Today, R. Suguna happily skips around the playground at the Corporation school in Zone 13, Dhamodharaburam, Adyar.
Just a year ago however, this eleven-year-old was living on the streets in Pudupet, along with her widowed mother, who is now in prison. Under the wings of Montfort Sirahugal, an NGO associated with the Chennai Corporation, she now lives full-time in the Corporation’s Care and Protection Centre for Children, right on the school’s premises.
Sixty-five other children of ragpickers and homeless people like Suguna no longer make their beds on the dusty pavements of the city. Instead, they get hot meals in the night and have supervisors who look after their health, hygiene and after-school education and recreation, in a secure environment.
Another such child, Sangeetha* was brought to the shelter a month ago after being found on a pavement near the Chepauk MRTS station. This four-and-half-year child of a sex worker will be starting school, come June 2.
According to Mark Britto of Montfort Sirahugal, the initiative began in May last year, with just eight children of ragpickers — ranging between ages four and 18 — who were picked off the streets with their parents’ permission and brought to the centre. “A lot of these children, especially girls, were physically abused as they lived right on the roads. We sensitised the parents to the need for a safer environment for them,” he said.
Most of the younger children study in the Corporation school to which the shelter is attached, but those in high school go to other Corporation schools in the area. They, however, return to the shelter right after. About 30 such children have been united with their parents.
Corporation’s deputy commissioner (health) T. Anand said that 29 such shelters for the homeless are run around the city, with three sheltering ragpickers’ children alone, including the one at Kodungaiyur, near the Corporation dumping yard. “The Corporation has tied up with NGOs to provide a safe environment for these children, away from the roads,” he said, adding that the Corporation pitches in with funding and personnel.
Those who wish to contact the NGO if homeless children are spotted in the city, can call 91 9789852219
* Names changed to protect identity
