Exclusive: Carbon and dust in the lungs! ‘Jesus of Calcutta’ in the life of the sidewalk under the surveillance of CCTV …
“Everyone is stunned to see a completely naked child walking from one side of the road to the other on shaky legs.”
Poet Nirendranath Chakraborty’s lines of poetry seem to be the same today! The lives of the children on the sidewalks of Kolkata have not changed at all even in this 2021. They went in search of them News18 Bangla. An exclusive report.
People walking by don’t even look back at them … Kolkata city. A maze of narrow alleys from wide highways. You have to step carefully at every moment. This is the life of Calcutta. This is where childhood sleeps on the way people walk. They do not know which is the bedroom and which is the dusty path. Thousands of people are walking along the sidewalk. Two newborn babies are sleeping on the sidewalk of Park Street. Busy people are walking by. Without a frown. Strangely, ‘they’ do not seem to exist.
Minister of State Shashi Panja recently said that the government would make arrangements for the rehabilitation of all these pedestrians if they wanted. However, if they want that rehabilitation in their village home, arrangements will be made there. The only problem is that many of them are reluctant to leave Kolkata. Although the number of sidewalks in the city is much lower than before. Yet many people still remain on the sidewalk of their own free will.
Begging in the alliance only when it is too big
Twelve-year-old Sierra’s home is in Canning. Here the family lives on clean sidewalks. Many people like him spend their days begging. The mother left the two children lying on the sidewalk. To beg somewhere else. The only police surveillance of these children is CCTV. Sometimes children are stolen from these sidewalks. The child’s parents are not too worried about that theft. A mother who was robbed in North Kolkata said, “There is no place to stay, once she was dragged by a dog. Whoever took her will keep her well by the grace of Allah.”
Thus neglected childhood
According to doctors, these little babies are constantly on the streets because of the carbon and dust in their lungs. As a result, they are seen to have a severe cold and cough from a young age. Every moment the child goes to ask for something in mind, is rejected. The desire to not get one remains. From which they suffer from mental discomfort. Some people become addicted to drugs from an early age. As a result, they merge with the criminal world very quickly. Psychologists say that by counseling their parents from the beginning, they should try to meet their general needs. Otherwise, the path will be like a dog lying on the road, growing up there. Then one day he will die. But who will take the initiative? Who is responsible? What is the responsibility of the administration?
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