Drive brings a ray of hope to 36 children begging on Madurai streets

MADURAI: Thirty-six child beggars were identified during the day-long joint exercise carried out by the district administration with the help of District Child Protection Unit, Child Welfare Committee and the city police on Thursday.

Collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar, who took the initiative told TNIE, as the first step towards bringing about a social change, they are identifying the child beggars in the district and are ascertaining their socio-economic needs, living conditions and educational background. 

Thirteen teams, comprising policemen from 17 stations in the city, were engaged in the drive. 

District Child Protection Officer A Ganesan said, the child beggars include 17 boys and 19 girls. "Besides, 31 parents and kin who accompanied the children were also picked up and were lodged at a wedding hall of Madurai corporation," he said.

Member of Child Welfare Committee L Shanmugam said, of the 36 child beggars, 34 hail from the district while two are from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively. He said, the children and parents were counselled and their needs were taken note of before they were sent home in the evening.

Another member of Child Welfare Committee B Pandiaraja said, 40 per cent of the child beggars are residents of Sakkimangalam and Kalmedu, while another 40 per cent are from Thiruparankundram. "Barring a few, all children were accompanied by parents who too were into begging," he pointed out, adding majority of the child beggars belong to 'sattai adippor' (those who whiplash themselves) community living in and around Sakkimangalam.

Meanwhile, child rights activists said, in the past couple of years, similar activities were taken up by the Child Welfare Committee and District Child Protection at railway station and in the vicinity of Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple. "But not even a single child was rehabilitated. As a result, all the rescued children went back to the business of begging," they said.

Commenting on this, Director of Childline Madurai C Jim, Jesudoss said, "There is a pressing need to formulate a long-term plan by adopting a systematic, scientific and integrated approach to curb the menace."

With specific reference to sattai adippor communities, he said, the change within the communities would not happen overnight.

Child rights activist, S James (60), is of the view that one-day drive to root out the menace is hardly effective. "Authorities and social workers should ensure rehabilitation through routine field visits and community interaction," he pointed out.

However, the Collector said, based on the data gathered, a comprehensive programme would be chalked out.