Every sunrise has a sunset: Lives on the streets

[Guest guest]

Every sunrise has a sunset: Lives on the streets

After 60 years of Independence street children are still seen fighting for their

freedom. In the UNICEF world children report, 47 per cent street children under

the age of three are malnourished and around 2.2 million die before the age of

five.

Anshul Tewari

DAY BEFORE yesterday I was travelling to a local mall by car, it so happened

that I got stuck at every traffic light and waited at least 200 seconds at each.

In those 200 seconds what I saw literally made my eyes go red. At each red

light, wherever our car stopped, a bunch of street children came rushing to beg

or to sell. I strictly believe in not giving money to the beggars because they

should earn a living, not beg. I must have seen around five to 10 children at

each red light, and there are eight traffic lights between my home and the mall.

When I returned home, I began surfing the internet and started working on my

next research: Street children in India. What I found nearly shook me and I made

it a point to post it on my blog as a part of youth awareness. So below are a

few facts about the social evil.

India and street children: An overview

India, in its developing stage, has the largest population of street children in

the world. Around 25 million street children live here, which is the combined

population of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. In the United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) state of the world children report, the

following facts came forward: 47 per cent street children under the age group of

three are malnourished and around 2.2 million die before the age of five.

About 40,000 street children die everyday in the world, 30 per cent being

Indians. In an era of development, the lives of these children are bleak and

misty. They don’t know what their tomorrow is. And those who do know are

quiet. What they don’t understand is that a child is a man in miniature, and

it ought to be treated like one.

Children cut short: Treatment of street children

Street children in India are a soft target as they are young, poor and ignorant

about their rights. The condition of these homeless children often leads to them

resorting to petty theft, robberies, drug trafficking, prostitution, murders and

other criminal activities.

A level of fear and intimidation is created in their minds because of the

behaviour of the police.

Police often take money from these children and in case the children fail to pay

they are beaten up like criminals and given third degree treatment. In some

cases it has also led to mental disbalance and even deaths.

These underage vulnerable children, if found doing something wrong should be

sent to orphanages for self improvement instead of being tortured by the police

and the general public.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act, no " Neglected " or " Delinquent " juvenile should

be put in a police lock up or jail. But this act is often ignored. Moreover, at

the remand stage the law makes no distinction between a six-year old orphan and

a 15-year old child who has committed robbery and both are treated in the same

manner which leads to a childhood cut short.

Major problem they face: AIDS

One of the major problems the children face is AIDS. The street children at the

railway stations are worst affected and 35 per cent of them have Tuberculosis,

the first symptom of AIDS. More than five million children on Indian streets are

HIV positive.

Of these, girls are the worst affected. They are raped, taken away by touts and

sold in brothels. Not a single girl at the New Delhi railway station has been

spared.

In 1997, the Inter Press News Service wrote an article stating that the street

children in India are most vulnerable to AIDS. The article brought to the fore

the irony of one such girl among millions. Uma (name changed) a nine-year old

girl was raped by a gang of homeless boys at the New Delhi railway station,

where she also lived. The same happened over and over again. This led to the

poor child delivering a still born baby.

This is just one story. There are millions of children, both boys and girls, who

have gone through worse. It is for us, the citizens of India to help them create

a brighter future

Anshul Tewari

anshultewari@...

http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=139154