New Delhi: A familiar scene unfolds when vehicles stop at most traffic signals in the capital. Children flit between cars, tap on their windows and stretch out their hands for alms.To change this picture, Delhi women and child development department (WCD) has framed draft guidelines for Children in Street Situations (CiSS), covering their identification, rescue, protection, rehabilitation, restoration and reintegration.More than 150 representatives from govt departments, Delhi Police, NGOs, academia and civil society attended a recent meeting where guidelines to the end were drafted after consultations with key departments, experts and child protection organisations.WCD secretary Dr Rashmi Singh reiterated the department’s commitment to protecting street children from begging and exploitation, while ensuring their safety, dignity, education and rehabilitation.SM Ali, deputy director of child protection and development unit (CPDU), said the framework aims to create a coordinated, child-centric mechanism, with clear roles for stakeholders.Sanjay Gupta, director, Chetna NGO, welcomed the move, saying that the organisation had been seeking such guidelines for nearly 20 years. “This is like a dream coming true,” he said, urging NGOs to support the implementation.The department has flagged several concerns: many children who have been surveyed have never attended school, with the situation worsening after Covid; substance use, including inhalants like correction fluid and adhesives and tobacco, is prevalent among them; and kids face risks of sexual exploitation, trafficking and child labour.The lack of Aadhaar and ration cards and birth certificates also keeps many such children and their families outside govt schemes. Delhi’s large seasonal and permanent migrant population adds to the challenge, while access to Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board’s permanent and temporary night shelters remains inconsistent.Under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, kids found begging, living or working on the streets, abandoned, orphaned, missing, abused, exploited, vulnerable to substance abuse or trafficking, or without proper parental care can fall under the category of Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP).The guidelines divide CiSS into three broad groups. Category 1 covers children living on the streets without parental or family support. Category 2 covers those who spend the day begging, rag-picking or selling goods but return to families in nearby settlements at night. Category 3 covers children living on the streets with their families, including migrant families working in construction, casual labour or rag-picking.The plan also covers child labourers, street vendors, abandoned or runaway children, kids vulnerable to trafficking or substance abuse, those with disabilities without parental care, children in sibling care and those from highly vulnerable families.To make Delhi free of child beggars, the guidelines propose district-level mapping of hotspots and continuous field-based identification rather than one-time surveys.District Child Protection Units (DCPU) will maintain databases covering location, age, gender, vulnerability, interventions and restoration status of the kids. Universities, including Delhi School of Social Work, TISS and Jamia Millia Islamia, may support related surveys and research, subject to ethical approval.Each district in the capital will have an outreach team led by a district magistrate and facilitated by DCPU. Teams will conduct regular outreach, counselling, rescue and referrals, along with at least one special drive at night every month. The rescue kit will include food, water, clothing, hygiene items, first aid, information about Child Helpline (1098) and details of nearby shelters.The rescue protocol requires immediate safety and basic support, followed by production of a kid before Child Welfare Committee within 24 hours of being rescued. Family tracing and an individual care plan are to be undertaken within seven days, while a social investigation report and admission to schools, beginning of skill training or reintegration process are to follow within 15 days.The guidelines stress that institutionalisation should be the last resort. Families should first be supported through ration cards, Aadhaar camps, PM Awas, Jan Dhan accounts, Mission Vatsalya sponsorship, RTE admissions, Ayushman Bharat and other health schemes, as well as employment support.Sports and physical activities are also proposed to build such children’s confidence, discipline, teamwork and social inclusion while reducing their exposure to substance abuse, exploitation and violence.For children found begging because of poverty or family distress, the focus will be family strengthening and welfare support. Where exploitation, coercion or trafficking by parents or guardians is established, legal action will be taken while safeguarding the child’s best interests.
