Karnataka - Bangalore   

They gave up a day's work to attend meet

Staff Reporter

Nearly 100 children from Bangalore's streets and slums were at the event

A HAPPY TIME: Underprivileged children at the inauguration of the State-level Child Participation Meet in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore: Close to a hundred children, mostly from the streets and slums of Bangalore, turned up at the State-level Child Participation Meet (Balya Milana) organised by two groups working with them: BOSCO and APSA. The two voluntary organisations also man Childline (1098), which helps children in distress. Representatives of Makkala Sahayavani were present.

Not all children on the streets or railway platforms are homeless; some have run away from an abusive parent. Some children are helped to return home after the parents too have been counselled.

BOSCO director Father Edward Thomas said, "Almost 70 per cent of the children eventually go back home. We have shelters for them in Mangalore and Bangalore and plan to open more centres in Gulbarga and some smaller towns near the State capital."

Tuesday's event also marked ten years of activities by BOSCO. Most children had given up a day's work and the earnings that come with it to attend the meet and had made efforts to look spruced up for the occasion. Several said they were reluctant to go back home and would rather be trained for a job and become independent when they were older. Others said they would not mind going back if their parents stopped beating them and showed more kindness. Some were ready to go to school.

The event becomes important because from October 10 onwards, there will be a total ban on child labour, even in sectors that were earlier classified as non-hazardous. Those found employing children aged below 14 will invite stiff penalties. Child rights organisations want the age limit extended up to 18.

BOSCO has also teamed up with the police to see that children suspected of petty crime are not taken directly to a police station but that efforts are made to counsel them and send them to a shelter. Thirty-nine police stations in Bangalore are now part of this initiative.

Action plan sought

The children wanted the Government introduce more child-friendly policies, including an action plan for Bangalore and a cadre of volunteers empowered to take up issues of concern to homeless and working children. Another suggestion was to form Bal Sanghas, a movement where children can be involved in activities related to the community. A plea was made for drinking water taps for children working on the streets and public toilets for their use. A girl working as a domestic help in Koramangala narrated her story of how she was ill-treated, and rescued.

UNICEF project coordinator Suchitra Rao said the Centre and the State Government should focus on the requests of children, and funding could be found for facilities such as shelter.

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