Child beggars on the rise in Gurgaon

February 22, 2014 04:20 am | Updated November 16, 2021 08:58 pm IST - Gurgaon

Begging is on the increase in Gurgaon, a satellite city of malls and multinationals, with a survey finding that growing numbers are joining the profession. Families prefer to send their children to beg rather than to school.

These children earn huge amounts of not only Indian cash but also foreign currency which they get from expats and tourists. Since they do not know how to convert it into Indian rupees, they prefer to play with it in their free time, the survey discovered.

The families of about 3,000 beggars, on average, earn nearly Rs.20,000 a month and are not ready to give up their “business,” the survey said. Children are the main source of their income.

Survey in public spots The All India Citizen Alliance for Progress and Development (AICAPD) and Innovation Mobile Schools, in partnership with the J.K. Business School, Gurgaon, conducted the survey on 6,000 roadside beggars in the age group of 6-14 years.

The survey was conducted between January 25 and February 5 in various places in the city, including metro stations, malls, traffic signals, railway stations and bus stands, where 4,000 girls and 2,000 boys were found begging.

Around 95 per cent of the children had never been to any school, 80 per cent were residing under bridges and near traffic signals, and 20 per cent came from Khandsa village near Gurgaon.

The purpose of the study was to find out the exact number of migrant roadside beggars and connect them with the right to education.

The survey said the average income of each child was nearly Rs.5,000 a month. Many of them earned over Rs.12,000 at times. Children too preferred begging to school, the study found.

No family holds any identity proof, including ration card. Most of the beggars are from Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Around 10 per cent of the children were brought to Gurgaon by contractors from rural areas of Bihar and Jharkhand and were pushed into begging.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.