Question : Children Involved in Begging

(a) whether the Government has any data on the number of child beggars in the country, especially in Delhi who come under the category of Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the measures adopted by the Government to provide institutional as well as non-institutional care to these children; and
(c) the impact of pandemic on the number and condition of child beggars in Delhi and the efforts made by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in this regard?

(a) to (c) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.




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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) TO (C) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.439 FOR ANSWER ON 01.04.2022 RAISED BY SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH VERMA REGARDING CHILDREN INVOLVED IN BEGGING

(a) : As informed by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the data of identified children in street situations is uploaded on Baal Swaraj Portal CISS by the States / UTs including Delhi, in compliance to the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court, which also includes the data of children involved in begging. The number of children (All States/UTs) who are involved in begging as per data uploaded on the portal is 3808 as on 15.03.2022. Out of these, 355 children are from Delhi.

As informed by Government of NCT of Delhi, 4871 children are engaged in the act of begging in Delhi (as on September, 2021). The Department of Social Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi had commissioned a survey on persons engaged in begging in February, 2021. The survey report was submitted by Institute for Human Development (IHD) in September, 2021. Delhi till date has uploaded the information of only 355 children whereas their survey has found larger number of children involved in begging.

(b) : The Ministry is implementing a centrally sponsored scheme namely Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme – Mission Vatsalya under which support is provided to States and UT Governments for delivering services for children in need and difficult circumstances. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the CPS scheme to provide Institutional Care to children which inter-alia provides age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. and covers both rural and urban children. CPS scheme also provides family basis non-institutional care through sponsorship, foster care and after care programmes.

(c) : As informed by the Government of NCT of Delhi, all the Government run CCIs are providing various types of services such as, education, skill development & vocational training, counseling, recreational facilities, sports facilities, infrastructure facilities, medical facilities etc. Further, a Drug de-addiction-cum-rehabilitation centre for children in conflict with law has been set up which provides de-addiction services to the Juveniles. Further, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has informed that no study has been conducted to measure the exact impact of COVID-19 on child beggars by DCPCR.

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