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  Bombay High Court wants count of street kids

Bombay High Court wants count of street kids

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Jul 1, 2016, 2:01 am IST
Updated : Jul 1, 2016, 2:01 am IST

The Bombay high court on Thursday has suggested that the Maharashtra government consider holding a survey, similar to the one conducted in Mumbai to determine the number of street children, in other c

The Bombay high court on Thursday has suggested that the Maharashtra government consider holding a survey, similar to the one conducted in Mumbai to determine the number of street children, in other cities of the state too.

The division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice M.S. Sonak made these suggestions while hearing a bunch of petitions raising issues related to street children.

The bench said that the survey conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences had revealed that there were 39,000 street children in the city.

The bench also sought to know if any mafia was behind the huge number of children begging on street or are abused in other ways. The judges asked the state to look into the possibility of a mafia controlling street children and inform them about the same.

The petitions tagged together is on the issue street children, children begging on the roads seeking accommodations and rehabilitation.

Senior counsel Mihir Desai, appointed as an amicus curie in the case, also mentioned a letter written by retired HC judge B.H, Marlapalle to the Chief Justice of Bombay HC in August last year stating, “It is a common site while driving on the streets of Mumbai, Thane and Pune as well as other cities in Maharashtra that children between the age of 3 and 14 are seen begging.”