JOIN USLife under the skies
The road is their home and the sky, their ceiling — many children live in railway stations, bus stands and markets in the City. They are left bereft of a childhood and the accompanying perks. An average of 25 such children are rescued and rehabilitated to healthier conditions everyday, yet a large number of them are still found in unsafe conditions.
Mathew Thomas, the Executive Director of BOSCO, an organisation that works with the young at risk, says that ‘unaccompanied children’ is a blanket term which includes those who experience homelessness and live on the streets. “They can be children living on or off the streets, child labourers, missing and trafficked children, those who have run away from different towns to big cities, rag pickers and children in conflict with law. While most are homeless, some might work on the streets, with a place to go back to at the end of the day. Rehabilitation measures may vary to certain degrees for such sub-categories.”
The key rehabilitation technique for runaway children, children who are trafficked, rag pickers and child labourers is to locate their families within 24 hours. A Child Welfare Committee steps in, wherein police and counsellors understand the child’s language and location.
Mathew explains, “Younger children are sent to government and private schools. Unaccompanied children above the age of 14 are mainly drop-outs and are taught certain trades such as hotel management, carpentry and tailoring. Some work as beauticians or in ice cream parlours, shopping malls etc. These children live with us and are taught to manage alone until they get back to the mainstream society.”
Anthony Sebastian, Director of ECHO, a home for juvenile children in conflict with the law, says that children are taken in on bail or after their legal cases are completed and placed in observation homes. In special homes, they are given counselling and asked to undergo activities like yoga and meditation. Margaret, a counsellor at ECHO, says, “These children take a lot of time to talk to me. They are reluctant and some even refuse to look at me. I ask them about their background and don’t highlight the crime. I also try to highlight their strengths.” Rehabilitation measures also include regular medical care and check-ups and follow up with families.
Poverty, dysfunctional families, alcoholic and violent parents, sibling rivalry, inability to meet expectations of the family and the thrill of experiencing life in a city cause children to run away from homes. It’s difficult to convince them to come to the home as Mathew points out, “The children are afraid when they experience life on the streets for the first time. Then they are willing to come with us. But it’s a little difficult to convince a child if they have lived on the streets for a long time. We have rescued 6,325 boys and 993 girls as of May. Boys run away from home because they enjoy greater independence and are free to move around. .”
Venkatesh, the founder of ‘Paraspara Foundation’ that rescues child labourers who work in factories, plastic industries, hotels and construction sites, says that their rehabilitation process can take from three months to one year. “We take the assistance of police and file an FIR. We provide informal education to children and place them in government schools once they are ready.” He recalls that two children went on to become engineers and 15 students received diplomas after their rehabilitation measures in 2007. “The public or police inform us if they find children who are domestic servants and bring them to our unit.”
Despite the recent amendment of the Juvenile Justice Act, Anthony feels that the loophole of the law lies in the implementation because of the lack of an organised bureaucracy and strong political will in the policies. “Child rights issues are not a top priority in the law,” he says, dismally.