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KATHMANDU, APRIL 16In a bid to make Kathmandu city free of street children, Kathmandu police, along with government agencies working in the field of child rights protection, have started rescuing and rehabilitating street children yet again.
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Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu, with support from the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, and National Child Rights Council launched a new campaign.
On the first day of the campaign authorities were able to rescue 55 street children.
The rescue mission is mainly focused on major streets inside Kathmandu where the number of children asking for alms from motorists has increased notably in the past one year.
Of the total rescued children, 33 are boys and 22 are girls.Police said most of the rescued children were living with their parents around squatter settlements across Kathmandu.
"Those rescued in the last two days were mobilised by their parents to beg on the streets along with the parents," said Dinesh Raj Mainali Superintendent of Police at MPR Kathmandu.Those rescued are handed over to National Centre for Children at Risk where they will be kept for some time.
After that, the authorities will try to send the children back to their parents if they can track them.
Orphans or those children whose parents cannot be identified will be sent to various Child Care Centres, said police.Police also said stern action would be taken against those parents found using their children for begging.
Most of the street children are kids of those Indian nationals who work here as rag-pickers.
Some children are from the poor households living in the hilly and mountain regions.These kids are more vulnerable to exploitation, while chances of these children falling prey to alcohol and drug abuse are extremely high if not rescued on time.This is the third time authorities have launched a campaign to rescue and rehabilitate street children inside Kathmandu valley in the last five years.As many as 568 children, including 55 girls, were rescued from the streets of Kathmandu valley during the rescue mission between mid-April 2016 and mid-March 2017.
Around 200 additional children were rescued in 2019 during a similar rescue operation, while additional 15 children were rescued by Kathmandu Metropolitan City to make the city free from street-dependent people.A version of this article appears in the print on April 17, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
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This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
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