Check for begging rackets, says HC judge

BENGALURU: The government should ensure that the children who have dropped out of schools and are working at bus stands, markets and are even begging, get proper education, said Karnataka High Court Judge Justice  V Srishananda.

He was speaking during a workshop on ‘Prevention of Child Beggary and Child Hawking’ in the city on Tuesday. The day-long workshop was organised by Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka Police and the Department of Social Welfare and Women and Child Welfare Department.

“Many women are seen on the roads, begging with children. The government needs to find out the reason behind this after conducting a proper survey. They have to find out whether there is a lack of facilities,” Justice Srishananda said, adding that proper rules should be framed to prevent children from begging and selling things.

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, who presided over the event, directed officials to undertake a survey to check if there was a begging racket operating in Karnataka like in other states. He said there was a need to identify the sensitivity as to why these people are begging, and only when the exact reason is found, begging can be controlled. 

Recollecting his days of working as a district commissioner in Murshidabad in West Bengal, Prasad said he had got a call from the Saudi Arabia consulate, stating that they detained around 70-80 children who were involved in begging. After investigation, it was found that the children were married off and were trafficked to Arabs and were pushed into begging and other illegal affairs. Further probe revealed the children who were trafficked from India were mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he added. 

The commissioner said that such a racket could be operating in Bengaluru also and there is a mafia involved which needs to be stopped.  He added that BBMP and BMTC will soon launch mobile buses and teach slum students. By doing this, the children who are out of the education system will be brought back to the mainstream. Teams have been formed to identify beggars, Prasad said.