KOLLAM: The effective intervention by the district child protection unit (DCPU) under the social justice department has drastically brought down the number of child beggars in the district. When it started the campaign two years ago, the slogan was 'Stop killing with kindness. Your coins will promote child exploitation.' The unit focused on the festival season at the famous Parabrahma temple in Oachira here which was the meeting ground of beggars of all kinds. The Oachira temple has festival seasons 'Panthrandu vilakku, Oachira kali and Kalakettu' when beggars, including children, from other states crowd the place.
A preliminary inquiry conducted by the unit as part of its 'Oachira child beggary eradication programme' had found the presence of a mafia that makes money using beggars. "The Kollam DCPU started the campaign in 2015 at the temple, including creating awareness among the public and opening a kiosk within the temple premises. We could rescue 30 children who were rehabilitated. This time, district child protection officer Siju Ben led the programme and we found that the number of child beggars had come down to just two. This has also been reflected in the entire district," Mr S. Deepak protection officer, DCPU Kollam, told DC. Of the total 32 children rescued, 27 were from other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Bihar.
Fourteen children were handed over to the child protection councils in their native states while 11 are still with the children's home in Kollam. Two children were under the foster care project while the others were returned to their parents. The DCPU had constituted an action group by coordinating with the local bodies, child welfare committees, childline, Oachira temple committee, local merchants, auto and taxi drivers and other voluntary organisations for the execution of the programme. Pamphlets describing how the charity is turned into punishment for children, how they could be rehabilitated, government programmes for their rehabilitation and laws that prohibit child beggary were also distributed among the public for creating awareness. This was also announced on the temple premises on all the 14 days of the festival. Banners displaying the objectives of the project and helpline numbers for the public were also set up making the campaign a big success.
