Need all agencies to tackle child begging racket in Goa: DGP

PANAJI: DGP Jaspal Singh has called for a multi-pronged approach to crack down on children begging in the state.
Singh said that children begging appears to be an organised racket and it needs a deep and focused investigation to unearth the whole network. He added that the exercise will require joint and sustained efforts of all stakeholders. The DGP was speaking at a joint meeting of the Goa police, Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR), child welfare committee and stakeholders of the child protection systems on Monday.
Singh added that Goa police will prepare a training module for police officers to prevent offences against children. He sought the assistance of GSCPCR to provide resource persons for the training module. He also assured the commission that he would look into the issue of frequent transfers of such specialised officers.
GSCPCR chairman Peter Borges made a presentation on 'Protection of Children against Sexual Offences'. He solicited the full cooperation of the police in ensuring that cases of children, who have been involved in sexual assaults, are processed faster so that they can avail of the compensation from the government. Singh said that Goa police accords top priority to POCSO and JJ Act cases. "Goa is first among the states to file a chargesheet within 60 days in POCSO cases," he said.
With respect to begging, Singh observed that prevention of begging is a multi-disciplinary activity and the police alone cannot deal with it. "Various stakeholders will have to come to the same platform to deal with this social menace. Moreover, child beggars should not be tackled by uniformed personnel as that can further traumatise the child," he said.
The DGP said that a rehabilitation strategy is required before beggars are removed from the streets and beaches. Singh said that since the domain of adoption is not under the purview of the police department, irregular adoptions should be referred to the appropriate authorities. However, cases of illegal sale of children, if any, would be investigated by the respective district SP.
IGP Omvir Singh assured the stakeholders that the police would extend its cooperation to the various agencies involved in the welfare of children.