Kid vendors survey: HC asks officials to be present in court 

BENGALURU: Officers of the police department, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and State Government failed to attend a meeting held by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) to discuss a survey to identify children who are forced to sell articles on streets and at traffic junctions in the city. 

Taking note of it, the Karnataka High Court on Friday directed senior officials of the police department, BBMP and government to be present personally before court on February 18 to ensure the cooperation of all stakeholders for the survey. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the order after H Shashidhar Shetty, member secretary of KSLSA, submitted the report to court, in response to directions issued on a PIL filed by city-based Letzkit Foundation.

Pointing to non-cooperation of the officers, KSLSA highlighted the need for officials to cooperate  in mapping street children. The report also mentioned that only a few NGOs agreed to take part in the survey.
KSLSA also informed court that it had found around 800 children engaged in selling toys, flowers and other articles in and around 432 hotspots in the city, but they have to be physically identified through the survey.