FlightlessMallard | Giving Money To Children Who Beg May Not Be The Only Solution

A young girl knocked on the car door, halted in traffic, and opened her palms, asking for money. The car driver ignores, but after persistent knocking, the person lowers their car window and gives away some change. She smiles and moves on to another car.

Children begging on the streets is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes we encounter daily. Our hearts go out for them. The way they look at us reminds us of our privilege. Most of us feel pity for them and give away money. Some of them come and touch our feet and make us feel guilty and embarrassed. The tactic is taught by whoever is making them beg.

Most of us are socially aware of the harm of giving away money, so we give them food. But isn’t there a solution for this? Can’t this be stopped entirely? Their young lives are getting wasted in the black hole of poverty and suffering.

When other children go to school in their uniforms, some street children look at them longingly. Many may have dreams to go to school, earn money and abandon begging forever. But, on the other hand, some of them have a great zeal for life.

They are seen chirping along all the time with strangers – asking questions, smiling, and laughing all along. If a path is paved for these children, it’s good for their future and leads to a better society.

Child trafficking is the most pressing matter. We come across a lot of missing children cases in newspapers. Newborn children get abducted from hospitals. Cartels maim them for begging and sell them as commodities for prostitution.

Children are not suspected easily, so they are used for illegal trades. They are made to look pathetic by starving and torturing them. Any money you give them goes directly to their bosses.

These children don’t get any money or food for their labour. Various articles in the constitution forbid child trafficking, but it is not executed correctly. As a result, it continues.

Article 23 in The Constitution Of India, Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour. Article 24 of Constitution of India and Prohibition of Children From Hazardous Employment.

According to a report published in Reuters, at least 300,000 children across India are drugged, beaten, and forced to beg every day. Human trafficking cartels control this multi-million rupee industry, according to police and trafficking experts.

The National Human Rights Commission approximates that up to 40,000 children are abducted in India every year, of which at least 11,000 remain untraced.

People also have a habit of giving alms to beggars belonging to their particular religion. This is one of the reasons there are a lot of children outside religious places. People mainly provide them with money which is not ideal in a country with more religious places than educational institutions. However, these religious places can step up and take care of such children.

They can arrange for educating these children, rehabilitating them, making them capable of living with dignity. People donate so much wealth to these religious places, saying they are giving up for God. If God exists, isn’t this the best way to please them, by providing for the poor and needy?

Prevention of Begging Act, 1959. The Act used to give the police the power to arrest individuals without a warrant.
The Delhi High Court decriminalized beggary by striking down the Act as unconstitutional in 2018. The court held that the Act violated Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.

In decriminalizing begging, the court has validated that poverty is a human rights issue. Furthermore, it has emphasized that the denial of the right to life, livelihood, and dignity to the poor is a patent violation of fundamental rights that cannot and should not be tolerated in a country governed by the rule of law.

Criminalizing begging is not fair. Illiteracy, poverty, social differences, etc., are various reasons people are forced into begging. These are the factors that should be eradicated so that eventually, begging can be stopped.

Many groups and organizations are rehabilitating these children. However, there are many hurdles in that too. Many children are runaways, stolen children, kidnapped, etc. They need special attention, or else some children run away from there too.

Proper counselling and attention should be given to them. There should be someone to talk to them and understand them. In addition, education should be made compulsory for children from 6 to 16.

There is another theory. Countries that are run by nationalizing private institutions can bring about educational parity. We can learn that from the Cuban educational system. “Society as a whole must become a huge school,” said Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

Cuba liberated villages from illiteracy by a massive literacy program in 1961. Teachers were sent to villages to teach the masses. As a result, every child in Cuba gets a basic education. They have also eliminated the urban-rural gap, which is higher in other countries.

According to my cousin Akhil, India is not fully independent until children are selling flags on Independence and Republic Days. He is right. They should be in schools. But unfortunately, they don’t have the freedom to choose to be in school rather than be on the streets selling flags for their family or their cartel leaders (using nationalist sentiments of some people for making money).

Some people say there should be poverty so that the rich can acknowledge their privilege. That is the wrong approach. Children are the future of our generation. We should mould them to at least get primary education and be in a secure environment with a suitable guardian.

Emotional security and mental stability decide what kind of a person they will grow into. We are facing a lot of crises in our present world. Suppose the generation who will come ahead and rule the world are educated morally and literally. In that case, they may be the ones who’ll put the present incompetent leaders to their senses and make them see their wrong decisions.

Today we see possibilities of another war. The reasons are power, greed, and leaders unable to make sound decisions beneficial to the people. The future, to make our world a better place to live in lies in these young hands.