The traffic grinds to a halt at the signal and she shuffles between vehicles. Her face is caked with grime, her dress is torn, and her hair tousled. She taps on the window of your car. With doleful eyes and a palm raised expectantly, the little girl makes her plea for alms. You fidget and try to look away. The tap is persistent. You turn to look at the girl. Her gaze is pleading and piercing. You lower the window and give her some money.
Congratulations. You have done your bit to ensure she spends the rest of her childhood seeking alms at the traffic signal. There is an inky dark side to life on the streets. By extending ‘kindness’, you have made sure she’ll experience it, sooner or later.
Against their better judgement, many motorists give alms to children begging at traffic signals. They are also ‘kind’ to children who sell knick-knacks, running from vehicle to vehicle, when the red light pops on.
Let’s assume you’re aware of the ramifications of condoning child beggary. What would you do if you encountered child beggary at a traffic signal? There is the ready option of pulling up to the kerb, calling the child helpline 1098. But let’s hypothesise that you seek the traffic policeman’s intervention, which gives rise to many questions. Are our traffic policemen sufficiently sensitised about the issue? Have they been clearly instructed to report cases of child beggary and child labour at traffic signals? Are non-profits that promote road safety through campaigns at traffic signals sufficiently moved by the danger and tragedy of little children begging at busy junctions?
I don’t think many of these questions could be answered in the affirmative. At the same time, it would be a blatant untruth to say no effort has been made to curb this menace. For instance, last year in Bengaluru, a workshop was conducted by NGOs working with street children, for traffic policemen, with the objective of eradicating child beggary at traffic signals. The traffic policemen were told they had to call the child helpline and have the kid rescued and also talk children and motorists out of seeking and giving alms.
I could hear voices point out that the problem runs deep and that such measures are too superficial to be effective. Child beggary is run by adults, often relatives of the children. These voices even point out the inadequacy of government-run rehabilitation programmes for such children.
Should these factors prevent us from taking the first step? The police, the motorist and the activist should take this first step together, at our traffic signals. It’s time the electronic boards at traffic signals displayed anti-beggary messages too. It’s time motorists were told what their kindness could end up doing to these children.
Paul Sunder Singh, director, Karunalaya, a centre for street and working children, has some facts to share: “Children being carried by begging adults at traffic signals are drugged so that they stay quiet. The risk of accidents is not the only danger facing children who beg at the signals. They could be easily enticed into a life of crime. The girls run a high risk of being lured into prostitution.”
The next time you hear a tap on your car window, remember these words.
