Foot soldier marches across India to eradicate begging

BENGALURU: Ashish Sharma is a man on a mission to make India ‘beggar-free’ and nothing can stop him. The Delhi-based mechanical engineer quit his job in 2017 to plan a campaign that would help him achieve his cause. To do so, he has been walking across the country to spread awareness and has covered 14,129 km until December 4. Currently, he’s walking towards Mandya and Mysuru.  

Sharma, popularly known as ‘foot soldier’, was in the city to interact with anyone who crossed his path. He has developed an app - ‘Duayen’ - wherein several schools, hospitals, police stations and other government establishments have been added. “It can aid in identifying lost children and child beggars, helping them find their way back home. When one spots a lost child, he can click his picture and upload it on the app. The NGOs close to the spot can then help rescue the child. I have added schools too so that principals within five km of the child’s location can offer admissions to them, as per the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, without worrying about identity proof,” he says.

His journey began when he spotted a child begging with a bleeding hand. He took him home, treated him and enrolled him in a school with the help of an NGO. When he was rescuing the ninth child, he realised just rescuing them wouldn’t help. After quitting his job, he researched the issue extensively for six months before he started on his journey in August 2017. He walked to Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and other states before reaching Karnataka. “I was 27 years when I left home. Now, I am 29,” he says.  

Walking on foot isn’t easy but his selfless attitude helps him keep his eyes on the prize. He was almost kidnapped twice, received threat calls and also contracted jaundice during his journey.He now plans to walk 17,000 km barefoot from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, as a part of his Unmukt India campaign. He also plans to hold a marathon in New Delhi in June. “I hope we can get all children to go to school, as APJ Abdul Kalam had dreamed. The Delhi government is helping rescue children here. We will study the impact and on Kalam’s birthday in 2020, I would like to hold a meeting with the chief ministers of all the states to show them the results and request them to implement the same in their states,” he says, adding that the movement is more psychological than anything. “Issuing orders will not help much. In spite of so many laws, rapes do happen. People’s mindsets need to change, or else, we will fail as a generation.”