Begging Among Children

Begging Among Children 

The Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, has informed that according to the Census 2011, the population of Beggars, Vagrants etc in the age group of 0-14 years is as follows:

Beggars, Vagrants etc in the age-group 0-14 year (Non- workers)	372217
Beggars, Vagrants etc in the age-group 5-14 year (Marginal Workers)	41453

Beggars, Vagrants etc. in the age –group 0-14 years as per Census 2011

ST. Code	India/State/UT	Non Workers
		Beggars, Vagrants etc.
		Persons	Males	Females.
1.	2.	3.	4.	5.
	India	372217	197725	174492
1	Jammu & Kashmir	3693	2235	1458
2	Himanchal Pradesh	709	451	258
3	Punjab	7224	4706	2518
4	Chandigarh	114	83	31
5	Uttrakhand	3075	2219	856
6	Haryana	7971	5931	2040
7	NCT OF Delhi	2073	1271	802
8	Rajasthan	22548	13307	9241
9	Uttar Pradesh	57038	35945	21093
10	Bihar	25857	12583	13274
11	Sikkim	60	39	21
12	Arunanchal Pradesh	92	47	45
13	Nagaland	98	51	47
14	Manipur	239	108	131
15	Mizoram	44	30	14
16	Tripura	1358	557	801
17	Meghalaya	328	137	191
18	Assam	20314	6603	13711
19	West Bengal	75083	30455	44628
20	Jharkhand	9817	4913	4904
21	Odisha	16674	9218	7456
22	Chhattisgarh	9355	4548	4807
23	Madhya Pradesh	25603	15542	10061
24	Gujarat	12584	8035	4549
25	Daman & Diu	19	12	7
26	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	18	6	12
27	Maharashtra	22737	13048	9689
28	Andhra Pradesh	26478	14190	12288
29	Karnataka	10682	5603	5079
30	Goa	229	121	108
31	Lakshadweep	2	0	2
32	Kerala	3715	2200	1515
33	Tamil Nadu	6249	3471	2778
34	Puducherry	88	45	43
35	A & N Islands	49	15	34

Note: A person who has not worked at all during the last one year is termed as Non worker. Please note that major part of the year spent by a non worker during the reference period is categorized as beggar, vagrants etc. on the basis of their non economic activity.

Beggars, Vagrants etc. in the age –group 5-14 years as per Census 2011

ST. Code	India/State/UT	Marginal Workers
		Beggars, Vagrants etc.
		Persons	Males	Females.
1.	2.	3.	4.	5.
	India	41453	23948	17505
1	Jammu & Kashmir	441	315	126
2	Himanchal Pradesh	100	53	47
3	Punjab	715	491	224
4	Chandigarh	7	4	3
5	Uttrakhand	245	155	90
6	Haryana	711	573	138
7	NCT of Delhi	114	72	42
8	Rajasthan	3305	1964	1341
9	Uttar Pradesh	8797	5914	2883
10	Bihar	3866	2259	1607
11	Sikkim	8	7	1
12	Arunanchal Pradesh	22	12	10
13	Nagaland	26	14	12
14	Manipur	24	9	15
15	Mizoram	9	3	6
16	Tripura	132	50	82
17	Meghalaya	68	35	33
18	Assam	1802	666	1136
19	West Bengal	6161	2631	3530
20	Jharkhand	1002	609	393
21	Odisha	1291	763	528
22	Chhattisgarh	843	447	396
23	Madhya Pradesh	3092	1964	1128
24	Gujarat	861	514	347
25	Daman & Diu	3	3	0
26	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	1	1	0
27	Maharashtra	1570	972	598
28	Andhra Pradesh	3740	2074	1666
29	Karnataka	1588	833	755
30	Goa	18	10	8
31	Lakshadweep	0	0	0
32	Kerala	308	197	111
33	Tamil Nadu	565	318	247
34	Puducherry	11	9	2
35	A & N Islands	7	7	0

Note: A person who has worked for less than 6 months during the last one year is termed as Marginal worker. Please note that major part of the year spent by a marginal worker during the reference period is categorized as beggar, vagrants etc. on the basis of their non economic activity.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights under the Ministry of Women & Child Development has informed that the said practice is a violation of the Child Rights Act. The children who are engaged in begging activities are treated as children in need of care and protection under the provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and the District Child Welfare Committee deals with such cases and rehabilitates them through "Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)" being implemented by M/o Women and Child Development. The sub-section (1) of Section 24 of the JJ Act, 2000, provides that whoever employs or uses any juvenile or the child for the purpose or causes any juvenile to beg shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Further, sub-section (2) provides that whoever having the actual charge of, or control over a juvenile or the child abets the commission of the offence punishable under the sub-section (1), shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and shall also be liable to fine.

Further, Ministry of Human Resource Development has informed that the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides for free and compulsory elementary education to all children in age group of 6 to 14 years. The RTE Act places the responsibility on the appropriate government and the local authority to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education to every child in the age group of six to fourteen years. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) have been entrusted with the task of monitoring children’s right to education under Section 31 of the RTE Act, 2009.  The State Governments have set up State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs)/Right to Education Protection Authority (REPA) for the purpose and notified decentralized grievance redressal systems.

The States are responsible for taking necessary preventive and rehabilitative steps. As per available information, 20 States and 2 Union Territories have enacted their own anti-beggary legislation or adopted legislation enacted by other States/UTs. Presently, there is no Scheme of the Central Government on Beggary. National Consultation Meetings were held with the representatives of Central/State Governments, NGOs, Institutes and Individual Experts in the field of Beggary to discuss the issues related to Beggary. In these meetings, it was inter-alia, recommended to explore the feasibility of framing a Central Scheme for rehabilitation of Beggars. Accordingly, a Scheme for Protection, Care and Rehabilitation of Destitutes is under formulation.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.