Background: Seventh largest country in the world. Religious, cultural, linguistic and geographical diversity. Population: 1.027 million of which 40% are under 18 (1/3 of the total population are under 15). One of the fastest growing developing countries, although it ranks 115th among 162 countries in the Human Development Index. Rate of urbanisation was 28.77% in 2001. Nearly 29% of the population live in urban areas, with dramatic growth of slums and shanty towns. An average of 50% of the urban population live in conditions of extreme deprivation - compounded by lack of access to basic services and legal housing and poor urban governance. UNICEF’s estimate of 11 million street children in India in 1994 is considered to be conservative. Estimated 100,000 – 125,000 street children each in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, with 45,000 in Bangalore.
Achievements: Legislative reform in the light of the CRC (e.g. Juvenile Justice Act 2000, Children’s Code Bill 2000 etc.). Advocacy and sensitisation workshops held for members of parliament and the police. Inclusion of modules on children’s issues in the training of police officers. Growing awareness and attention to children’s rights in the media. Establishment of NGO training and advocacy fora. Government claims nearly 25,000 children benefited through 85 projects in 35 cities under revised government scheme for the welfare of street children which provides for grant-in-aid to NGOs in major cities (1998-2000) (N.B. NGOs claim the scheme has many loopholes and problems in implementation). Establishment of joint government / NGO project CHILDLINE, a 24-hour, free, emergency telephone hotline in 29 cities, used by more than one million children in past 5 years. National Initiative for Child Protection campaign launched in 2000 across police, healthcare, judicial, education, labour, transport, media and corporate sectors. Broad range of NGO interventions for street children.
Constraints and challenges: Lack of implementation and monitoring mechanisms for programmes and lack of enforcement of legislation. Lack of birth registration, uniform adoption law, children’s participation and childcentred approaches in government. Impact of forced evictions, demolitions and displacement on children. India has the largest number of child labourers in the world. Widespread poverty, unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, attraction of city life and lack of political will to address increasing numbers of children on the streets. Street children are subject to malnutrition, hunger, health problems, substance abuse, theft, CSE, harassment by the city police and railway authorities, physical and sexual abuse. Inadequacy of budget allocation impacts on sustainability of projects and, in particular, the ability to employ qualified and experienced social workers.
Lessons learned: Old-fashioned approach of institutionalising street children in custodial care (often through juvenile justice system) is not an appropriate or effective intervention. Community-based models with an emphasis on the contact / outreach programme (trust and relationship building) linked to ‘Contact Centres’ (access to services) in the vicinity of their stay / work, are much more effective. As the children live in groups, working with the group is often more appropriate than working on a one-to-one basis. Promotion and protection of street children’s rights is dependent on: sensitisation of allied systems such as the police, education, health, judicial system, media etc.; attitudinal changes in society which need to be addressed through public awareness campaigns. Government involvement and active support for NGO programmes is essential. Participation of street children themselves in decision-making and formulating intervention strategies is greatly undervalued at present.
Recommendations: Launch Railway Children intervention / prevention projects at major railway stations. Link street children into urban poverty reduction programmes. Increased emphasis on HIV/AIDS awareness programmes as street children are a high-risk group. Replication of: outreach programmes, community-based models, night shelters, drop-in / contact centres in the vicinity of places of work/stay of street children, innovative models of NGOs with Bal Mandals (Children’s Committees), and children’s participation in decisionmaking. Implementation and enforcement of the 2000 Juvenile Justice Act throughout the country. Amendment to Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 to protect children (particularly street children) in informal labour economy. Simplification of procedures to obtain grant-in-aid from the government to reduce the burden of paperwork. Timely release of government grants, allocation of adequate funds on a long-term basis, continued financial support to ensure sustainability of
NGO interventions and beneficiary rather than donor-led funding policies. Realistic appraisal of the situation of street children to acknowledge the current inadequacy of government and NGO interventions to reach such a vast number of children in major cities in India.
This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum for South Asia on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street Children”, 12- 14 December 2001, Colombo, Sri Lanka. A full version of the Civil Society forum report is also available on the CSC website.
To know more click: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/resources/details/?country=64&type=country
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