PART- I
What is the definition of a street child in India?

The reality of the street child is the naked and vicious face of poverty, sickness and exploitation. The tragedy is, that those who bear it are themselves innocent, lonely and frightened young children.

Street Children are those unfortunate children who basically:

• Have only intermittent contact with parents or family (usually mother or sisters) but live most of the time with other street children in the city streets, or are on the move. {There are numerous reasons for a child to leave home}

• Have been literally abandoned by their parents/relatives, found themselves on the street from the beginning because of family problems, or have chosen to leave home due to some kind of constant abuse.

• Those who have run away from home can further be separated into two categories:

• Those who have an unpleasant or traumatic home environment.

They experience family problems they are unable to solve: i.e., alcoholism, child abuse, ill treatment by stepparents, unemployment and poverty. Their tolerance level has been far exceeded, leading to the drastic decision to leave their family.

Those who have run away from home, who wanted to study/work but were not allowed and came to experience the exciting experiences of city life, glamourised by magazines and movies.

Religion of street children in India varies greatly according to area, but, in general, approximately 70% are Hindu, 18% are Muslim, Christian and other. Percentage of Hindu children is as high as 82% in Hyderabad, Indore & Bangalore. (Almost 50% of Hindu children belong to scheduled caste or tribes.)

82.7% of street children are boys. Girls are more difficult to trace but they are, by far, the most vulnerable.

WORK CONDITIONS

Most street children find themselves some work, even though they may not be steady and lose jobs regularly. Many think of rag picking as a "job". A study in 1989 shows that 39.3% working children are paid inadequately, and 34% complain of being forced to overwork. Many children are lured into bonded work or "work-camps" that they are unable to escape from, due to unscrupulous and cruel proprietors or middlemen.

DESIRE TO BE SECURE

A recent study in Madras shows that many street children (45.6%) would like to live in a secure place, while 71% are very eager to change their present life. 63% of children have an ambition to do something meaningful in their future. The vast majority of them have a survival instinct and the tenacity that helps them survive the day to day trials of street life. That does not, however, provide them a future

AGE OF CHILDREN

The average age of street children is:
33% 6-10yrs
40% 11-15yrs
27% 16yrs +

HEALTH CONDITIONS

The health condition of street children is generally poor. Many suffer from chronic diseases like TB, leprosy, typhoid, malaria, jaundice and liver/kidney disorders. Venereal disease is rampant among older ones (14yrs+). Scabies, gangrene, broken limbs and epilepsy are common. HIV & AIDS cases are now widely seen. Most street children are exposed to dirt, smoke and other environmental hazards. They are constantly exposed to intense sun, rain and cold.

Though there are supposed to be "free" Government / Municipal Hospitals in all cities, street children do not have easy access to them due the need to pay bribes to enter, or the indifferent or hostile treatment meted out to them by the staff. Bangalore, Vijayawada and Hyderabad report extreme conditions in this regard.

PART-II
STREET CHILD ACTIVITIES IN INDIA

Street children learn to cope with life on the streets very quickly. They learn to live off the street. The following is a list of activities and occupations undertaken by street children in India to earn a living:

Collecting and selling waste paper, plastic, scrap metal etc.
Cleaning cars and two-wheelers,
Selling water, sweets, biscuits, clothes etc.
Selling newspapers and flowers on streets
Making and selling flower garlands
Begging, pimping, pick pocketing, stealing
Working in roadside stalls or repair shops
Coolie work or working in small hotels (kitchens etc)
 

ANALYSIS OF STREET CHILD ASSISTANCE IN INDIA

Until 1993, the term "street child" did not figure in the "Official Vocabulary" of post-independence India. Under pressure from the NGO’s in the field of assistance to street children, both local and international, the Government of India set up a "Scheme for Assistance to Street Children" under Ministry of Welfare, which was launched in February of 1993. The Scheme was to be implemented in only six major cities initially.

There were many meetings between NGO’s and Government officers prior to the release of the Scheme, and many suggestions for improvement and better management for the scheme were agreed to and noted by the Government, but not implemented in the final draft.... leaving the Scheme empty and ineffective for NGO participation.

Immediately after the release, and although clearly stated three years minimum experience in the field was a requirement, it was seen that many NGO’s not working in the field of street children, but with political clout, applied for and received the large amounts granted for said assistance.

Since, the programme has been extended to more cities (with 1 million plus population). But the most sincere NGO’s in the field have not requested the funding because of the lack of understanding of the Government towards the assistance to street children and the flexibility needs of the NGO’s in working with the street children. The jumping on the bandwagon by unqualified NGO’s however, continues. There is no other scheme of assistance offered by the Government specifically for street children.

PART-III
UNITED NATIONS CHILD RIGHTS CONVENTION

We know that children should enjoy:

• The Right to survival

• The Right to education

• The Right to good health

• The Right to free expression

• The Right to be heard

• The Right to enjoy their own language …

and, indeed, many other rights, but apart from the obvious Rights of the Convention, the most prominent problem that street children experience arises from the law-makers and implementers, and the child’s lack of identity.

EXISTING LAWS CONCERNING STREET CHILDREN

There is absolutely no legislature that specifies the term "Street Children" in the judiciary of India. The laws applicable under the Juvenile Justice Act 1986 relate quite strongly to the care of and rights of street children in general, without mentioning them in any term, but are found, on a national level, not to be implemented properly at all. In fact, many police officers/constables in the field do not know about the details of the Act.

JUVENILE BOARDS AND COURTS

The Juvenile Justice System has proved to be ineffective in coping with the problem under its present structure. [Example: 3,301 cases were brought before Juvenile Court in Mumbai in 1989, the number of street children is 50,000]. There are many States in India where there exists no Juvenile Board or Juvenile Court system.

Street children are, in many cases, sent to remand in adult jails where they are abused, both physically and sexually, for indefinite periods of time. There is little or no provision made for these young children to contact their parents or obtain proper guidance or legal representation. The children eventually escape from these "Homes" just as they run away from their real home.

In other States, street children are placed under the "care" of observation homes, remand homes and other Government juvenile centres, but it is just as well known that these so-called child care centres are sadly lacking any semblance of actual care.

There is a need for these centres to be taken over and run by the NGO’s, and the Ministry has recently mooted such a proposal for Social Welfare. Discussions and meetings are under progress, but when the reality of such a proposal will be realised is very unclear.

The Juvenile Justice Act has to be looked at very carefully in terms of street children and needs to be closely scrutinised. If changes are affected, then the implementation off the Act on a national level needs to be seriously and permanently looked at.

Note: The legislative framework has had under its wing in the past:

The Apprenticeship Act 1850 which enabled public charities to bring up orphans and poor children teaching trades etc.

The Reformatory Schools Act 1867 dealt with neglected and delinquent children.

The Juvenile Justice Act 1986 dealing with "the care, protection, treatment, development and strengthening process of neglected or delinquent juveniles, and for the adjudication of certain matters relating to, and disposition of, delinquent juveniles".

ARBITRARY DETENTION, ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT

Street children are constantly arrested, locked up, tortured and abused in all ways because there is none to take responsibility for them.

They live in fear of arrest and long detainment.

They have no faith in the police or the judicial system.

They disrespect the legal authorities because they have rarely experienced any kindness or understanding from anyone at that level.

THE RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS

For street children, this aspect is conspicuous by its absence, and totally ignored by the relevant authorities. Street children are arrested, locked up, sent to remand, runaway, are arrested again beaten locked up and so on and so forth without ever being offered a word of legal advice, much less a lawyer, or a government counsellor. They are sent to lockups, and sometimes jails, for days together without even a hearing. The remand homes sometimes make an effort to trace the parents, but usually the parents do not come for one reason or another, usually poverty. So the child grows up in an environment of cruelty & abuse, physical, mental and sexual and if he/she does not have the wits to escape, emerges a hardened criminal with total contempt for society in all its aspects when they are 18yrs old.

The Municipal Corporations are, however, showing some interest in the plight of street children. Studies show that there are more small programs for street children in the country today than ever before and that some are either located in Municipal Buildings or assisted by the Local Body. i.e. Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Chennai etc. The Juvenile Justice Act 1986 is now defunct since the U.N. C.R.C., and India’s ratification of the same. The new J.J.Act is better but needs serious discussion.