Around 67 child beggars, including 34 boys and 33 girls, who have been rescued from different stations of the suburban section of Mumbai, are presently in the GRP’s custody. These children have been lodged at different rehabilitation centres in Mumbai and the GRP officials are in the process of determining their identities and sending them back to their families. Data compiled by GRP shows that between January 1 and March 31 this year, a total of 259 child beggars (162 boys and 97 girls) aged between four-14 years were traced and rescued. Out of these, 174 child beggars were handed over to their guardians after tracing them and the remaining 85 were sent to remand homes. The court then handed over nine boys and nine girls to their guardians, while the remaining 67 are in the process of rehabilitation. Data also shows that Kurla had the highest number of beggar children where 42 child beggars were rescued between January and March this year. Thane (36), Kalyan (27), Vashi (27), and Andheri (23) were other stations where most child beggars were found. Dadar (7), Churchgate (4), Bandra (6), Karjat (2) and Vasai (7) had minimal instances of beggar children being located. Police inspector Rajendra Pal, who heads the women and child cell in GRP said, “Runaway children land up at a terminus in Mumbai to see or meet film stars, and soon some end up as criminals or begging for want of food.” He added, “We try our best to reunite these children to their parents and in most cases, we succeed.” Rescue programme manager from the NGO Pratham, Navnath Kamble said, “There is no doubt that the GRP, RPF or Mumbai police tries to handle all child begging cases with utmost care, but normally these agencies do not follow-up on a rescued child once he/she is rehabilitated. It has been observed that it generally is a repetitive pattern with these children,” said Mr Kamble.
