getting a high. Some children were also found sniffing the solution used for binding tyre punctures.
The usual haunt of these children are near the Shaheed Park, Skating ground and Vivekanand school who hang around these places during noontime and the evening. Moreover, no NGOs were found to be active in the domain of making these children quit the habit in the district headquarters. District labour Officer, Bhanwar Singh Birha, when contacted, said that the facility to send children to correctional centres, is only for the child labourers and not for the addicted children.