Kerala - Kochi   

Making a difference to street children’s lives

KOCHI: Twenty-four-year old Murugan has a pet hate – charitable organisations and orphanages that siphon off foreign and Government funds, all in the name of orphans and street children.

A street child-turned social activist, this young man says that a good number of the over 1,000 such organisations are run just for the sake of the promoters and not the children. “Some of the foreign funds find their way into the hands of fake godmen and unscrupulous people. These organisations get funds based on the number of residents they have. To facilitate this, they often share the members, with each child ending up having up to 10 sponsors,” he says.

Murugan finds it hard to believe that many of the children end up in the streets – the very place they came from, once they become adults.

“The orphanages and other organisations must teach them some job and rehabilitate them, or else they will become a liability to society. There have been cases where they turn into criminals .” The one-man army says that he has rescued over 2,000 street children and child labourers, mostly in Kochi. Motivated by the desire to do good for the needy and destitute, his source of livelihood is an autorickshaw donated by a well-wisher. A camera given by another person is used to take pictures of child labourers and street children, as evidence of their plight. A few days ago, he undertook a campaign in his autoickshaw that was converted into a mobile exhibition hall. On it were pasted 30 laminated photos of destitute kids and two banana saplings adorned the front. He has so far held over 25 photo exhibitions on street children, to sensitise people.

Murugan had a difficult childhood, picking rags and ending up at Sneha Bhavan, Palluruthy and later became a volunteer with Childline.

In 2002, he founded the Theruvora Pravartaka Association.

He firmly believes that a joint effort by the police, Government agencies, NGOs and common people can reduce the exploitation of children. He can be reached at 98460 51098.

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