Panchkula March 16:
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Sh. Rattan Lal Kataria has submitted a statement in the Parliament with reference to the schemes working for the safety and welfare of child beggars.The statement was submitted in reply to the questions raised by multiple other member counterparts. Mr. Kataria also responded to questions pertaining to the allocation of funds to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)(State/Organisation-wise) working for helpless women and children during the last five years.
Mr. Kataria pointed out that as per the Census 2011, the total number of beggars, vagrants etc. in India are 4,13,670 and the total number of child beggars, vagrants etc. below 15 years of age are 45,296. Highlighting the efforts being made by the Government in improving their standard of living, he stated that theMinistry of Social Justice and Empowerment has identified ten cities namely Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur and Patna for undertaking pilot project on ‘Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons engaged in the act of Begging’ to provide whole range of services including awareness generation, identification, rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling skill development, sustainable settlement and education to children engaged in Begging/ Children of Persons engaged in begging.
Mr. Kataria further elucidated that the Ministry of Women and Child Development administers the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) which is the primary law for children in the country. The Act, he explained, provides a security net of service delivery structures along with measures for institutional and non-institutional care, to ensure comprehensive well-being of children in distress situations andprimary responsibility of execution of the Act rests with the States/UTs.
Mr. Kataria went on to explain that Ministry of Women and Child Development implements a centrally sponsored scheme i.e. Child Protection Services (CPS) under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme, for supporting the children in difficult circumstances including child beggars and destitute children. Under the scheme, institutional care is provided through Child Care Institutions (CCIs), as a rehabilitative measure. The programmes and activities in CCIs inter-alia include age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. The scheme supports 24×7 emergency outreach/helpline service for children in distress conditions and the service is accessible through a dedicated toll-free number, 1098 from anywhere in India.
The scheme inter-alia has provided financial assistance for setting up of CCIs to the States/UTs either by themselves or in association with voluntary organisations. Mr. Kataria stated that funds worth Rs. 2952.08 crores have been released during last five years (i.e. F.Y., 2015-16 to 2019-20)to the States/UTs under CPS.
